Data Problem that is clearly NOT a data Problem
I had just opened my family tree when I saw a number of "Data Problem" icons pop up. The first one said "Born after Married" (m. 1907) for my grandfather (b. 1885 - d. 1968). I am attaching the image. I can only assume a data glitch from a bad backup or something. Any advice? Ignore these? Thanx. ==Jeff Wynn
Best Answer
-
As you know can always see the full history of a person's record in Family Tree by going through the Change Log. For the George Andrew Wynn K2FC-PF5 I see the following:
- In 2012 he was originally imported into Family Tree with birth date of 6 Mar 1885, parents James Lewis Wynn 2S8B-P6F and Elizabeth Andrews KL6L-P1Q, wife Anna Josephine Schneider, married 29 Oct 1907, and several children, and death date of 5 June 1968.
- On 21 October 2016, Catherine Miles_1 did two merges that did not change any vital information.
- On 23 January 2018, JG 'Wynn' attached multiple sources that would not have changed any vital information. I have not checked any to see if these are correct.
- On 14 and 15 January Mitch&Sue added a couple of sources
- On 6 May 2020 an automatic process made a change to a census event.
- On 25 June 2020, JG 'Wynn' made George Andrew Wynn K2FC-PF5, the son of Elizabeth Andrews KL6L-P1Q, a second husband for her. This relationship change also made George Andrew Wynn K2FC-PF5 the father of his two siblings. The shifting of relationships left Elizabeth Andrews KL6L-P1Q with two marriages and is where the data error was created:
- On 17 October 2020, a standard place was linked to a census residence which was lacking one.
This is pretty easy to fix. Just put back James as the father of William and Phena instead of George.
You can click on JG 'Wynn's name and message that user to find out how you are related, point out what happened, and ask that that user be more careful next time, teaching this cousin of yours how to use Family Tree just like you would anyone else in your calling as a T&FH leader.
It does look like JG 'Wynn' has for the most part been doing good work on the family in adding a bunch of sources and and cleaning up data. So I wouldn't be too hard on him or her over this one little glitch.
1
Answers
-
The record says that George was born in 1885, but married the first time in about 1872.
0 -
Sheesh. I have no idea when this 1872 date popped in. The correct marriage date is 1907. Can the "changer" be identified in your records?
I am becoming increasingly dismayed that my FamilySearch records are being modified loosely by people I do not know; this is one of the more egregious examples of someone doing this. About 7 - 8 generations farther back my whole Wynn line was changed by someone to a totally different track. This "derailment" was apparently done several years ago - and now I see this: "Father Changed June 25, 2020, by J.G. 'Wynn' on THIS record.
I understand from my wife's cousin that this sort of fast-and-loose editing has been a problem for some time.
Is there any way that I can lock these things down?
There were TWO repeated attempts to "kill" my uncle James Lincoln Wynn several years ago... apparently because he was born in 1923, and SOMEONE decided he must be dead by now. I changed it back to "Living" - and then someone changed it back to deceased again. I finally gave my uncle's phone number to someone in FS and asked them to not let whoever did this do it a third time.
This is all very disconcerting. It is shaking my faith in family history (and I'm the T&FH leader in my ward).
Thanx. ==Jeff Wynn
0 -
0 -
I work in Family Tree practically every day of the year, so can assure you what you are experiencing is nothing unusual. The general advice is to add your FT relatives to your "Following" list and make regular checks for any changes / attachments made by other users. Some will be useful, but others could be very damaging to your family branch(es) and cause you a lot of work in putting things straight. Look through the "change log" to see who was involved in an incorrect change, then send them a polite message (via the direct link) - although you won't necessarily get any response.
Keeping a separate database on your hard drive (where nobody can interfere!) is essential. But, for some, this all becomes all too much and they feel forced to quit Family Tree, as they cannot tolerate the open-edit format any longer. For me, the benefits outweigh the negatives, so I persevere. It's all very exasperating though - especially when you have followed all the advice on adding sources, reason statements and notes to back-up your inputs, then somebody merges your ancestor with the ID of a person who never lived within hundreds (maybe thousands) of miles of the person they consider a "duplicate".
Try not to despair, yours is a very common experience - just a very annoying and often a very time-wasting one!
0 -
Wow - thank you. I did not realize that FS also had a change long like Wikipedia until your message.
I will take care of this.
0 -
One more thought-experiment: Since a number of things were damaged in the line due to (apparently) one individual doing something carelessly... is it possible just to reverse whatever "JG Wynn" did with a single stroke on your end? In Wikipedia there is a facility to reverse whatever change a single editor made.
Thanx again for your patient replies. You guys aren't paid enough ( ;-)
0
