What's In Your Filter?

Try and avoid as much as possible, interpreting your ancestor's actions in twenty-first century terms. Remember that your ancestor lived in a different time than you and probably in a different location. Laws might have been different, commonly accepted behaviors might have been different, educational levels might have been different, religious beliefs might have been different, etc.

Interpreting events in your ancestors' lives as if you were the one living through them might be your problem.