Problem with the file on Joseph Hewes LCYM-ZXW

System · February 17, 2022

This discussion was created from comments split from: Need assistance with tree mistakes.

RobertTest · February 17, 2022

There is a problem -- not just one -- but ten specific errors I've found on the read-only file of one of the members of the Second Continental Congress who signed the Declaration of Independence. The file on Joseph Hewes LCYM-ZXW is a complete mess. It looks like the product of a middle-school student who delayed doing his homework until the morning the assignment was turned in.

Some of the basic facts are wrong and none of the sources or citations to sources are close to being adequate. I've tried getting corrections made before on this file and it seems that whoever attempted to correct problems in the past was not competent enough to make any proper changes.

For just one example, three different dates of birth are attributed to Mr. Hewes. We do have primary source documentation of his date of birth in the Quaker records. You can reject those records but the existence of those records should be acknowledged and reason for rejecting them clearly stated. In one case on the familysearch file, the document referenced to verify the alleged date of birth does not even provide a date of birth.

Another example: under his religious affiliation he is described as a Quaker. It is true that he was born into a Quaker family -- but at the age of 25 he joined an Anglican congregation and soon became a member of the vestry or church council. He remained an Anglican the rest of his life. I don't care if any mention is made of religious affiliation or not but if you think its important to identify his early affiliation with the Quakers it might be just as important to identify his affiliation with Anglicanism throughout his adult life.

The "Life Sketch" provided for Hewes is copied from Wikipedia. That's fine -- it's clearly the most authoritative source mentioned in the familysearch file on Hewes. That's rather sad when you consider the importance of primary source documentation in genealogical research and the relative abundance of primary source material available on Hewes if you know where to look for it.

One of the great things about Wikipedia is that their articles are open to edits, corrections, and most importanlty, new information. I understand the need sometimes for read-only files. Wikipedia also recognizes the need for read-only articles where editing privileges are confined within a small qualified group of editors.

Simply updating the "Life Sketch" on Joseph Hewes to include the latest version of the wikipedia article on Hewes would be a small step forward.

Thank you