The following article as a follow to last night's
post on conflicting information was published in
the "Carman Perspectives Newsletter" today. This
newsletter is available via the Carman Cluster Page
on Rootsweb.
Caleb's Cite Needs Sight!
Yet another page on Carman Genealogy was placed online yesterday! Normally,
new available information about the Carman Surname would be a good thing.
Ms. Patricia Tidmarsh has been determined to publish any Carman Family
History Tibits, whether based on fact or rumor. This particular page,
"Caleb's Cite" is a misnomer since cite means to quote as a passage,
author, or book; to bring forward or refer to in support, proof, or
confirmation; as, to cite an authority. Similar to many other articles
published by Ms. Tidmarsh in the last 6 months, her article on Carman
controversies on the Caleb's Cite web page lacks the documentation to
support her premise that there actually is a controversy. The fact remains
that there controversies in Carman genealogy are far and few between but as
with the study of family, information and facts have yet to be uncovered to
provide clarification for many Carman lines.
Ms. Tidmarsh first attempts in her article to identify a controversy of two
John Carmans. The author assumes that the reader is fully versed on this
controversy and fails to state the controversy nor timeframe for the event.
Most Carman researchers, do not have a problem with the immigrant ancestor
of most Carman Families in America. Yes, this is to whom the author is
refering. There have been three published accounts this topic. Two articles
were written by Carman researchers supporting that only one John Carman
arrived in America in 1631 and settled in Massachussetts Bay Company
Colony, and the third written by a non-subject matter expert provided the
possibility that there were two men named John Carman living in the Colony
at the time. This is the controversy to which, Ms. Tidmarsh is trying to
elaborate. However, the author has not participated with the various Carman
Genealogy Forums for several years and has not taken into account the
facts. The first two articles on two John Carmans mentioned above, have
over 70 citations in support of one John Carman for the time frame. The
third article "cited" less than ten in support of it's premise. There is no
controversy here, but rather what can be supported by fact and what can be
considered as speculation.
Adam/Phila Titus is the second point Ms. Tidmarsh brings out on the new web
page. For the clarification of those readers not proficient with all the
branches of the Carman Family, the author is refering to Adam Carman, who
married Philadelphia Titus. This branch of the family originates on Long
Island, New York and migrates circa 1770 to Dutchess County, New York. No
controversy exists here even though the author doesn't provide illumination
to the issue. Adam's parents remain unproven and the question or statement
that "which is which line" is a question that we can apply to any unproven
line in genealogy. Should the reader read between the lines of Ms.
Tidmarsh's statement, the line of Adam Carman and Philadelphia Titus has
been "placed" in various Carman Genealogies with the parents of Adam Carman
identified. Unfortuately, as with the title of this web page, lacking proof
or citation, the placements can only be considered speculative!
Ms. Tidmarsh addresses spelling conventions for the Carman surname as if it
were the principle delineation of family lines. This is not the case.
Family lines are driven by blood lines in genealogy. The author states that
there are separate Carmen trees, and there are one-time misspellings of the
Carman name. The fact remains that there are different blood lines and
although the spelling of the surname can differ, it does not mean that
there are different blood lines! German families with surnames such as
Kharmanie or Kirman, anglicized their name to Carman. Some blood lines,
were recorded with the spelling of Carman for years and then changed to the
Carmen spelling. This did not mean that it was a separate Carmen tree or
line!! Ms. Tidmarsh tries to support her argument by citing an article
written on Caleb Carman of Cape May, New Jersey. She states that the author
uses the "Carmen" spelling throughout the article. An important
genealogical practice was ignored with this statement. The article was a
secondary and tertiary source. What counts on spelling is the primary
source or fact and how the name was spelled. In many cases we find that an
individual like, Caleb Carman might have had his name spelled five
different ways! Does this mean he belongs to a separate line?? NO! The
spelling variation is not an argument for separate lines.
The web author provides a link from the Caleb's cite page to a web page
with post from Helen Silvey. However, Ms. Tidmarsh, dismisses the normal
form of providing citation or quotation and has modified the original text
of Ms. Silvey. Of course, only those, who had read the post by Ms. Silvey
originally would know that the article was modified. Even though, the topic
of the Ms. Tidmarsh's web pages have the connotation of citation, even here
a graphic web page is provided with an incorrect title page of the source
of Ms. Silvey's post. Ms. Tidmarsh provides a title page from 1939, while
Ms. Silvey's post references a source from 1945!!
The last topic addressed by Ms. Tidmarsh on the Caleb's Cite web page is
related to the Reverend Joshua Carman. The author simply cites a post to
the Carman-l mail list and reader is expected to assume it is the mail list
on Rootsweb, despite the fact that a more activate Carman-l mail list is
found elsewhere. So is there an issue or controversy with this man? We
looked for the cited post on Rootsweb, and not to our suprise found that
the citation and reference is not available to the general public till
about 24 hours after this web page is published!! So without knowing the
issue or controversy. We will have to update this article later!
The post is now available to the public! However, we find no controversy in
terms of data. We must assume that the perceived controversy by Ms.
Tidmarsh, is the spelling of the Surname. As stated above, this is not an
issue nor of importance. We did not that the original text had been
modified and therefore is not an accurate quote or extraction. As a
footnote, the Rev. Joshua Carman's parents are included in a detailed and
document article at the Carman Meeting Place web site! See Carman Contacts
page on the Cluster Page for Carman at Rootsweb.
In conclusion, Caleb's Cite fails to identify any significant controversies
nor any factual sources or citations of those sources to have the reader
draw any conclusions. The question we have for the author, "So how does
this help a contemporary Carman Researcher, genealogist or hobbyist?" We
know the answer to the question! Many corrections have been provided over
the last six months
to provide the best possible support to genealogists. Although all
corrections
have been sent to Ms. Tidmarsh, none of the many many errors on the Carman
Web Space have been corrected, despite the fact that corrections are
solicited.
Pages referenced: Caleb's Cite,
http://patricia.rootsweb.com/carman.htm
Caleb of Cape May,
http://patricia.rootsweb.com/capemay.htm
Scan of Title page,
http://patricia.rootsweb.com/capemay.gif
Rev. Joshua Carman Post, 14 Aug 99,
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/archives/CARMAN-L/1999-08/msg00010.html