Etiquette for delinking a doc from another person on the tree?
Hello, I am a novice FS user
Maria Agnes Burke 96QM-QND is my great-grandmother. FS is suggesting a document be linked to her: Maria Brooks Massachusetts, State Vital Records, 1638-1927, page 262.
https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/linker?ark=/ark:/61903/1:1:FX4M-41H&id=96QM-QND&hinting=/tree/person/details/96QM-QND
I have viewed the original image of this doc. The mother's surname Maria "Brooks" was indeed transcribed correctly. However, I am 99.9% certain this document should be correctly attributed to Maria Agnes Burke 96QM-QND. The city is correct match to my ancestors, the occupation (Coachman) of the spouse Thomas Francis Nolan 96XK-8P1 is a correct match.
However, this document is already linked to others: Maria J McDonald L4Z3-VH6 and Thomas Francis Nolan 27MY-63L. So how do I remedy?
Is it a breach of etiquette to delink the document to someone else's entries if I am 99.9% certain that both of these parent attributions (plus the daughter Mary Nolan) are incorrect?
Please advise.
Best Answers
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@ANDREAPAULSON It is perfectly acceptable to detach a source from a tree profile when you can show why it is incorrectly attached. The article A source that I want to attach in Family Tree is attached to someone else explains how to do this. Be sure that you give very clear reasons why it should be detached and when attached to the new tree profile why it should be attached.
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As long as you have done sufficient research, there is nothing wrong with detaching a source document from one person and attaching it to another. In fact, you are doing a great service in improving the overall quality of Family Tree.
As you detach the record, you should provide a good reason statement for your action. You could slightly reword the reasoning you gave above, explaining the closer match of the name (Burke is much closer to Brooks than is McDonald) and the matching occupation.
You also might want to review other sources attached to Maria J McDonald to see if there are other similar problems. In this case, there is another source that is worth considering: Maria Brooks in entry for Mary Nolan, "Massachusetts, Births and Christenings, 1639-1915"
A final step that I consider to be good etiquette when detaching a source is to look for facts or events that may have been added to Maria J McDonald through the incorrectly attached source. If you find any (I don't see any in this case), then deleting them is an additional service that is helpful.
And as a side note, I would commend you for your post. You provided excellent details and helpful links and IDs, and you are clearly trying to learn how to do things properly on FamilySearch. Well done!
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