Winter Research Project: Mary Smart McMurry – Writing a Research Report

The final step in the Research Like a Pro process is writing a research report. This report summarizes the question, objective, and all the research performed during the project. Research reports explain your reasoning — a proof argument — and convince others of your conclusions.

Research reports are critical when resolving difficult genealogy problems. Just writing this report forced me to deal with conflicting evidence and explain my positions. The Smart females in my tree have been a huge brick wall in my family tree for years, but undertaking this project means I’ve reached a measure of success with this line.

So, here it is — all 13 pages and 120+ source citations of it. By far the largest, most complex research report I’ve written!

Research-Report-Mary-Smart-McMurry

Readers, I’m interested in hearing what you think. Did I prove who Mary Smart’s parents were? Did I prove who her siblings were?

2 thoughts on “Winter Research Project: Mary Smart McMurry – Writing a Research Report”

  1. Good research! After reading this, I’m inclined to agree that you’ve proved your hypothesis. I wonder why we heard about Georgia, but not Callie and James? It’s one of those times I wish my mom, one of my aunts or uncles or my grandparents were still with us as they could maybe answer some of our questions!
    This thought occurred to me before reached the naming patterns sections: my aunt Addie’s name sounded close to Adline’s, and my moms middle name of Lee-later passed to me-could be related to Callie Leah. A version of this name carries on today in different spelling variations.

  2. Great article! In a strange coincidence, Candidate #2 for Mary Smart, Mary Seles “Molly” Barr who married Titus Jackson Smart, is in my grandmother McBride’s Barr family line!

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