Request to unmerge conflated profile LY5R-Z74 (William Conner, two different people merged)

kurby72

Profile LY5R-Z74 (William Conner) contains data from two different people who have been incorrectly merged together. I posted a discussion on the Collaborate tab on January 27, 2026, and a follow-up on February 13, but have received zero community engagement after 23 days. I am requesting assistance from FamilySearch support to perform the unmerge.

**Evidence of conflation:**

1. **Two marriages 29 days apart**: Marriage to Elizabeth Polly Reader on 5 Sep 1791 AND marriage to Nancy Harvey on 4 Oct 1791 in Newbury, Massachusetts. These are clearly two different men.

2. **Contradictory birth/death geography**: Birth listed as 2 October 1755 in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts, but death as 12 July 1841 in Shenandoah, Virginia. The Massachusetts William Conner (who married Nancy Harvey) and the Virginia William Conner (who married Elizabeth Reader and died in Shenandoah per his will) are two separate individuals.

3. **Will evidence (Tier 1 source)**: Shenandoah County Will Book V, page 491, proved 12 July 1841, names wife as implied through children: daughters Polly Brill, Nancy Willis, Betsy Rosebrough, Ruth Hurbaugh, Martha Lockmiller, Levina Boehm; sons James, Severn, William, John, Samuel; granddaughter Leah Lockmiller. These are the children currently listed under Nancy Harvey — but they belong under Elizabeth Reader (the Virginia wife).

**What needs to happen:**

- Separate the Massachusetts William Conner (born 1755 Newbury, married Nancy Harvey 1791) from the Virginia William Conner (died 1841 Shenandoah, married Elizabeth Reader)
- The 10 children under Nancy Harvey should be reassigned to Elizabeth Reader based on the will evidence
- The 4 children currently under "no spouse" (Samuel, James Lawrence, Elizabeth "Betsy", Elizabeth) need review

I have already added an alert note and source citations to the profile. The existing discussion on the Collaborate tab has the full details.

Thank you for your help with this unmerge request.

A TREE

LY5R-Z74 William Conner birth - 1841 death Virginia

moved the 10 Children to spouse P3TT-SKD Elizabeth Polly Reader Virginia

Kept the 3 Children no spouse linked as all were listed in sources in Virginia

Merged 4th child no spouse to identical Elizabeth Conner Virginia

Created

PHBC-X1B William Conner 1755 birth - death Massachusetts

With LY5R-Q3F Nancy Harvey spouse Massachusetts

with correct parents MNQ6-KNC and MNQ6-KF1 as listed Massachusetts

And moved all william sources referencing Massachusetts

Hope it helped

Áine.ní.Donnghaile

@kurby72

When additional changes have been made after a merge, the "Undo Merge" is disabled, but any user can "Restore" the profile listed as "Deleted Person Before Merge." No intervention from FamilySearch staff/support is required.

From the profile of the deleted William O Conner, https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/MTKW-41Y , select "Restore Person."

You'll also need to review all the facts and sources on both profiles to be sure that they are listed with the correct William.
There is a good recent thread comparing "Undo" and "Restore" here: https://community.familysearch.org/en/discussion/185224/what-is-the-difference-between-the-unmerge-and-restore-procedures

And, if you need further help or guidance in the process, there are many experienced users here who are always happy to help.

kurby72

Thank you, @Áine.ní.Donnghaile — that's very helpful guidance!

I've actually already made progress on this. MTKW-41Y was accessible (not truly deleted), and I was able to:

1. Deleted the Elizabeth Polly Reader (P3TT-SKD) couple relationship from MTKW-41Y (it was duplicated from LY5R-Z74)
2. Deleted the James Lawrence Conner (KHZL-SRQ) parent-child relationship from MTKW-41Y (also duplicated)
3. Verified both relationships remain intact on LY5R-Z74

MTKW-41Y is now clean — it only has Polly Sampson (MTKW-HMZ) as spouse, which appears to be the Massachusetts William's wife.

The remaining issue is on LY5R-Z74 itself: the 10 children are currently listed under Nancy Harvey (the Massachusetts wife) rather than under Elizabeth Polly Reader (the Virginia wife, per the will evidence). Is there a way to reassign children from one spouse grouping to another on the same profile, or would I need to individually edit each child's parent-child relationship?

Thanks again for the help — the Undo vs Restore thread was useful context.

A TREE

GL7W-QB7 William Connor 1804–Deceased only had Massachusetts sources not virginia So moved to parents PHBC-X1B William Conner Massachusetts With LY5R-Q3F Nancy Harvey spouse Massachusetts

MNMP-WHY Caroline Conner 1806–Deceased only had Massachusetts sources not virginia So moved to parents PHBC-X1B William Conner Massachusetts With LY5R-Q3F Nancy Harvey spouse Massachusetts

Since Virginia will quote

"daughters Polly Brill, Nancy Willis, Betsy Rosebrough, Ruth Hurbaugh, Martha Lockmiller, Levina Boehm; sons James, Severn, William, John, Samuel;"

Added a new William Conner son specific to Virginia

added possible alternative names to daughters based on married surnames

Note will quote provided does not list GHL4-3GK Joseph Josiah Conner but might be because passed year earlier in 1840

Note will quote did not refer to a Caroline which only had Massachusetts sources and already moved

Hope it helped based on Massachusetts vs Virginia and will quote

A TREE

Details

LY5R-Z74 William Conner birth - 1841 death Virginia

Created PHBC-X1B William Conner 1755 birth - death Massachusetts started with clicking mother MNQ6-KNC Mary, scrolled down to Children, clicked + add child, added name 'William Conner', male, deceased, date of birth '2 October 1755', place of birth 'Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America']

Removed date of birth in Massachusetts from LY5R-Z74 William Conner Virginia but left known death in Virginia [click vitals, birth edit pencil, deleted birth date, change birth location to 'Virginia, United States', save]

Removed Massachusetts father from LY5R-Z74 William Conner Virginia [the edit pencil, father 'William Conner MNQ6-KF1', remove, reason 'Massachusetts vs Virigina']

Removed Massachusetts mother from LY5R-Z74 William Conner Virginia [the edit pencil, mother 'Mary MNQ6-KNC', remove, reason 'Massachusetts vs Virigina']

Moved the 10 Children of LY5R-Z74 William Conner Virginia to spouse P3TT-SKD Elizabeth Polly Reader Virginia [repeat for each child, the edit pencil, Mother replace, replace mother, ID number of new mother 'P3TT-SKD', reason 'Massachusetts vs Virigina']

Moved LY5R-Q3F Nancy Harvey Massachusetts spouse to PHBC-X1B William Conner Massachusetts [using for marriage, the edit pencil, replace husband, ID of new husband 'PHBC-X1B', reason 'Massachusetts vs Virigina']

Kept the 3 Children LY5R-Z74 William Conner Virginia with no spouse linked as checked were listed in sources or information in Virginia and names were included in Virigina will quote included above

Merged 4th child no spouse to identical PHZH-G56 Elizabeth Betsy Conner and M76V-JS4 Elizabeth Conner Virginia [clicked red explanation mark, merge, id 'M76V-JS4', next, clicked first and last name match, merge]

For LY5R-Z74 William Conner Virginia checked each sources to disconnect any in Massachusetts, read each source to see if Massachusetts [repeat for each source, click source, read 'to confirm Massachusetts in this case', detach, reason 'Massachusetts vs Virigina', Detach]

For PHBC-X1B William Conner Massachusetts now have record hints to attach Massachusetts sources as already connected to correct parents and source and sources are disconnected from LY5R-Z74 William Conner Virginia [for each record hint, read, review and attach, attach]

Hope it helped

kurby72

@A TREE — Thank you so much for the thorough and careful work on this separation! I've verified LY5R-Z74 and everything looks correct: Elizabeth Polly Reader as spouse, all 10 children reassigned, MA parents removed, sources properly separated between profiles, and PHBC-X1B created for the Massachusetts William. Your note about Joseph Josiah Conner (GHL4-3GK) not appearing in the will is a good catch — he likely predeceased his father (d. 1840, will proved 1841). I noticed one small remnant: there's still an "Intention of Marriage, 17 September 1791, Newburyport, Essex, Massachusetts" custom event on LY5R-Z74 that appears to belong to the Massachusetts William. I'll clean that up. Thanks again for the excellent work — this was a complicated conflation and you handled it perfectly.