The Meason proof path
Following the documented family line through Benjamin while testing where Benjamin belongs among the earlier Measons.
9 lineage links · 6 questions tracked · Reviewed 2026-09-26
Follow this proof pathProof paths
What can I actually establish?
I am tracing two lines from myself toward earlier ancestors. Each generation needs a supported relationship, and some of those links remain open.
Why these paths
A family connection deserves an explanation.
I want to trace my Meason line from myself through Benjamin to Thomas Meason senior. I also want to test a Sledge line toward the John Sledge associated with a family SAR claim. Each page starts with me and shows every proposed generational connection in order.
Each evidence badge records the current assessment of its own link. A separate, five-part GPS assessment shows which standards the reviewed evidence supports, where the work is close, and what remains. I assess several individual links as satisfying the GPS criteria, including the first two modern links supported by privately held records and firsthand evidence. Their private records are not published here. These are my assessments of the evidence; no independent review is claimed. An open link keeps the overall lineage open, however strong the neighboring links are.
The standard
What makes a genealogical proof?
I use the five parts of the Genealogical Proof Standard to test each consequential relationship or identity conclusion. A proof may be short or long, depending on the question and the evidence it takes to answer it. A will or birth certificate may state a relationship directly, but the search, citation, and reasoning still need to support the precise lineage claim. These pages are working assessments, with fuller proof arguments still needed for disputed links.
- 01
Research the question reasonably exhaustively.
- 02
Cite sources completely and accurately.
- 03
Analyze and correlate the evidence.
- 04
Resolve conflicting evidence.
- 05
Write a sound conclusion based on the strongest evidence.
The work in progress
Two paths through the evidence
The Sledge proof path
Tracing Mary Estelle Sledge's family toward the John Sledge named in a 1798 Hancock County will, one relationship at a time.
10 lineage links · 9 questions tracked · Reviewed 2026-09-26
Follow this proof pathReading the assessments
What the badges mean
Documented
A reviewed record directly names this narrow relationship.
Accepted indirect
A reasoned conclusion rests on correlated indirect evidence.
Supported inference
Evidence favors an explanation; a proof gap remains.
Open
The available evidence does not establish the proposed link.
Excluded
Reviewed evidence rules out this proposed identification.
Not yet assessed here
This link has not yet received a public assessment on this site.