More and more of these manuscript records are being printed for the benefit of historians but even such works, which are usually carefully done, contain errors, and the skilled genealogist occasionally finds himself going back to the original manuscript in an attempt to clear up what appears to be a dubious entry in the printed record.

Furthermore, no one can make intelligent use of such records without a fair knowledge of the contemporary meaning of common terms and phrases. Most of us know, probably, that "cousin" in colonial times meant a nephew or a niece or even a close friend, oftener than it signified the child of one's aunt or uncle. There are many other terms that mean one thing to us, but meant something quite different to our ancestors. In fact, an appellate court decided that the "language and custom of the times" should be used in interpreting old legal documents.

The genealogist, in short, must develop imagination and historical perspective. He must examine his materials in the light of contemporary circumstances, which means that he must be aware of economic conditions, of social customs, and of political and religious beliefs in the area under study.

Lacking such knowledge, the careful genealogist will consult . with a person having the required information before proceeding too far with his work. I know of one more or less celebrated genealogical problem which baffled some of our best professionals for more than one hundred years. The case involved the complete disappearance from the records of a man who had been a successful shipbuilder in his community. Everyone who tackled the problem ended up by assuming that the man had suffered financial reverses and had deliberately retired to obscurity. One professional, however, an acquaintance of mine, reasoned that a man who had shown so much initiative would probably look about for a town where the shipbuilding business was booming and would transfer his interests to that place. Accordingly, this genealogist studied the economic history of the time, and chose for further investigation a town whose shipping industries began to flourish about the time of our shipbuilder's mysterious disappearance. He had not worked very long before he turned up a complete and well-documented history of his man's very successful career in the new location, including his will which had been sought for more than a century.

I have said enough, I think, to emphasize my point that true genealogical research is something more than casual notetaking.
The care, skill, and actual labor required in compiling a dependable genealogy are beyond the comprehension of anyone who has not done it. Every item which comes up for consideration must be weighed in the light of possibility, probability, and surety from the various viewpoints of history, geography, physiology, logic, and the other sciences. Any material that can pass these tests may be included. 'Any that cannot must be excluded. The person who knows how to make these tests and exercise this care, and only such person, may properly be called a genealogist.

Stiles summed it all up in two paragraphs when he wrote, back in 1899: