I have a merging question. Do I keep the oldest ID of a person when merging with a newer ID of a per

Dpiorkow

Do I keep the oldest ID of a person (Charles Couturier ID: MLY6-FRM) when merging with a newer ID (Charles Couture ID: GHTY-VSD). I know this is the same person as I found out their original name was Couturier. I apparently created ID GHTY-VSD from records of the name Charles Couture.

Thanks for the help.

Brett .

@Dpiorkow Dpiorkow​ 

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FYI

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Just my thoughts ...

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Short Answer:  'Yes', PLEASE do.

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ALWAYS keep the OLDEST individual/person in 'Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch'; as, the "Surviving" individual/person, REGARDLESS of how much "Detail" that contains.

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NEVER keep a NEW individual/person in 'Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch'; as, the "Surviving" individual/person.

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[ Even if you "Created" the NEW individual/person ... ]

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Again, just my thoughts ...

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Brett

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LegacyUser

Thank you!

JeffWiseman

The main thing is to make absolutely sure that both records really ARE representing the same person and don't contain any previous schizophrenic (i.e., incorrect) merges.

 

I disagree some with Brett though. I usually vet the most complete record, and then assuming it is good, I merge the less complete record into it. It tends to be less work. However, if one of the records is much older (say, going back to the time FSFT was created in 2012) and especially if temple work was completed on it, then I might merge into that older record.

 

Merging the record with the least or less accurate/detailed information into the greater and more complete one does tend to be less work. And the ordinances being displayed will (or at least are supposed to) maintain the earliest versions of the ordinances regardless of the order of the merge. Obviously, if you can't see the ordinances, it is of little consequence.

 

But if one record has had a lot of research and evolution in its change history, that change history will NOT come over if it is merged into another (older OR newer) record. That change history remains attached to the record that is deleted (archived) via the merge. I prefer to have the records in the tree where the bulk of it's history is visible. Always choosing to merge away the "newest" record will guarantee that big chunks of that person record's history will be rather difficult to trace in many cases.

Dennis J Yancey

dont worry so much about the ID you chose - about which ID is left - rather focus on the correctness and completeness of the data as the two prior posts discuss.