Beyond a Reasonable Doubt?

Question

Looking at the "Do you want to do it right?" question posted a couple of hours ago, I decided it was time to ask a question about what constitutes a sufficient amount of data to allow one to consider a connection proved?  I'm thinking in particular of the connection of my 4ggrandfather (George) Washington Evans  and his father David Evans, Sr. Unfortunately both of their profiles are messy just now since there was an unfortunate confusion of my George Washington Evans and another one which ultimately resulted in merging him with the other one who had a lower ID and I haven't taken the time to straighten it all out yet.  Anyway I have a number of documents and books which have him in them, but none which I'd individually count as proving the connection.  But collectively?  That's the question.  I'll try today to see if I can't get the profiles in better shape, but in the meantime, knowing what is the minimum acceptable to prove a connection would be helpful.

Comments

Typically, the more independent sources you have that agree on a date, relationship, etc., even if they are secondary, the stronger the case would be. But be careful about books, especially 19th century and early 20th, they often are the internet equivalent of their time: Somebody dreams up a relationship and others copy it over and over until you have lots of books all reporting the original invention as fact.