Source for why FamilySearch created person MWM1-ZHP

RubyMosher1

Hi,

The following person exists in the Family Tree. Information in the change log, makes it appear the person may have been created by FamilySearch staff, but it is not clear. And there are no records attached to the person.

Stephen Coates Male 1794 – Deceased•MWM1-ZHP

I've searched for a Stephen Coats born in 1794, but cant find a reference. Can you provide a source for this person's existence?

Thanks much,

Ruby

Adrian Bruce1

@RubyMosher1 - you may already know this but if you do a Search / Genealogies within FamilySearch, and look for Stephen Coates with his parents, it turns out that he came from the old "Ancestral File" part of FamilySearch, presumably when, as Mandy says, FS Family Tree was first loaded in 2012. His entry on https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:1:MWM1-ZHP?lang=en says

Vitals

Name Stephen COATES
Sex Male
Birth <1794> <Northampton, Ma>

It gives his parents as Stephen and Eunice as per their details in FS FamilyTree and a citation that reads:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Ancestral File," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:1:MWM1-ZHP : accessed 2025-04-19), entry for Stephen COATES (1XJP-PN8); submitted by [identity withheld for privacy].

Privacy advocates say thank you for withholding the identity. Genealogists are not so sure…

Stephen b (abt?) 1794 is the last one of several children born to his parents. Those values in brackets sound like estimates to me. Most of his siblings have genuine Christening dates so I'd speculate that Stephen's details have been found elsewhere - maybe in a will?

There are various ancestors, submitted by various people, but Massachusetts is a common theme. That's as useful as the Ancestral File entries are, I'm afraid.

RubyMosher1

Thank you all! It is very helpful to know the backgound information.

MandyShaw1

Firstly, this profile was clearly created when the current Family Tree was first populated in 2012. That import provided few meaningful sources, because the data imported did not supply them. It is up to us users collectively to plug the gaps in the collaborative Tree.

However the profile's Change Log indicates that one user has contributed to it since, and if you click on their contact id you should be able to contact them to discuss this individual. They aren't obliged to respond, but it's worth a try.

Finally, be clear that the members of this Community are mostly not FS staff, just ordinary users.

Jack Hern

So, as explained, early AF files may or may not have had sources attached, thus the lack of detail. However, it is very likely that an older source, or early indexed source was used by the original patron. Therefore, the source materiel is in the system somewhere, so have faith and keep coming back from time to time to see if it gives you the source suggestion. Also search under Ancestry; their algorithm is slightly different, as well as having access to some addition record collections.

Áine Ní Donnghaile

The source material is somewhere, certainly, but not necessarily in the system. The old imported files were not created using online sources.

Gordon Collett

In the early computerized FamilySearch record those brackets <> indicated a computer generated estimate to fill in a blank field. This means they can be worse than estimates created by people.