Alison Hare, CG presented "John Green: Whose Father Was He?".

The talk is based on an article published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly in March 2007 under the title "Searching for Greens at the Time of Peter Robinson."

A petition by John Green refers to a son who could not be found by following the clues provided in the petition. When all the candidates have been ruled out, what is the researcher to do? This case study describes the steps that were required to identify John's elusive son. In the process, not just one but two documents were discovered to contain misleading information. The search reminds genealogists they must be perpetually cautious when interpreting sources. Strategies that may help researchers solve similarly difficult problems include the following:

• Research collateral lines, neighbors and associates.
  
  
• Be willing to work with indirect evidence. Direct evidence - which answers a research question explicity, point blank, in black and white - is not always available. When it is not, skilled researchers will build a case with evidence drawn from a variety of sources.
  
  
• Pay attention to historical context. This can involve many things, including familiarity with previous definitions for terms of kinship.
  
  
• Apply the Genealogical Proof Standard. This means a reasonably exhaustive search must be made for relevant information. Once the findings have been carefully analyzed and any conflicting evidence has been resolved, the researcher will then write a proof argument showing how the evidence makes sense as a total package and cannot be logically explained in any other manner.