When conflicting evidence rears its ugly head in our research, we have to confront it. We can’t ignore it. If we ignore it, other researchers will find it and then that puts our other conclusions into question. Many times, conflicting evidence can be easily explained and you can set aside the “wrong answer” and focus on the right one. Let’s look at this in practice with my George Long project.

“My” George Long has been attributed as having served during the War of 1812. However, my research has indicated that he arrived in 1817 at the earliest. A “Graves Registration Card” for “my” George Long, who died in Hancock County in 1855, indicates that he was a soldier during the War of 1812 and served as a Private in Lieutenant Robert Harvey’s Company.¹

I investigated the origin of this card. As a New Deal program under the Works Progress Administration, workers attempted to identify all of the veterans who were buried in the State of Ohio. The veterans were indexed as part of the “Grave registration cards A–Z, soldiers buried in Ohio from the Revolutionary War to World War II” collection at the Ohio History Connection.² This project was undertaken in the late 1930s under the Historical Records Survey, sponsored by the Ohio Adjutant General’s Department. 

“The project was ambitious, trying to record the grave of every veteran buried in Ohio, but the record is far from comprehensive and the information not always accurate. The information on the cards was taken from burial or cemetery records or from information on the headstones. Information about military service may have come from the county recorder’s office or military rosters or the local GAR. It is hard to say with any certainty where the information on an individual card came from.”

Indeed, a George Long did serve in the War of 1812 for Ohio in Robert Harvey’s Company. That company’s service was from 13 July until 17 August 1813. The roster indicates the company was “probably from Ross County.”⁴ There is another George Long who served in Captain Isaac Pancake’s Company, also “probably from Ross County.”⁵ Ross County is in the south central portion of Ohio, not near the northeastern counties that would later make up Carroll County. There are no George Longs living in Ross County during the 1820 census enumeration.⁶ Only one George Long has been located in Ross County; a man who was about 30–40 years old was enumerated there in 1840.⁷ If he were born in about 1800, he would have only been 12 years old at the start of the war, too young to have served.

There are seventeen cards for men named George Long in the War of 1812 Service Record Index, two for service in Ohio.⁸ One served in the 1^st Regiment (McDonald’s) Ohio Militia as a private.⁹ The other served in the 2^nd Regiment (Willett’s) Ohio Militia as a private.¹⁰

If George Long arrived in 1817, he likely did not serve during the War of 1812. It is possible that he could have served, returned home to Ireland, and then returned to the U.S. with his family by daughter Catherine’s reported birth in 1820 in Ohio. However, it would have been a long and difficult voyage across the Atlantic during the 1810s and 1820s, which usually took about six weeks before the use of steam power in the 1830s. However, if George was a soldier in the War of 1812, it seems likely that his grandson’s biographical sketch would have mentioned him as one of the heroes of that war, as many biographical sketches did. Furthermore, no soldier’s pension for any George Long of Ohio, including the two Privates in the 1^st and 2^nd Regiments, has been located.¹¹ Beyond the connection made in the WPA Soldiers’ Grave Registration Project, there is no indication that George Long, the father of William, served during the War of 1812. The more likely scenario is that he did not serve, and the service of another George Long has been attributed to him.

In fact, the other George Long (whom I call “Candidate 11”) that lived in Hancock County has an obituary that mentions his service during the War of 1812. It seems they both were attributed with the service of the other George Long.

This is an example of resolving conflict in my George Long project. I found a conflict that I couldn’t ignore and had to explain. This caused me to conduct research that ultimately did not apply to “my” George Long but had to be done to prove that he, in fact, did not serve during the War of 1812. Address the conflicts you find so they are explained and not left hanging.

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^{1. Ohio, Adjutant General’s Department, “Grave Registration Cards A–Z, soldiers buried in Ohio from the Revolutionary War to World War II, circa 1810–1967,” Works Progress Administration Project, Historical Records Survey, card for George Long, died 7 Oct 1855, Thomas Cemetery; image, “US, Ohio, Soldiers Grave Registration Cards, 1804–1958,” Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/)↩}

^{2.  “Grave Registration Cards A–Z, soldiers buried in Ohio from the Revolutionary War to World War II, circa 1810–1967,” Ohio History Connection (https://ohiohistory.on.worldcat.org/), catalog entry.↩}

^{3. Tutti Jackson, Library Services, Ohio History Connection (reference@ohiohistory.org) email to author on 29 Dec 2023.↩}

^{4. Roster of Ohio Soldiers in the War of 1812 (Columbus, Ohio: Adjutant General of Ohio, 1916), p. 51. Neither a War of 1812 pension or service card have been located for George Long of Robert Harvey’s Company.↩}

^{5. Roster of Ohio Soldiers in the War of 1812, p. 113.↩}

^{6. “1820 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7734/). Search for George Long in Ross County, Ohio. The 1810 Federal census for Ohio is not extant. See Kip Sperry, Genealogical Research in Ohio, 3rd ed. (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2023), p. 79.↩}

^{7. See 1840 U.S. census, Ross County, Ohio, population schedule, Concord Twp., p. 292, George Long household; image, “1840 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/).↩}

^{8. “US, War of 1812 Service Record Index, 1812–1815,” Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/publication/875/us-war-of-1812-service-record-index-1812-1815). Search for George Long. None of the cards returned are for men in Harvey’s or Pancake’s regiments.↩}

^{9. General Index Card, George Long, Private, 1st Regiment (McDonald’s), Ohio Militia, War of 1812; Indexes to the Carded Records of Soldiers Who Served in Volunteer Organizations During the War of 1812, compiled 1899 – 1927, documenting the period 1812 – 1815; Record Group 94: Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780s–1917; image, “US, War of 1812 Service Record Index, 1812–1815,” Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/). McDonald’s regiment was not included in the Ohio Adjutant General’s 1812 Roster. See Roster of Ohio Soldiers in the War of 1812 (Columbus, Ohio: Adjutant General of Ohio, 1916).↩}

^{10. General Index Card, George Long, Private, 2nd Regiment (Willett’s), Ohio Militia, War of 1812; Indexes to the Carded Records of Soldiers Who Served in Volunteer Organizations During the War of 1812, compiled 1899 – 1927, documenting the period 1812 – 1815; Record Group 94: Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780s–1917; image, “US, War of 1812 Service Record Index, 1812–1815,” Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/). Willett’s regiment was not included in the Ohio Adjutant General’s 1812 Roster. See Roster of Ohio Soldiers in the War of 1812 (Columbus, Ohio: Adjutant General of Ohio, 1916).↩}

^{11. “US, War of 1812 Pension Files, 1812–1815,” Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/publication/761/us-war-of-1812-pension-files-1812-1815/description). Searched for George Long in Ohio. There are four pensions for men named George Long, in South Carolina, Virginia, and two in Maryland. One George Long who served in Captain Brown’s Company in Maryland, lived in Hancock County at the time of his pension application. That man’s wife was Elizabeth Rockey and they lived in Amanda Township, not Portage Township. That man has been identified as “Candidate 11.” See previous posts.↩}