Evidence hierarchy
The archive uses four working categories: directly documented, corroborating evidence, compiled genealogy, and verification in progress. These labels are not grades of family importance; they describe the relationship between a historical proposition and the records currently available.
OCR is an access layer, not the source
OCR text is retained because it makes names and phrases searchable. It can misread columns, punctuation, damaged type, initials, and surnames. The scanned page controls any quotation or factual disagreement.
Record-page standard
- Preserve the original scan or searchable PDF.
- Identify the original publication or repository where known.
- Provide a searchable transcription or OCR layer.
- State what the document actually establishes.
- State what it does not establish.
- Link to corroborating records and relevant entity pages.
- Separate private family tradition from independently verifiable evidence.
Genealogical relationships
Lineage charts and compiled genealogies are research maps. For a parent-child or marriage link, the preferred evidence is converging documentation such as wills, probate files, census schedules, deeds, marriage records, military files, family Bibles, cemetery records, or contemporary notices.
Website roles
The Poston Family Archive preserves the records. PostonSouthCarolina.com interprets the place history. The Poston Foundation describes the charitable Restore Poston initiative. Cross-links are intentional; the entities are not collapsed into one another.