Carl Swain Comments, etc

Carl E. Swain Page Criticism

I received the following guestbook entry from Carl E.Swain and though it
would be interesting to include it here with my responses and his responses here. So,
here it is and draw your own conclusions.

swain family page

7/5/00

Name: Carl E. Swain

Email: berkseng@g-net.net

Message Readers, especially beginners, should pay very close attention to the disclaimer regarding the authenticity of the Swain genealogical information posted on this website.

This is my response to Carl Swain's guestbook entry emailed to him.

7/5/00

Carl,

What am I going to do with you? My Swain site is what it is. The comments you put in the guestbook were not very friendly. Just what is it you are trying to say, that my sources are questionable. I would venture to say that yours or anyone's could be. Just because you find it in some record somewhere does not make it 100 % correct. I have found numerous mistakes by so called experts and in publicly accepted records. There is no way to 100% prove anything unless you were were there and knew the persons yourself. Public records, wills, etc. are subject to error also.

If you see any obvious mistake in the information on the site, state it and I will fix it, if I can. Otherwise, try to be a little kinder and gentler, life is too short for this.

Vergie Barber DeAntonio

This is Carl E. Swain's Response to the above.

7/6/00

Vergie:

For your information, I am a professional genealogist with over 50 years
experience. Most of the information that appears on the Internet regarding
Richard Swain and his descendants came from my collection which I
reluctantly released back in 1984. I have copies of the original documents
that will certify the accuracy of my work and I do not need anyone like you
to challenge the accuracy of some of the original records which were created
over 400 years ago in England. If you do not trust my work then why do you
post the results of my work on your website. I believe I have the moral
right to challenge anyone when they are misusing the results of my work
which was previously shared with others in good faith. When you use the
work done by others at least have the good sense and taste to give them
credit for that work. Also, you need to provide an identification of the
sources for your information. Unsubstantiated work as it relates to a
beginning researcher is practically worthless. I have received several
e-mail contacts from beginners who were almost in tears over the fact that
they were mislead by erroneous information posted on the Internet which
caused them to lose valuable time and spend their money for nothing. I have
no sympathy for anyone who would knowlingly mislead anyone with their
genealogical work especially if it is of an egotistical nature for personal
gain.

My main criticism of your website is that you have commercialized genealogy
for your own personal and monetary gain and that falls in the category of
unethical behaviour. Even in your disclaimer statement you confess and
admit the use of the work done by others. In conclusuion, I will continue
to criticize any effort made by anyone who will knowingly and willingly
mislead those honest, sincere and dedicated people who are researching their
Swain ancestors. In addition, you appear to be establishing some kind of
central distributuion point for Swain genealogical information. Forgive me
but I thought that was the purpose of the Swain Family Genealogy Forum which
you have obviously usurped. I will continue to respond to those inquiries
that I receive about information which is posted on the Internet and I will
also continue to criticize those websites which I deem to be of questionable
content.

Carl E. Swain

This is my response to the above.

7/6/00

Dear Sir,

If you are referring to the information on my site located at http://www.vergie.com/index.html, let me explain where I found it. I found that page through a search which produced the page with no links back to its origin. There was no way to traced it back to its owner and no copyright sign on it. Therefore I used it and also constructed a chart from the information on the page. If this is your work, I will give you credit for it, just tell me how you want the credit to read and give me the proper internet address for your site, which I doubt you have or I would have found it.

The other work on the page is from my personal memory, census records of Washington & Tyrrell Counties and persons buried at Piney Grove Church, Washington County, NC.

As to what " profit" I make from this site. Believe me, it is is very small and used to off set the cost of the site. This site costs close to $ 100 per month to maintain and the profits don't even come close covering this expense. I don't use a free site. The free sites are full of ads and make profit as you know for others..

Personally, I have trouble understanding your rudeness without even trying to find out where and how I got my information you make assumptions that I took your work. To my knowledge, I have never seen your work. I hope you are not one of those person who is just interested in the " credit" and not the work. Do you make your living at this? I am sure that you know a considerable amount about the Swains but you know nothing of the NC Swains (my grandmother was a Swain, making me, of course, a Swain descendent) that I grew up with and many are still in the area. The very Swains that came from Steven Swain. They have given my lots of information. I would rather work together than be in a conflict over who did what.

By the way Swain Family Genealogy Forum also has ads on their pages. Someone is making money on them. I see an ad for cell phones and one for Family Tree Maker^®.

Looking forward to receiving your credit line and page address.

Vergie Barber DeAntonio

This is Carl E. Swain's response to the above

Dear Ms. Deantonio:

It might surprise you to learn that I am a recognized authority on the
Swains of North Carolina. Such authority can be attested to by several
members of the staff of the North Carolina State Archives and North Carolina
State Library. One of my dearest friends in North Carolina is retired State
Archivist, Dr. Thornton W. Mitchell, who over the years has been very
helpful in my quest to obtain microfilm copies of the original records that
pertains to the Swains. Dr. Mitchell gave me credit in his book on North
Carolina wills as one of those who provided him with information for the
book. Robert H. Swain, author of Swains of Nantucket can also attest to my
qualifications on the Swains of North Carolina. I did the professional work
that established the Robert H. Swain lineage and documented his connection
to the Nantucket Swains. For your information.,I am the proud owner of the
original document that proves Stephen Swain of Chowan County, NC was a
native of Nantucket. That document is included in my rare books and
manuscripts collection which has now grown to substantial size.

Regarding your offer to work together I must graciously decline since I am
many years ahead of you on the Swains. No, I am not one of those " credit
hounds" but I consider it to be a very valuable asset for someone who has
invested so much of their life in the genealogical field. No, I do not make
a living with my genealogical work but I do have over $100,000 dollars
invested in my collection. Thank you for confirming that you have a
commercial interest in genealogy. You have obviously misinterpreted
constructive criticism for rudeness which I can understand.

Now to the subject of genealogy on the Internet. If properly used, the
Internet can provide very valuable information to a researcher if that
researcher is qualified with the basic principles of genealogy as prescribed
in many published references such as those published by the National
Genealogical Society of which I am a member and have been for many years. I
attend many of their national conferences and associate myself with many of
the professionals for whom I have great respect. If improperly used, the
Internet can become a wasteland of misinformation that can cause severe
problems for many dedicated researchers who are now coming on board.

I have no plans for an Internet website since I have no need for such in my
work. I will continue to maintain my list of those websites which I
consider to be valuable sources for information on the Swains. I rate each
site according to the accuracy of the information posted thereon along with
the sources and references for such information. I also maintain a list of
Internet websites which I consider to be the worse as far as genealogy is
concerned. I have also learned the hard way that there are some people in
this world who will knowlingly post inaccurate information as well as
" manufactured" lineages for their own egotistical purposes.

This will be my final contact with you since you obviously do not have any
information on the Swains which would add any additional value to my
collection.

Carl E. Swain

My response to the above.

7/6/00

Dear Sir:

I read your response carefully and I did not see the information that I have on my site that you say is your work, mentioned. The chart and and link that I mentioned above came from the internet in a search and since you have no web site, whose work is it? If it is yours, someone must have put it on the internet, therefore, I believe your accusation of me stealing your work was premature.

I am glad to hear that you are an expert on Swains in NC, but you have not yet pointed out the mistakes on my site that you mentioned for me to correct. It really isn't fair to say that you have mistakes on your site and tell everyone there are mistakes and yet don't give me the chance to correct them. There is nothing on the site which has been " knowingly posted" with inaccurate information nor are there any " manufactured" lineages. If there are mistakes, they are honest ones.

I have posted your email responses and my responses on the site so that everyone may see and read your objections. If I can be of assistance to you in the future, please contact me.

Vergie Barber DeAntonio

NOTE: I really have no further comment on the above information, except to say that I will let the emails speak for themselves. My grandmother, Ida Mae Swain Spruill, would probably say, just let it be, child, and I think I will follow her advice. If anyone has any information to add to this site or a correction to make to a mistake on the site, please email me. All Swains are welcome!

Vergie Barber DeAntonio

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Vergie Barber DeAntonio

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