Error - circular links in database

DavidSmith379

I have not seen any articles referring to how to deal with this. I encountered a circular link error in the database where an individual appears again as his own great-great-great grandfather. This shows a grandson lived 925-978AD but his grandfather lived 1030-1110AD. I believe the erroneous pointer is in record GDKD-WGV which points to its father being GZLL-8H1.

The circle goes as follows (also refer to the attached screenshot):

Circular link problem.png

GZLL-8H1

GZLL-ZCY

9CXZ-QDV

9CWH-RRL

GDKD-WGV

GZLL-8H1 (and then repeats as above)

I do not know how to correct this and I do not know the correct father record to which GDKD-WGV should be pointing. Please advise.

Paul W

@DavidSmith379

Unless you have proven ancestral links I would try to avoid records going this far back. I have found they often have warning flags along the lines of the mother not being old enough to bear children (at 2 years of age!) and lead to issues such as you have found.

I think these records have often been created / amended by individuals who have nothing better to do with their time. A shame, but inputs like these reflect badly on the Family Tree project. Unfortunately, FamilySearch just does not have the resources to monitor the whole Tree and it is down to individuals users to decide whether it is worth working on these records.

As I've implied, I would leave them alone, unless they are somehow having a detrimental effect on your research. Many entries in Family Tree transpire to relate to fictional characters - like the example I found of a large branch containing mythical Scandinavian kings and queens.

If you try to put everything right in Family Tree you'll find yourself neglecting the far more important work you set out to do!

Dennis J Yancey

I agree with Paul

But if you are set on correcting it - - to break the circle simply remove the father of GDKD-WGV and leave it with no father if it is clearly impossible for the two have been father and son.

see:

https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/how-do-i-correct-parent-child-relationships-in-family-tree

do you have any original sources that go back that far??? about 1,000 years ago.

few people do.

as Paul states

stick to the people closer to you that you would be able to get good source documentation on.

Julia Szent-Györgyi

There is actually a Help Center article on exactly this type of problem ("looping pedigree"): https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/how-do-i-solve-a-looping-pedigree-in-family-tree

Learning how to fix this error may be a perfect use for these extremely-early profiles (which may as well be fiction anyway).