How to separate people who shouldn't have been merged?
I have a person in my family tree who I believe is actually several people. She has around 35 kids over 5 different husbands (who all share the same very generic name Hans Hanson), has the pretty generic name Anne (although her last name is Hansdatter, which is less generic, but when I look her up I find lots of results), and she has 77 sources attached to her, which to me sounds like a lot. Where do I start? How do I know what I'm supposed to change and keep, and how do I know which one is actually my relative? This is a fairly large scale undertaking and I am not as well versed in genealogy as I could be. Any help would be wonderful!
Best Answers
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I think there are multiple people merged together
but dont be in too much of hurry to jump in and fix it all so quick
first gather as many facts and evidence as you can
an then you can work with someone to help you do the unmerging
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@spencerleedavis1 spencerleedavis1
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Spencer
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'Yes', complicated ...
An individual/person from the OLD, pre.2012, "New.FamilySearch" days.
x12 "Merges"/"Combines" since transfer from "New.FamilySearch" to "Family Tree".
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It will take time, but you must check all the x12 "Merges"/"Combines".
Some may be quite valid; whereas, some may not.
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It is a long process ...
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As an aside ...
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If I was you, I would put a "Copy" of that "Discussion" you just added in the "Life Sketch", right at the TOP of the "Person/Details" page/screen -as well.
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That way it will be "Noticed".
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Those "Discussions" quite often get OVERLOOKED, these days; as, they sit alone in their own 'Tab', many Users/Patrons (both, new and old) do not even realise that they are there.
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Just a thought.
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Good Luck.
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Brett
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Answers
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Frankly with a mess like this - I would be sure and do it jointly with someone who has more experience merging.
what is the ID of the person? We'd like to take a look
also please provide specific information as to why you think they are actually different people (versus the same person - just with duplicated relationships )
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Here is the person ID: 27FF-YYS
When you say specific information, what do you mean beyond what I've already provided?
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I was just wondering why you thought there were multiple people mangle together
simply because of the way the info shows in FS
or because of source material that proved or seemed to indicate there were multiple people with similar names etc.
Im just trying to bring myself up to speed as to this family that I know nothing about until now - so just kind of want to better understand if the differing data that make sit look like multiple people - is simply because of sloppy research / data input by others - or because sources truly to indicate different data that supports the existance of different people that have been merged together
but in short - yes - it sure seems like someone merged two different people.
Have you looked at the audit trail to see who did the merging and tried to contact them and ask them why they merged it?
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I haven't done that, thanks for the idea! I will definitely do that next. I have contacted somebody who seems to have a lot of information on her son, so I hope she has info on his mother. Right now I'm trying to figure out who is actually related to me by going through the sources and trying to piece things together. Anything in particular I should look for? This is my first big genealogy project I've ever come across so I'm still trying to feel this out.
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Perfect, thanks! I'm trying to gather the things I need to determine what's going on by doing as you already suggested as we speak. After I'm done with that I'll find someone to help me unmerge.
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