Record Searching

LegacyUser

Franz Georg Peter Steinfest said: Since I have not spoken English in more than 50 years, I have translated the text electronically - I apologize for errors.

I make the suggestion to automatically combine the search function in the "Last Name" record with the "Name Variants". Particularly in older documents, very different names were recorded from the family names due to phonetic spellings or inadequate language skills of the immigrants, but these always concerned the same person.
Here's an example: : https://www.familysearch.org/tree/per...
The most curious variant happened with Steinfest when it became the permanent family name STINEFAST. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/per...

This automatic merging would allow faster and better mapping. To rule out that people who do not belong to each other are connected, I suggest the following:
Not only the name variants with the first and last name are checked automatically, but also
- Birthplace, country of birth
- Birth date +/- 2 years
- Location state, county, or state in the United States
- family members
This suggested search function should happen in the background and should not result in you being permanently connected without confirmation from a family researcher. Only when this has been done can it be released. I gave you an example of the case of Frank / Franz Steinfest from Bohemia - born in 1800 – above (LBCN-G8J)
Let's stick to this example:
1. Which person has the same name?
2. Are there people with the same date of birth (+/- 2 years)?
3. Which people have the same place of birth / country of birth (here the problem arises in particular with European countries that they have changed significantly (eg Bohemia - first Kingdom of Bohemia, then belonging to Austria, then for a few years to the German Empire, then from the end of 1918 own state of Czechoslovakia, then 1993 years independent state of the Czech Republic))
4. Which family members appear with different names?

LegacyUser

Tom Huber said: Welcome to the community-powered feedback forum for FamilySearch. FamilySearch personnel read every discussion thread and may or may not respond as their time permits. We all share an active interest in using the resources of this site and as users, we have various levels of knowledge and experience and do our best to help each other with concerns, issues, and/or questions.

The new compare routines for merges does check and report errors. The problem is that many (inexperienced) users do not pay attention to the errors and therefore produce bad results.

The problem of changing borders is something that is very difficult to address because it takes a detailed knowledge of the history of the place to know what was going on.

As an example, I have a relative that immigrated to what would become the United States. He was born during the thirty years' war between the protestants and Roman Catholics. His place of birth was, at the time, still part of the Holy Roman Empire, even though it is located in what is now northwestern Germany between Denmark and Holland.

Even if the records survived (they didn't and were largely destroyed during the war), I'm not sure what the location would be for where my immigrant ancestor was likely born.

LegacyUser

Franz Georg Peter Steinfest said: Hello Tom Huber,
A basic requirement for good family research should be that all data correspond to what it was at the time of the event. For German family researchers, this includes knowing the history with its spatial and state changes (conquering territories, shifting borders, changes in rule).
In times of wikipedia, it is very easy to find out which rulership the town / city belonged to at the time. If you write that your ancestor lived between Denmark and Holland, it can only be Friesland. If you enter the place and "Friesland" you will get an answer quickly.

Franz Steinfest

LegacyUser

A van Helsdingen said: Sorry to be pedantic, but Holland is not a country. Holland is a region that is now 2 of the 12 provinces of the Netherlands.

This common mistake by English speakers, while trivial, does annoy those from the non-Hollandic parts of the Netherlands, who make up nearly two thirds of the population. The majority of my Dutch ancestry is non-Hollandic, and most of my Hollandic heritage is from far-flung rural regions in the North that culturally align closer to the province of Friesland rather than Holland.

Calling the Netherlands "Holland" would be like calling the United States "California" after its most populous state.

LegacyUser

Franz Georg Peter Steinfest said: Hello, Mr. van Helsdingen,
you are absolutely right. This error also happens to me as a German, because for us Holland = Netherlands. I will remember the difference.
Tom Huber, who asked the question, first has to find out the name of the place from which his ancestor came. Then he has to see if that name has changed over time. Then he can search in which country the place is then and now. As a family researcher, I would always state the nationality at that time and possibly the political changes that have occurred since then.
I have a problem with Bohemia in my family.
Sincerely
Franz Steinfest

LegacyUser

Tom Huber said: No worries, A Van. I was being lazy and didn't want to spell out the Netherlands.

LegacyUser

Tom Huber said: In my instance, I was on a month-long project to clean up the record of my immigrant ancestor who was basically from Friesland back in the days of the thiry-years' war and likely left because of it.