LAB / 07
A claim about a family relationship doesn't become true the moment someone finds it. It moves through stages, each one adding evidence and ruling out alternatives. Step through a worked example below to see how a claim actually earns confidence, and what still has to happen at each stage before it counts as proven.
It's the same discipline behind any decision I'd stand behind in design work: knowing the difference between what the evidence actually supports and what you're hoping it supports, and being honest about which stage a claim is really at.
Sarah Combs, who married in Pike County in 1848, was the daughter of James Combs and Mary Ann Whitfield.
A synthetic example, not a real research case, built to show how the stages actually work.
Evidence stack
Loosely modeled on the Genealogical Proof Standard: a reasonably exhaustive search, full citations, correlation between independent sources, resolution of conflicting evidence, and a soundly reasoned conclusion. A claim doesn't need all five at once. It needs to move through them honestly, and stay revisable if something new turns up later.