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I apologize if this is the wrong place to ask a question like this, but I'm asking since I'm new to using Family Search, and the process of shared research is very confusing. I recently (naively) added a suggested match as one of my great-grandmothers. Once I'd done that, I realized their whole record was a mess, with people adding different sets of parents, three or four conflicting marriages, etc. I don't want to change or challenge with these peoples' research (since I'm new and ignorant); I just want to quietly detach my tree from this record. Is there a way to do this? All the suggestions I've found seem to in some way affect the original record and require defenses and justifications. Thanks for any help, and again, if this is an inappropriate use of the forum, please let me know!
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can you point us as the ID of the record so we can look?
normally if you catch right away - you can do an unmerge.
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She's Harriet Ann Bogert MVLT-Z28. I think I added her about a week ago. I can't see an un-merge option, but I'm not sure if I'm missing it somewhere? Thank you!
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Kay, you have arrived at a point many of us bump into from time to time. From my experience, I offer the following.
- Note in your personal log that this person's (your great grandmother's) record is in a mess. Don't do anything about it now (as you are new to using Family Search), but keep it in mind as a tangled ball of string that eventually needs to be untangled.
- Once you are more familiar with the Family Search program, "creating" new people (or records), merging records, and such, you may wish to return to this great grandmother's record and begin to untangle it. I usually start by pulling out a large piece of newsprint and organizing the different families and marriages by family or location or time period. Sometimes I have found four or more families comingled, but in organizing them on the large paper, I see patterns according to one of these.
- It is good to review the sources that hold many family members names in one, such as wills or census records at this time. This may entail temporarily doing research and organization for some families that are not your own ancestors, but are similar to them.
- Once you get them organized, type this up into a document telling what you did and your conclusions as to the different families. Note the similarities and differences, such as two or three couples with the same names, children with same names born to different couples, etcetra. Put your name and contact information in the document.
- When you have completed this exercise, you might wish to run it by some of the other contributers to this messy joint family and see if they agree.
- Then, you are ready to start the reorganization of your great grandmother's records and those associated with them in Family Search. This will involve a long process in Family Search to detach relationships, "create" new people if they have previously been merged, and deflate the families into their separate families. For each family, add the same document you typed up as a "collaboration" note so that other people can contact you with questions.
This is not an easy or fun process, especially if you need more patience. It will hone your research skills. You should realize that if you have noticed this problem with your great grandmother's records, some other people probably have too, and they too have wondered what to do about the shared records. If you have written a good documentary and have separated the records well, you are doing a favor not only for the deceased, but for many of your cousins and others who have seen the mess and been afraid to start untangling and unknotting the ball of string. I still have a few of these in my lines in Family Search. I try to undo about one ball of string every two months or so. Prayer, good research, patience, and communications skills help. JMHO
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Yes, these are very good ideas. I am indeed wrestling with numerous places that are a mess. I do have old family group sheet sets and numerous old family tree diagrams (several over 100 years old) and I am trying to sort out what is vs may be correct. I should just upload those as documents and they will be there as sources to attach in support changes I make. Family myths abound and I do need to start writing those down. I am also fascinated with something you don't mention, @Dennis J Yancey are migration patterns and their historical context. Everywhere I look in my massive tree, people as family groups have made extraordinary decisions to move because they were caught up in events of a specific time and place. Then there are the loner young men, showing up from an unknown past. When their stories can be learned, they have been amazing (and in one case hysterically funny), but most in my family have taken their stories to their grave.
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Thank you very much for this! I'm intimidated by the collaborative aspect, and having the clear process and practical tips is really helpful, both for the mechanics of research and the communication factor. I'm going to save this for reference as I go forward.
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