Evidence

Every so often another researcher that I'm sharing information with asks (or I ask them), Do you have a direct link between this father and this daughter? or, Okay, but where's the proof? When I have to tell them no, I have no direct proof of a person's parentage, or maiden name, or whatever, I feel I've disappointed them greatly (or they've disappointed me... I don't know which feels worse, really.)

In the immortal words of Bill Clinton, I feel their pain. I, too, long for that elusive birth certificate marked so clearly "30 March 1774, a boy, named Charles for his well-loved paternal Uncle, was born to parents John McLaughlin and Mary McLaughlin, nee Smith, of County Itllneverhappen"

In much of pre-1850 America, give or take a decade or two, "proof" documents, containing concrete direct evidence from primary sources, are all too often hard to come by. So while I still hope for that document, I have to accept the fact, gracefully and with good humor, that I probably will never find it. Instead I have set my cap for well-researched, carefully formed "Proof Arguments". These can be prepared to explain why you believe a certain questionable document qualifies as proof, when you are torn between two conflicting documents, or for presenting an argument as to why you believe a situation to be fact, though you have no direct proof.

Every so often I'll post one of the Proof Arguments here that I've worked on, though they are always a work-in-progress. The format I've used has proven the most useful to me, though it certainly can be changed to include anything a researcher thinks is necessary or helpful to their argument.

Here's the first:

PROOF ARGUMENT

Hugh McLaughlin, Revolutionary War Soldier¹ of Augusta County, Virginia², husband of Agnes Gwin³, (Soldier) is apprenticed fourteen-year-old son of Hugh McLaughlin, Augusta County, Virginia, 1772⁴ (Apprentice)

By Joan M. Kay

 Exhaustive search of records has shown no other candidate. Considered: Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Quality of evidence: +6

 The year of birth for each Hugh closely matches. Considered: Apprentice was born approximately 1757. Soldier enlisted in 1777, which would place him at 19 to 20 years old, an expected, reasonable age. Also considered: Perhaps he was an older enlistee? Result: Soldier married Agnes “Nancy” Gwin in 1789, which would then place Apprentice at 32. Chances are not great that a man much older than 32 would marry a 19-year-old woman, though not out of the question. Also considered: Soldier died in 1798⁵; Apprentice would then be 42, a relatively early death. Quality of evidence: +5

 Apprentice was bound out to become a currier (curing/dressing skins). Soldier had in his inventory at his death “tools for dressing skins.” Considered: These could be common tools of the day. Result: A check of the inventories for Bath County for 50 years from 1791 showed only one other set of currier’s tools⁶. Quality of evidence: +8

 Apprentice had a brother named James. Soldier lived close to James McLaughlin in Bath County according to Personal Property Tax Books⁷ (they were regularly taxed on the same day, indicating close proximity). Considered: James was a common name. Quality of evidence: +4

 I have no negative evidence.


Records examined:

Census Records; Virginia Counties. National Archives, Washington, DC.

Court Records; Augusta County, Virginia. Library of Virginia, Richmond.

Court Records; Bath County, Virginia. Library of Virginia, Richmond.

Land Records, including grants, deed books, and taxes; Virginia Counties. Library of Virginia, Richmond.

Personal Property Tax Records; Virginia Counties. Library of Virginia, Richmond.

Revolutionary War Records, including indexes of soldiers, service records, pension and bounty land warrant applications. National Archives, Washington, DC.

Voting Records; Bath County, Virginia. Ordered from and viewed at (LDS) Family History Center, Lexington Park, Maryland.


My Conclusion:

Hugh McLaughlin is both Apprentice and Soldier.


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Footnotes:

¹"Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War" National Archives Publication. Entry for Hugh McGlaughlin. Microfilm Publication: M881 roll 69, Gist's Regiment. Repository: National Archives, Washington, DC.

²"Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, 1800 to 1900" National Archives Publication. Entry for the soldier Hugh McGlaughlin. Microfilm Publication: M804 roll 1684. Repository: National Archives, Washington, DC.

³Ibid

⁴Augusta County, Virginia. Order Book XIV, p 329. (17 Mar 1772, at issue, Hugh McLaughlin, orphan.) Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond.

⁵Bath County, Virginia. Wills Book 1, p 125-126. (15 Oct 1798, at issue, Hugh McGloughlin Estate Appraisal). Repository: Bath County, Virginia, Courthouse; Warm Springs, VA.

⁶Bruns, Jean Randolph. Abstracts of the Wills and Inventories of Bath County,Virginia, 1791-1842, (Baltimore, Clearfield Company, 1995) Repository: Joan M. Kay, Huntingtown, MD

⁷Auditor of Public Accounts., "Personal Property Tax Books Bath County [VA], 1791-1816." Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond. Microfilm Publication: Reel 31.