Advice before editing this pre-1700 Hancock profile?

Question

I have information to contribute to the profile of William Hancock. This is what I can add: the below source seems very well researched and contains much information about the Hancock Family and associated families in early Surry County, Virginia colony.

These are the sources I am using:  https://geesnmore.wordpress.com/charles-gee-iiihancock

Should I contact one of the pre-1700 projects or know about any style guidelines before proceeding? Thank you!

Answer 1

There are no primary sources cited in that history, so it is impossible to determine whether it was researched at all. Do not add information from undocumented "sources." After a search for anything resembling a source for William's existence, I've come up with nothing. That doesn't mean there isn't any, but it isn't available on Ancestry or FamilySearch as far as I can see.

Comments

That’ll teach me, I saw the links saying parish records, etc and didn’t go further. What a big bo-bo, my apologies.

Answer 2

You missed the last / , it looks good for a link and maybe a bit of paraphrasing. Good find.

https://geesnmore.wordpress.com/charles-gee-iii/hancock/

Comments

Marion, when a URL ends in a folder, without naming a specific file in that folder, the slash at the end of the last folder name is superfluous.  Sometimes it is used to indicate that a default file is expected, but it is totally unnecessary.

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Except if you click the link in the original post it comes up ‘well isn’t this embarrassing ‘ and if you add the / it goes direct to the page. Or is it not happening like that for others?

Answer 3

Hi Dan,

We have the Virginia Project for work on Virginia profiles (pre or post 1700), please join us if you have an interest in Virginia:

• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Virginia

Please see our page for sourcing Virginia profiles here:

• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Virginia_Sourcing_Help

Here is info on William Hancock's birth and death counties:

• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Surry_County%2C_Virginia
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Sussex_County%2C_Virginia

Please feel free to add more sources to the Surry and Sussex pages if you have them.

As Deb stated, your suggested sources are histories without citations, and thus are not in and of themselves sources.  THis history may have clues for finding sources to corroborate what it says.

Thanks.

-William

Comments

I found another source, which may satisfy y'all:

www.edavidarthur.net/AncestorsofJohnDHancock.pdf

It makes reference to an old family Bible now housed at the library of Randolph-Macon College, presumably located in Ashland, Virginia.  Perhaps some enterprising wikitreer Virginia Project member can travel there and view this document.

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Dan, that is a tertiary source, so better than nothing, but best to track down the primary or secondary source for the Bible.  Please post a request on our Google group (which I think you need to join still) asking if anyone is near Ashland and could try to locate and photograph the source.  Thanks.  -William