The Trouble With Research
Last weekend we hosted an archaeological dig out of our backyard. We were never expecting to find pirate treasure, but we were feeling hopeful. We certainly got lucky.
I am not a scholar in archaeology, and I will never be the next Indiana Jones. However, after seeing so many people not afraid to get their hands dirty, something changed. Whatever little burning amber was there wishing for me to become an archaeologist is now an out of control bonfire. Did I suddenly develop every skill needed to become one? Absolutely not. I still wish to keep my hands clean and my body inside and away from bugs, thank you very much.
Luckily, most archaeological digs happen within the pages of books and newspapers, and I have a particular set of skills. The skills? Oh, mostly my ability to procrastinate on house chores-, a penchant for juicy gossip, and a comfortable chair. I can sit in front of my computer for hours, perusing through newspaper articles, books, and photographs. There is a lot of research in archaeology and, if there is a book involved, then that’s the kind of archaeology I want. I suppose, perhaps I should become a librarian instead?
Record Keeping for Posterity? Nah!
While we are on the subject of books, let us talk about them and the idea of writing down history. When one considers that record keeping for posterity dates as far back as the time of pharaohs, you would think that Victorians would have caught up on the trend and that they would have been thoughtful enough to maintain proper documents for future generations. I will tell you what Victorians did not do: maintain proper documents for future generations. I have very painfully learned that Victorians were big supporters of the doctrines of “close enough”, defenders of the “that will do”, and proponents of the “meh…that’s probably good”.
While they concentrated in industrialization, and the rules and regulations of polite society, record keeping was not one of their strong suits. This is incredibly ironic considering that everything they did ended up in the newspaper. Mr. Smith sneezed? Newspaper. Mrs. Smith fell in the street? Newspaper. Mr. Johnson’s wife cheated? Newspaper. Everything ended up in the newspaper in one way or another. The gossip was worthy of seating down with tea and cookies. With every detail of their lives exposed in the newspaper, one would assume that archaeological research is but a breeze. Oh, how I loathe to burst your bubble! A breeze, it is not! Instead, think of it as stagnant air in a swamp on a Summer night right after it rained.
Adding Specific Information? Nah!
The trouble is that publications of the time were, in most cases, limited to that particular town. Wealthy businessmen with a need to make important business decisions preferred national publications. Most common folk, however, read local newspapers because their daily lives revolved around what was happening at a local level. As papers were local, and towns were small, there was no need to add specific information to the articles because everyone knew everyone and everything about everybody. So if a newspaper article makes mention of Dr. Minnich’s house, everyone knew who, what and where they were talking about. Have you ever seen an old postcard where the sender just writes the name and town of the receiver? No address. That’s because the post office knew exactly who they were. That is just absolutely terrible for research.
Case in point, I recently read a newspaper article that loosely stated “This church purchased the property situated between the house of Dr. Minnich and near this other building from this person, for this amount of money”. No address. The landmarks are no longer there. The buildings may still stand, but any identifying features from the time have dissappeared. As another hair pulling example, I have seen the address of this house listed as “157 West Main St”. It should be East, which begs the question…Was it West at one point, or did the newspaper editor followed that “meh, good enough. They know.” approach? Also we must consider the fact that, in most cases, information arrived to the press in a written piece of paper. So you were at the mercy of the printing person being able to translate your cursive writing into print.
Originality in Names? Nah!
Imagine Mr. Minnich quickly writing something on a piece of paper, stepping outside the house, stopping the first kid that came around the corner, and asking him to rush the paper to the publisher to earn a penny. The kid rushes to the publisher, holding the paper in his dirty, sweaty hands, and the ink is now all smeared. He gives the paper to the publisher. The publisher is upset with Mr. Minnich. Why? Because he has to stop the presses to tell the world that Mr. Minnich lost his umbrella on the train (true story). And let’s be honest, chicken scratch today is the same as chicken scratch back then, and many things were inevitably lost in translation. As such, I have seen mentions of “John W Minnich and his son, Clarence…”when his name was actually Chauncey.
Oh, and the names! The names…Don’t even get me started on the names! Everyone’s name is John, William, Charles, Mary, Susan…there was absolutely no imagination when it came to naming children. Zero. Zilch. Nada. And so, I was left to sift through articles upon articles of newspapers on J. W. Minnich, only to realize later that the man in Wrightsville was not the man with the same name living in Dallastown. The name Minnich? I have seen it as Minnick, Minich, and any other possible iteration you can think of. Brothers naming their children in honor of their brothers. Mothers naming children in honor of their parents or grandparents. Fathers naming daughters in honor of their mothers. It’s insanity! No, no, no…insanity I tell ya!
Confirming Data Before Publishing? Nah!
Let us talk about books with biographical information, such as Prowell’s. For so long I considered it to be THE BOOK to get information from. So well written, so many beautiful words, such a fantastic prose…and such a dumpster fire when it comes to data! Books should be authorities in the subject they are writing about, and I expected Prowell to publish a masterpiece, but it turns out that he followed that same “good enough” doctrine. When referring to J. W. Minnich, Prowell writes that his father, Granville, died in 1863 at the age of 25, and he was a laborer. In the EXACT SAME BOOK, when speaking about Dr. Minnich, Prowell writes that Granville, was born in 1818 and died in 1866 instead, making him 48 at the time of his death, and he was a farmer. Their mother was listed both as passing in 1873 and 1874.
From newspaper articles I have placed Dr. Minnich and J. W. Minnich as living in various residences in Dallastown, but according to public records, they only owned of one or two…Who owned the other houses? Where were these other houses?? Exact locations of residences and even businesses are hard to trace because no addresses are listed anywhere. “Mr. Minnich bought a building on Walnut St., and will begin building his new factory”. Walnut is a very long road with many buildings and intersections! Furthermore, much of the information that we have is anecdotal, but with no records anywhere. For example, we have been told that the attic room was used as a hospital by Dr. Minnich, but if this house belonged to Mr. Minnich, did Dr. Minnich used it as a medical practice? Did he live here? And if he did, where was Mr. Minnich?
Let Future Generations Figure it Out? Yup!
As you can imagine, it is all very muddy. Muddy as in you jump feet first into a big swamp in the Everglades. That kind of muddy. So it is not impossible that something that may be presented as fact today may have to be revised at a later time when we come across new information. I guess that’s what they mean when they say “New evidence shows…”. I wish they had kept better records, but we have to make do with what we have, and what we have is not much. And that is just the story on the people, but it is equally as bad when it comes to the house. Maybe one day I will be able to make it all make sense…I would like that very very much, dear Universe…
For now, I leave you with a few pictures of the treasures we found in the manure pit. We will continue to excavate this in the near future, so stay tuned for more details on that.
