Kinship Determination and Identity Resolution
Identity before kinship
Kinship determination depends on identity resolution: proving that records refer to the same person before linking generations. Build a profile of distinguishing identifiers: full name and variants, age, birthplace, occupation, religion, associates, migration, land, and naming patterns. Use the FAN club (friends, associates, neighbors) to separate same-name individuals. Link children to parents with records created during the parents' lifetimes, such as deeds, probate, guardianship, baptism, and census household structure. State each generational link as a conclusion supported by evidence.
Traps
The largest trap is merging two people because they share a name and approximate date. Others include assuming the eldest son was named for the paternal grandfather, overlooking a widow's remarriage, or treating a census household as a biological family without other support. Do not ignore female surnames, aliases, or boundary changes.
Worked example
Two Samuel Wards appear in the same county: one taxed on 100 acres, one a shoemaker. A deed names the shoemaker's wife and adjacent land; tax lists and a probate inventory place the landowner elsewhere. The records are separated, not merged. Rule of thumb: every identity conclusion should list the records that exclude the alternative person, not only those that fit.