Wavetops: Two Harts in Lewis County
Stephen Hart and Stephen Hart lived 30 miles and 4 years apart
I told you about Martin Hart (1792-1879) and his life story several weeks ago. I told you about his connection to his father, Stephen Hart (1767-1857), and shared some facts about Stephen…but then I started to write today’s post about Stephen and realized I made a mistake. I included this paragraph:
The Hart family moved to Stillwater, New York, and from there to a newly settled town called Pinckney in Lewis County, New York, around 1805. Stephen Hart figured in the early history of Pinckney. The first town meeting was held at his house, and he served as town supervisor in 1815. He served additional terms in 1817, 1821, 1827-28, and 1830-31.
Hough, Franklin Benjamin, (1822-1885), History of Lewis County, New York; with...biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers; page 497-499.
That paragraph refers to facts about a second Stephen Hart who lived in Lewis County, NY. The Stephen Hart I’m interested in settled in Turin in about 1799, and the Hough book talks about both men without indicating that Mr. Hough knew they were two different people.
Parallel Lives
Complicating matters, the two Stephens have very similar biographies. They were born about 4 years apart (one in 1767, one in 1771) and died about 4 years apart (1857 and 1861). They moved from their respective homes to Lewis County about 7 years apart (older Stephen in 1799, younger in 1806) - one from Torrington, CT, and the other from Stillwater in Saratoga County, NY:
To keep them straight and to illustrate which Stephen is the “correct” Stephen, I added a Table of Evidence to his WikiTree profile page. Then, I added the “Easily confused” template to differentiate the two WikiTree profiles and ensured the Table of Evidence was on both pages.
Whew.
Seeing Double
Stephen Hart is not the only person in this family who has a doppelganger to watch out for. Eunice Seymour came from a prominent and prolific family, too, and there are marriage records for more than one “Eunice Seymour” in Connecticut from around the same time. As I go hunting for Eunice’s ancestry, I need to keep a sharp eye out to make sure that I have the correct person before adding information to my tree.
(One of these days, I might put together enough reliable information to post about Eunice. If I’m lucky.)
The Lesson?
As
reminded us (Twice!) recently: Trust Nobody!
And when we say “don’t trust anybody,” we mean “don’t blindly accept facts without testing them.” We are all fallible, and we can all make mistakes. Telling you not to “trust” means that you should always be questioning the facts. Examine the original sources, and if somebody isn’t citing sources, don’t accept their work until you can verify it yourself.
Because you see how easy it is for any of us, even if we are trying our best, to make a mistake, miss a clue, or perpetuate a mistaken assumption. Sometimes you can get away with that, but eventually, you will find yourself with two Harts, wondering how you got into this mess.
And having two hearts is only good if you’re this guy. (IYKYK.)
Your confession is noted. :) I jest, but of course it's important to update our genealogical information when we know there is an error. For years I believed that I had an ancestor named Daniel McDaniel who was arrested in Scotland in the 1740s around the time of The Battle of Culloden. He had the choice to be put to death or shipped to the colonies as an indentured servant. He chose the later, ended up marrying his "master's" daughter and many generations later I am here. And there are many online trees (some with sources) that perpetuate this information. Then, a few years ago, I came across a document that a woman had added to FamilyTree and it outlined this story and then proceeded to list all the facts that make this story not true. Truth 1) I have an ancestor named Daniel McDaniel; Truth 2) There was a Daniel McDaniel whose life mostly matched the story; and Truth 3) The two are not the same. The story is good, but it's not my story.
Good job parsing your two Harts and making it easier for other researchers to do the same!
Thanks for the shoutout! Yes, same-name individuals are tricky to begin with, not to mention if their dates were so similar and they ended up in the same town! Great job sorting the two out 👌🏻 (I’m intrigued by the “easily confused” template you mentioned- can this be found somewhere? What a great idea!)