How is it possible to add the same source to two different IDs?

Paul W

I have not previously encountered this problem. I have been moving sources belonging to George Wrightson that have been incorrectly attached to George Wright, but find the one shown below has been attached to both. How has this been possible?

Could the clue lie in the fact that Elizabeth Thompson (married to George WRIGHT) had been wrongly attached as the spouse of George WRIGHTSON?

Update - I have just noticed the same duplication of the record for George Wrightson's daughter Jane's christening source ( (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J36M-55F) - i.e. attached to both IDs - see further screenshot, showing attached to both.

(I have left the identical vitals - relating to George Wrightson - attached to George Wright for the time being.)

Cindy Hecker

I have found while unmerging profiles that is when records are attached to both people...perhaps the source was added when they were merged so when unmerging they do not know which person belongs to the record so it stays attached to both until we separate all facts and sources.

Paul W

@Cindy Hecker

Thank you for your response, Cindy.

If this is the case, I have probably missed similar cases in the past. I have been used to having to delete Other Information / Residence details from the Details page (when applicable to another ID), but possibly haven't checked to see if the relating census record is still attached, when there has been an instance similar to this. Something else to look out for in future!

Julia Szent-Györgyi

It is possible to attach an index entry to multiple profiles, on purpose, using one's Source Box.

Go to the index detail page, click the Save button, and choose Save to Source Box. Then you can either go to the profile's Sources tab and use Add Source - Attach from Source Box, or you can click your profile name-and-icon at the top right, choose Source Box, and click Attach next to the citation in question.

Why you'd want to do so is a different question entirely, of course.

Paul W

@Julia Szent-Györgyi

I rarely use my source box and had only associated using it for this purpose in relation to image only records, for which I thought I might find other individuals to attach the source, at a later date.

As the wife of George Wright (Elizabeth Thompson) had been added to George Wrightson (and I had detached this relationship recently) I felt Cindy's reasoning fitted quite well to the circumstances found here.

Perhaps I should take a closer look at the respective change logs, to see if they provide further clues.

dontiknowyou

I have found instances of one source attached to as many as 5 profiles. There are several paths to this situation. Perhaps the most common and messiest path is an edit war during which two or more contributors are editing profiles simultaneously. It gets especially messy if contributors are using the mobile app, because the app interacts with the FamilySearch databases asynchronously, in bursts.

When I discover an edit war is happening, I merely follow the involved profiles then go do something else for a while. In some cases, a while can be weeks, months, or even years. Eventually I'll return and clean up the mess. Or not. If I leave it long enough, eventually someone else will do the cleanup. I clean up enough other contributors' messes that I feel no obligation to clean up any particular mess or do anything here that aggravates me. There is more than enough work to do here that is fun.

So have fun.