The application
and the accompanying, proving documents will be adjudged as follows:
Primary or collateral
evidence from vital statistics, courthouse or other government records,
church and school records, etc., is considered usually to be beyond doubt
and excellent proof.
Secondary evidence,
such as census records, newspaper clippings, old letters, bible or other
family records, contemporary to the facts reported, are considered almost
as authentic.
Circumstantial evidence,
or hearsay, is not considered as proof, unless backed up by primary or
secondary evidence.
Oral, written, or
published family traditions are very often wrong and are not accepted as
proof.
All proof documents
must by themselves, or in combination with other documents, actually state
the fact to be proved. Implied evidence is not accepted as proof.
This application,
information, and all supporting documents and data become the property
of the Fulton County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society.
Any member
of the Fulton County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society who is a
direct descendent of an individual who settled in the area now encompassed
by Fulton County, Ohio before 31, December 1860, may become a member of
the First Families of Fulton County, Ohio on the acceptance of an application
with proof of such descent and the payment of a $30.00 application fee.
Add $5.00 for each additional surname. The First Families of Fulton County,
Ohio Committee must first accept this application. An application may be
sent to Fulton County Chapter, OGS, PO Box 337, Swanton, Ohio 43558-0337.
Give volume and page
for book references and include a copy machine, photo, or other facsimile
copy of the pertinent pages, and of all published or unpublished records
used for proof. Typed, hand printed, or written copies of documents, not
certified as "true copies," are not acceptable as proof. Published or manuscript
material authored by the applicant or his family will not of themselves
be accepted as proof. Information for additional ancestral lines may be
included on blank pages, showing the tie-in to the line on the basic application.
If more than two lines are submitted, please include an ancestral chart
to show the interconnections. Only bloodlines are acceptable.
Authorities, as to
settlement in Fulton County, Ohio prior to 31 December, 1860, upon whom
eligibility is claimed:
Authorities as to
descent: (list and include facsimile copies as stated above)
Each step must be
proved. References for all dates must be provided
I,
, do hereby swear/attest that the statements set forth in this application,
are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.
Applicant's Signature
Date
1. Primary or collateral evidence from vital statistics, courthouse or
other government records, church records, school records, etc. usually
is considered excellent proof.
2. Secondary evidence, such as census records, newspaper clippings, old
letters, Bible or other family records contemporary to the facts reported
is considered almost as authentic.
3. Circumstantial evidence, implied facts of hearsay, is NOT accepted as
proof.
4. Oral, written, or published family traditions may be wrong and are NOT
accepted as proof.
5. Printed or manuscript genealogies, genealogical records or compilations,
family group sheets and charts, family reunion records and similar material
are not considered proof. Unsupported information from an amateur or a
professional genealogist is not acceptable, including such records printed
in any genealogical, historical or similar publication.
6. Lineage papers, accepted or unaccepted, from other patriotic or hereditary
societies by themselves are not considered proof. The document copies,
which were used to prove the lineage, MIGHT be considered proof for FFFC
if they follow these rules.
7. Material authored by the applicant or a member of his or her family
cannot be considered as proof.
8. Documents used as proof must, either alone or in conjunction with other
acceptable documents, actually state the fact to be proved.
Examples of
implied proof, which are not acceptable, are:
A. Unnamed individuals specified in court records as "heirs" or "heirs-at-law"
unless it is known that applicable laws at the time included only bloodline
descendants.
B. Census records, which show the name of the head of the family only,
along with numbers of family members or others by age group, prove only
the family head actually named. Next door or close neighbors on a census
or tax record do not prove any relationship by themselves.
C. A father is not proved as being in an area just because his child was
born there. The birth only proves the mother was there!
D. Owning the same land as an earlier owner by the same name does not necessarily
prove blood descent, whether the land was inherited or purchased.
9. Documents written or printed in a foreign language must be accompanied
by a translation into English and the translation certified as a "true
translation" by the translator (not the applicant or a family member).
10. Old letters or family records can be accepted as proof for only the
facts that the writer could logically know as contemporary knowledge. Identification
of the writer and the date is necessary. Also, county histories or other
published biographies should have been written by someone with contemporary
knowledge, not hearsay, to be acceptable.
11. Land or tax records are acceptable only if they specify that the individual
was a resident of Fulton County, Ohio, since many early landowners and
speculators never lived in Ohio.
12. Female ancestors living in Fulton County before 1860 must be identified
by their maiden names. Exceptions are made only in the case of American
Indians and only when such ethnicity is proved.
13. Illegitimacy is not grounds for denial.
14. A direct line from applicant to pioneer ancestor must be proved at
each step, including the spouse in each generation. Collateral descent
is not applicable. Adopted children do not qualify as a step in lineage.
Bloodline descent only is acceptable.
15. All proof documents must state their source. Proof is required for
each date listed for both persons in each generation. Bible records must
include a photocopy of the title page with publication date and current
owner's name and address.
16. Typed, handwritten, or printed copies of original documents must be
certified as a "true copy" by a courthouse or other official, or a librarian,
etc. An applicant or member of his or her family cannot certify a document
as a "true copy." Photocopies of original documents are acceptable as copied
if there are no changes on the original.
17. Married female applicants must include a copy of their marriage record
to prove their change of name.
18. Photographs of tombstones are acceptable for proof of birth and death
dates and for relationships actually stated on the stone. Published compilations
of tombstone readings are acceptable if no additional information has been
written in that it is not on the stones themselves.
19. If another individual has previously proved an ancestor, the applicant
may submit proof only to the nearest common ancestor, if so desired. A
citation to the name and number of the FFFC member should be included.
20. Deadline for applications is December 31 of each year.
21. Please remember, a statement is not necessarily true just because it
is in print.