How to Analyze a Record in the FamilySearch Family Tree: Part Three -- What is missing?

In this post, I am continuing to show the process of analyzing a record in the FamilySearch.org Family Tree. Continuing from the earlier posts, the easy part is now done. The entry for Dr. David Shepherd Jr. has received its first clean up and the Record Hints have been added. What is next?

I am still concerned about the name including the title and the designation as a "Jr." The grave marker photo on FindAGrave.com has the name spelled "Shipherd" with the birthdate and death date as shown in the details above. There is also a second grave marker with the name "D Shipherd" and yet a third photo of a grave marker with the name, "Dr David." Does the existence of three grave markers imply three different people?

None of the sources suggested in the Record Hints gives any specific and timely information about his birth or the original spelling of this name. The information on the FindARecord.com website is not supported by any documents. You would have to make the assumption that the grave marker with the "Dr David" and the one showing "Shipherd" with the dates of birth and death, to be the same person. The date of burial reflects the place in FindAGrave.com but the date is estimated from the death date. So we are missing any documents or records that show the birth and death information other than the guesses.

In addition, the name here includes both a title (Dr.) and a suffix (Jr.) neither of which show up on any of the records so far.

From my experience, most beginning genealogists would think they were finished at this point. The entry is complete. There is a "source" for the information and it would seem to be time to move on to other people. Is that realistic? Not at all. It is still time to do some more research. According to what is in the record already, he lived until 1877. So he should be in the 1850, 1860 and 1870 U.S. Census records. This is an obvious record to find. Here is the 1870 U.S. Census record.

This supports the designation as "Dr." because his occupation is defined as "Physician." It also provides support for his wife's name. The record has "Sally Smith" but Sally is a common nickname for Sarah. The ages of David and his wife are also approximated by the ages in the census record. That provides a little more information and confirms what we already have. Next we find the 1860 U.S. Census:

This additional record raises some questions about the names of the children, but otherwise supports what is already in the Family Tree. However, David Shepherd is not shown as a physician, but as a farmer. Checking on Ancestry.com, I found eleven more Record Hints.

Here is the 1850 U.S. Census record from Ancestry.com.

There are a number of additional records and the children still need to be corrected and sources added. This is an ongoing project. I can keep adding records and correcting the entries until the sources become much harder to find.

As I continue to add sources, the confidence level of the entries become higher and higher.

Here are the previous parts of this series:

http://rejoiceandbeexceedingglad.blogspot.com/2017/10/how-to-analyze-record-in-familysearch_8.html
http://rejoiceandbeexceedingglad.blogspot.com/2017/10/how-to-analyze-record-in-familysearch.html