Mistakes Genealogists Make
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ก.ค. 2024
- Here are 15 common mistakes genealogists make in 15 minutes. Everyone makes some of these mistakes, don’t let it be you.
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TIMING
0:00 Intro.
0:17 Importing from others’ trees.
1:30 Assume it’s true if in records.
2:15 Original vs copy of records.
3:04 Not keeping research notes on direct ancestors.
3:55 Not transcribing records.
4:34 Not researching at state or national archives.
5:00 Getting upset about unanswered requests.
6:10 Assuming others’ trees are correct.
7:28 Not understanding negative evidence.
8:25 Not looking at local libraries.
8:56 Not creating a research question.
9:44 Being Unorganized.
12:18 Take a DNA test.
13:13 Not looking on other platforms.
14:15 Not reaching out to family members.
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I am a fanatic for genealogy, family history and DNA to research my American ancestors. I create the best free genealogy videos and webinars on TH-cam. Learn genealogy research skills to help you with your family tree and family origins. I am a professional genealogist; I teach research skills and records research. The best videos on “Genealogy TV” (TH-cam) are about learning research notes, logs, staying organized, genetic genealogy, finding missing ancestors, and where to find family history records. Learn genealogy for free and how to research on Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, MyHeritage.com, FindMyPast.com, FamilyTreeDNA, AncestryDNA, 23andMe, WikiTree, Geni, National Genealogical Society, National Archives, National and State Archives, genealogical & historical societies, genealogybank.com, Chronicling America, Newspapers.com, Newspaper Archives.com, Fold3, Archive.org, Internet Archive, Wayback Machine, Digital Public Libraries, Google, Google Books, Google News, Facebook genealogy groups, and the very best genealogy websites and resources.
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I’ve been slowly working on getting my digital records more organized. You mentioned that you make a cover sheet for your documents. I heard you mention that in another, video, also, and I think in that case you were talking about digital documents. I really need to do that-I’d like to add a source citation and maybe a comment or two. My question is , how do you do it? I tried just pasting the document-say a marriage bond-into a Word file, but I have to shrink it so much, it becomes unreadable. How do you actually do this?
Great question. I'm producing a video that will be out in a few weeks about getting organized. Stay tuned. Thanks for supporting the channel.
Good info. Don't assume that a census record will tell all necessary details. My 3rd great grandfather married 3 times. After his 1st wife died he remarried. On the census record he is listed as "head". The children from his 1st marriage are correctly listed as his children, but almost all of the people who attached that record have incorrectly connected those children as the daughters of his 2nd wife. What's frustrating is that they have all copied the family history that clearly states this fact, yet have not actually read it! I put a note on that document to clarify this, but not one person has corrected it on their trees
I send them a message as well.
I know what you mean ggf married twice and everyone assumes the second wife was the mother. I noticed it and removed the 2nd and informed the one cousin who was doing reseach
Thank you for this video! I needed these reminders. Funny story about people lying and what is an original record. My great aunt was such a fun character. She told us she had lied about her age for years and years so she could keep working. I knew when her birthday was and recorded it. Several years after she had passed, I actually found a birth registry that confirmed her birthday. A couple of years later, my uncle’s ex-wife contacted me to let me know I had Aunt Maude’s birthday wrong. She knew she wasn’t that old and had some documentation that proves it. She sent me a delayed birth certificate that not only had her 15 years younger, but listed her step-father as her birth father. I tried to explain to this aunt why the information wasn’t correct, but she wouldn’t believe me because Aunt Maude had told her it was true. 🤣
I have not watched yet (headed to work) but the biggest mistake I see is people conflating people with the same name and mixing up generations. My biggest pet peeve is this obsession with giving 18th century (1700s) people middle names when middle names just were not a thing back then that was only much later into the early and mid 1800s. A lot of this is from trying to force merge two different people.
Great points Lance. I agree.
Yesssssssss!!!!! I completely agree!
The middle name has been used in Greece for a long time as it identifies who the individual's FATHER is. Even girls are given their FATHER'S first name as the girl's middle name.
One of my biggest pet peeves too. And when I ask the question "Where did you find that middle name because there is no deed, will, etc., primary record with a middle name", the response is 100% "I found it on line", or "The family sheet is one or two generations closer to that ancestor so they must know".
@@sharontabor7718 I had my husband’s grandmother’s middle name recorded. She is the one who told me what is was, so I figured she knew her own name. NOPE. She didn’t have one so she decided to give herself one (but of course didn’t change it legally). My great aunt decided she didn’t like her mother’s middle name, Magdalena, so on the death certificate she listed it as Mary.
Im relatively new to genealogy but this covers all my pet peeves, and then some! An excellent video that should be a must-watch for all new genealogists, regardless of platform. Love the presentation/set, too!
👍
Glad you enjoyed it! Feel free to share it about. Welcome to genealogy. This is the perfect channel for you.
Great pointers. Ironically, just a week ago on my TikTok I discussed the "Tree cloning." = Bad practice, don't do it.
Crisp, concise, bold, encouraging, and covers all the bases...Connie this video is a Gem among Gems.
I raise my hand GUILTY for many of the points in your list. Thank you again, SO MUCH, for taking time to bring order and direction to the magnificent addiction of family research. 😚
Wow, thank you!
Another great video. I struggle at being organized - I like your idea of using cover sheets for physical documents. I'm trying to get away from printing documents and instead scanning them.
That's a great idea!
Connie; an excellent video which should be useful to novices and experienced genealogists alike. Thank you for all you do in the Family History arena. I wish you success with the GenealogyTV Academy and look forward to many more contributions from you in future.
Wow, thank you!
DNA Test. Yes. You are the very reason I got both of my parents tested, I had tested prior. Getting my dad tested was HUGE, albeit rather difficult 2500 miles away and him being in his 80's. It allowed me to finally break a brick wall and get a 4x great grandfather figured out. It was a 30+ year research question.
Yay! Fantastic.
Great video! Thank you!
Glad you liked it!
A lot of good points you made. I do have to revisit a lot of my past work and add things even simple things like someone's profession. I started and then I stopped with my Italian side, I just wanted the vitals to help me expand the tree and go back further, but I am getting better with documenting everything and you are right - translate everything! I am learning my lesson and have a lot of work to rework.
Thanks for this Video, all great ideas.
You are so welcome!
My favourite platform is FindMyPast, it has the most digitized images. I also use the GRO, ScotlandsPeople, familySearch, Ancestry, BC Archives, Library and Archives Canada. I do look at trees on Ancestry for hints, but I do my own research, my biggest pet peeve, is people listing other trees as sources and doing their own research, but also just because on a Census it says mother-in-law, do not mean that is the head's wife's maiden name. For example, on an Wales Census there is an Elizabeth Williams and she is the mother-in-law of the Head of the household (David Prothero), so everyone has his wife Mary’s maiden name as Williams, I was not convinced of this because the only parish marriage record I found was for David Prothero and Mary Lewis in 1826 in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, which is the right place and time, so I wanted to confirm it, because I thought maybe her mother might have re-married, I found what I thought was Elizabeth Williams death registration on the GRO (General Registrar’s Office) and ordered the pdf, which said she was the widow of David Williams, so I then found a marriage record on FMP, which stated in 1834 David Williams (Widower) and Elizabeth Lewis (Widow) were married, so then I thought this is pretty good evidence that proves my theory, then I thought maybe it wasn’t absolute proof, so I thought that they had a couple of children born after Civil Registration, so I looked on a Census record and found Henry, so ordered a pdf of his birth registration, which stated his mother was Mary Prothero formerly Lewis. So, I have proof positive that Mary’s maiden name was Lewis not Williams. My direct ancestor was David and Mary's son Jonathan Prothero.
Absolutely awesome research. Everyone should read your comment! I've pinned it to the top.
I’ve come across that issue with the MIL, before, too. It’s a clue, but must be confirmed. Another tricky issue I’ve found is when a man’s second wife has the same given name as his first. That can really take a good bit of sorting out.
@@lizsmith7816 I know what you mean as few of the men in mine have wife's who first name is the same as their mother's which can get confusing. Also, here is another one, Frederick Durrant and Elizabeth Firth get married his mother and her mother were both named Mary Ann, also Elizabeth's sister was named Mary Ann and her father's sister was named Mary Ann, it is very confusing, making sure your talking about the right Mary Ann.
@@GenealogyTV 👍👍👍
Wow. Impressive.
👍👍 👌
I noticed a lot of discrepancies when I was working on mine. Child born to a father a few years after the father’s death (same with a mother. Found one that the child was born a century before the parents). I’ve learned.
Great summary of how to improve research approach. Thanks for putting in the effort to produce this video.
Glad it was helpful!
BLESS YOU FOR THIS EPISODE!!!
Thanks
Very informative!
Glad it was helpful!
Wonderful vid ( as usual ) Connie. Thanks for these reminders. I wondered if and how you might include 'negative evidence' into one's research notes for an ancestor . I find the unfindable elements crucial to creating credibility in my work.
Great idea Glenn. I'll give it some thought.
Brilliant video as always Connie! Looking on other platforms is so important. I was trying to get back on my father´s line past my 2 times great grandfather last week (A major brickwall for me for over 20 years!) and saw several trees on Ancestry with his father´s baptism on them, but no source apart from a vague mention of local records. I went to find my past and searched and there it was. In one go I was able to support what the other tree said although it wasn´t properly sourced as such but also prove it was my ancestor by correlating all the info!
Oh fantastic!
Solid video as usual!
Appreciate it!
thanks for the advice
No problem!
Oh, how I wish I had found you earlier! . I accepted almost every other family tree that was listed on any of the hints. I imported so many duplicates and wow, I am still doing so many repairs! All of your other videos have been so helpful it has made it easier for me to eliminate all the multiple listings of residences. Another video of yours showed me how to find the best sources to make sure which is the best to use and which of the multiple duplicates to delete. I'll be sure to pay attention to your past and future videos! Thanks so much! Learning every day!
Thank you Fran. May I use your comment on my website?
These are fabulous!! I write an instructional family history newsletter for my congregation.
YOU are MY teacher!
Wow, thank you!
Well said! Thank you! More folks need to hear this.
May I add that creating a timeline as you transcribe can help you “see the story.” (That’s my favorite tip I give to my classes. 🙂)
Thank you.
Great points! Visiting my elderly Aunts next month to learn more about my Kelley family. I have reached out to historical societies and been richly rewarded including GAR application and photo of my 2x great grandfather
Oh fantastic
Library is a great source. I found some of my dad's family in the area that my mom family lived. That last one is extremely important. My work started on the back of my uncle by marriage talking to my grandmother and writing it all down. I was able to get a copy of it before my aunt died. Thanks uncle mike.
Excellent, common sense practical advice. There are so many "junk" trees online that are polluting the genealogy "pool". If some folks just spent a couple of minutes reviewing the information they have cut and pasted they would see many of the errors. These folks are genealogical equivalent of these guys who go out at the weekends with metal detectors and start digging up precious archaeological sites creating untold damage. The junk trees will be online forever and poor research will see an exponential growth of errors.
The junk trees drive me up a wall. I forget which site allowed others to start modifying your tree. Some well meaning person added my GG-grandfather's parents -- and I *know* they are wrong (every record says it was not who they said it was). Because the person has a higher reputation on the site than I do, I'm not allowed to prune the junk. They were able to hijack my tree and ruin it. Sigh.
@@papasmurf9146 That's just crazy to allow anyone to mess up others work. I also have another pet peeve which is the stupidity of mainly Americans who insist on posting pictures of British family coats of arms, UK castles and Scottish tartans. Ancestry is clogged up with all this junk- they really need to review their procedures and weed out all the nonsense. At least on Ancestry/My Heritage no one can alter your tree without your permission.
Love your videos, Connie. This one was just what I needed today. There is a problem I've been having, having done in the past one of the things you talked about. I have copied people from other trees and now I need to weed them out. How do I view my tree to see unrelated or disconnected people in the Ancestry tree and removing them? Thank you, Jan
Another great video ... I have TRIED to do all of what you have said. Most of the time I think I'll remember that .. Humm no! Your video is in my save folder so I can listen to it over and over again. I do confirm everything I find and have been at heads with my family that have other info that makes no sense. Still working on them. Thanks again.
My pleasure.
All good info! #1 absolutely. The record keeping I learned the hard way.
Glad it was helpful!
Oh my gosh....guilty on all. I took for granted other peoples info is correct. I am stuck on ancestors in Poland. So difficult to find any documents on them, except my paternal and maternal grandparents, but not their siblings who stayed in Poland. Thanks for the video Connie... I enjoy all of them and they are also so informative. I belong to Ancestry and MyHeritage.
First off, another great video! I am so glad I am back in a position to be able to support you & your efforts.
When I started researching my tree, I made the biggest mistake of taking what others had on their Ancestry tree as fact and importing it into mine. Several years later, I learned what a mess that has made for me. 😬 After several attempts at doing a "go-over" to being met with so much frustration, I have now decided to start completely over. Right now, I am in the process of inputting "what you do know" firsthand. I am excited to start climbing my family tree using the steps & processes I have learned along the way, a lot from your videos.
One thing I will add to your list is to Not take published genealogies as gospel! They are known to have errors also. For example, I have a published genealogy for my paternal great-grandmother's line. I remember, when I was a child, my grandmother filled out a mail interview with all our names, dates of birth, spouses, etc. I now hold a copy of that book and no, for certain, of an error. My first cousin is listed as the child of my uncle and not my aunt.
Looking forward to your next video! Thanks for all the valuable tips, lessons, and resources you have given me & everyone else. It is very much appreciated. 😀🌳
Thanks April... and thank you for your support.
👍👍👍
Yes! Research notes!!! Arrrrggghhh 🤪 That's what I need to do! I have 'notes' written in a notebook, that are in no particular order, except in the order I wrote them. This is something I've GOT to get done, and soon.
Thank you for continuing to step on my toes!! 🤣 Almost as good as the Sunday sermons at church!!
Yes! Then you need to see this video How to Create a Genealogy Research Notes Template in MS Word th-cam.com/video/JSx8s8Ku2Qc/w-d-xo.html
@@GenealogyTV Yes ma'am! I've watched it and saved it!! I just need to get started on it. I'm so unorganized! 🙃
Thank you so much for all you do! You're such an inspiration! 💛
An excellent useful list.
Some other mistakes I can think of :
Whilst a hypothesis is good (particularly in context of research questions) it's easy to get hooked on a theory (especially if relates to a juicy story or 'interesting' person) and then try to make the evidence fit, ignoring any negative evidence or hoping that evidence is wrong. It is equally valuable to disprove a hypothesis as to prove it.
Similar to that, is the old chestnut of trying to construct a tree backwards, for example if there's a family rumour of connection to a famous person, a mayflower descendent etc starting with that potential ancestor and trying to find the connection - not realising how impossible that is (only a few generation back will mean trying to find where you might be in any one of 16, 32, 64 . . . lines).
Lastly would be getting upset when you do discover a mistake in your tree - you have to just accept that's how it goes. As I'm sure many have, I once had a whole branch of my tree - several generations-worth, disappear in a puff of smoke when I uncovered that one of my gr-grandparents was incorrect. However, what is important should that happen, is to not just delete that line in frustration. You might find out further down the line that the person you incorrectly thought was your gr-gr-grandfather, is actually a cousin of your gr-gr-grandfather with the same name, so all of that 'abandoned' research may yet come into play in FAN research.
Just discovered that myself with some ancestors . Had the wrong mother. Basically checking again she was too young but it is the right family. Haven´t deleted all the stem but when I have a clear head and lots of patience need to go back and sort it out and find the right people!
Someone was kind enough to lend his family tree to us so we could work with it since we had common ancestors. It was supposed to be done by a professional genealogist. So I start to go down the lines, write everything down and verify at the same time with the Internet. To my surprise, I found an error with a person - same name, not the same woman. It changes everything with that ancestor. The Native American heritage they thought they had was a mistake, it was an European lady instead. I'm glad I caught it, but I wonder what the tree's owner is going to react when I tell him.
Wonderful video, I've got this in my genealogy subdirectory now. I'm working on it! And oh boy I made at least four mistakes on sticking that Michigander guy into the middle of a group of German (Prussian?) born potential siblings that I mentioned in my last comment. I'm still working on organizing my records. I love the cover letter idea. I used that in my regular research all the time and hadn't thought of that here. Yay, you! Once I'm done with my NGS course, I'll be knocking on your academy door. :-)
Awesome, will be glad to have you as a part of the Academy.
Great Tips & Video 👍 There are a few DNA matches with errors in their trees. Some trees I've been able to make the corrections on the shared line. Some trees are so bad I make note "Hot Mess" 😁 Unable to make any corrections.
Thanks Connie... I'm mostly guilty for not keeping a source record. After so many years of researching I am now having to go back to collect were I found details. Yes! by all means to reach out to family members before dear Aunt Minnie starts losing her memory. Many years ago I had wrote a Cousin for information and it was months before I heard from she. What was so great was that she was collecting the information and sent me page after page of details. Bless you all and happy researching.
...not understanding the importance of maps and knowing the geography of where your ancestry is at any given time - what the place is close to (neighbors; state/county boundaries; historically significant places; other cultures i.e.Indians; significant geographic factors i.e.water, mountains, forests). Boils down to a desire to get a picture of the whole person, not just their name and birth/death dates.
Excellent advice. I so agree with you about thinking others' family trees are always 100% accurate. I see this constantly in one particular branch in which people have overlooked a major clue in a man's will. In addition an uncle did indeed lie about his age when he enlisted in the Marines. I like your suggestion about people not responding. My issue is those who do respond and offer to help then never follow through. This happened with one distant relative and she is still alive. I gave up on her. I now wish I had done a better job in citing sources decades ago but am now vigilant. Not everything is online so contacting local historical societies and libraries are great. I do use different online sources like Ancestry, Fold 3, Family Search and Heritage Quest. I now also wish I had asked relatives more questions and for photos. DNA was instrumental in verifying a great grandfather. 👍
Thanks bunches
My pleasure.
I recently found out that I had a great aunt from my dads side that died in her 90's in the late 90's and she lived within a half hour of where I live and grew up. I found this out through the death certs of both of my grandparents on my dads side. I would have never known this unless I found an actual document which is what I use most to confirm things. I go by documents or living relatives
Local library! True story incoming. I had found a photo on line detailing information about a Thomas Clegg (relative of mine). I thought how cool. Where did this come from. After many many messages a young lady said it was transcribed. She said it was written down on paper and it had a footnote of sorts, and gave me that. Low and behold, there was a book published some time ago and in it were memoirs of a grandson of Thomas Clegg, named, you betcha, Thomas Clegg. I could only find a half dozen libraries that had this book. National archives being one. After some digging a library about 50 miles from me had a copy. It was not allowed to be checked out, but I spent 3 hours reading this book. So much information. And, that library has an entire genealogy department. Amazing books. It would take forever to go thru.
Neat video.
I've been getting more and more interested in genealogy over the past 18 months or so (basically since my Mom died in April 2021...) I had a period around 2010 where I did some stuff, so my Ancestry and FamilySearch accounts date from that earlier time period. I have definitely been enjoying your videos, and finally decided to join here on TH-cam.
Mistakes: I've got an interesting one, from an official Register of Deaths, Johnson County, Illinois, scanned into FamilySearch, but not indexed. A maternal great grand-uncle, has his date of death recorded incorrectly, by a year I think. This was in a handwritten register. The date the death was reported was 20 Jan 1904. They wrote down the date of death as 21 Dec 1904, and burial 22 Dec 1904. All the other dates on the pages are Jan-MArch 1904. So I'm thinking the clerk was just in the habit of writing 1904 already, instead of pausing and thinking "Wait a second, I just wrote that he will be dying at the end of this year, rather than last month..."
At some point, some relatives replaced some of the older illegible grave markers on the family plot in the cemetery (at lest, I'm assuming they were illegible... dunno why else they would have been replaced. I need to contact the cemetery / church, and see if they have records...) But, I'm assuming they contacted the county to get his death year, and they put that he died in 1904.
Glad to hear you’re more focused focused on the details. Thanks for supporting the channel.
This is gonna be good!
Thanks
I would like, if I may, to suggest two more for this list:
1) failing to eliminate other possibilities.
To Bowdlerise Sherlock Holmes: "you will only be left with the truth once you have taken the trouble to eliminate all the other possibilities".
Just because something seems to fit doesn't meant that it is the *right* fit: you need to "eliminate all the other possibilities" to be sure that you are correct.
I have lost count of the number of times that a promising record comes along that fits [and other trees accept it solely on that basis] without ensuring that it isn't actually a false fit. For example, you find a census that fits a missing husband - but if you dig a little deeper into this person you find a convincing sequence of other records that this census fits into exactly - and which therefore means that your original assumption is at the very least unreliable, and more probably incorrect.
I was lucky - I had internal audit training, which was always to eliminate other answers, and not to accept what we assumed or expected.
2) failing to indicate when you aren't sure about a record in your tree. SAY SO explicitly, AND explain why! Takes more time, but makes it much easier for others, and indeed for you when you come back to this bit of your tree 15 years later...
I enjoy making many of these mistakes.
Thank-you! I need watch t..his again.
Thanks
#15 - My parents, aunts, uncles, all grandparents are all gone now. I asked them questions back in the day. Now I realize I need to ask my older cousins questions about the family.
Good reminders! As part of negative evidence when I am researching a person who has a common name for that location I sometimes build out the individuals that our not my family (not necessary the FAN club either) and note that. For example in Chicago late 1800's, my ancestor was Azel G. S. Ross. There was also a Azel G. Ross. By researching the non ancestor I could eliminate his records (i knew their spouse, kids, occupation, street in census) which is a majority of what is online. I also add these notes to family search or send a note via ancestry to anyone who may have combined the wrong individuals.
Great strategies.
I had the same issue, also in Chicago! I was trying to track my 2GGM’s second husband Thomas F. Martin, whose death date I knew. I thought I had found his probate, and it was only by reading it thoroughly that I thought it odd that he had a lot of money left behind on his death. I knew my Thomas F. Martin was a bartender on the South Side. Turns out there was a Dr. Thomas F. Martin from the North Side who died that same week. Deleted that probate record immediately!
I enjoyed your presentation and found it to be useful information. The thing about going to websites like familysearch, etc. in my case has limited usefulness. I am researching ancestors in El Salvador where some records are difficult to find and I am also doing research on ancestors in Spain. What I do is more expensive, but I find better results by going to Spain for example and looking for the records there. I will be going to Spain at the end of October and will visit two more ancestral villages. I also plan on going to France where one of my relatives was born and raised - although he was not of French origin. There I hope to find some documentation on him.
You are very fortunate to be able to travel to some awesome places. Safe travels.
When I started gathering family tree information, one of the fields I added was a "confidence factor". If I witnessed the event (child birth), 100%. If I have only one record 30%; two records 60%; three records 90% (which is the max if I didn't witness it). When there was conflicting information about who my GG-grandfather's parents were, I could put a confidence factor on each potential and trace the information back. Eventually pruning out ones that I were confident were wrong.
Yeah... I remember Family Tree Maker had (might still have) a confidence rating too.
1) Yes to reaching out to the local historical societies and libraries. We are waiting for your call or email and we love to help. Most of us are volunteers and we get lonely. 2) Yes to blindly importing from other trees. I tend to import a lot of trees as I create a local community wide family tree and i see it all the time, the same errors and misspellings. I just know they all grabbed from one person and ran with it. 3) A big error is not researching the entire family. I see when people just add their parents even though they were 1 of 10 kids. Check them all out as sometimes mom or grandma went to live with one of those kids, or even an uncle or aunt. I have been surprised at how many parents I find by researching everyone in the family. 3a) People do the same with Find A Grave, they go add a photo of their immediate family and neglect to add all the siblings and relatives who are in the next plot.
Love everything you said Michael!
I have gotten so much help by reaching out to local public libraries and small museum libraries. I was looking for info on my 6GGF’s nieces and nephew who joined the Shakers, so I contacted the librarian at the Shaker Museum and he was terrifically helpful.
The local history librarian in Oklahoma City put together a huge folder of documents on my 2GGM when I emailed them after reading her obituary on Ancestry. I’ve kept up email correspondence with her when looking for further details as well as to thank her when Ancestry decided to include us in their advertising.
The librarian in Montana helped me eliminate that location as a possible spot for that same ancestor to have filed for divorce. I think I’ll contact the county genealogy society in Michigan to try and track down their marriage record. I’ve never thought about using them as a resource-thanks for the tip!
I have a 3X great-grandfather who is listed in 4 different census' as being born in Ohio AND PA. Also The same family told a Newspaper reporter in 1895 a convoluted story about a an ancestor going to Philadelphia, back to Scotland then to Baltimore. I was very leery of this story because to do that much traveling you had to have LOTS of money and this man's son was listed as illiterate on a census. A rich man would be literate and his son would not be illiterate. I also know that the men that family had great imaginations and were well known storytellers.
It is my belief that 2 men in the family were tired of the reporter bugging then and told her an elaborate story to make her go away.
Hi, I’m 87 & was 5 in 2940 & 15 in 1950. I found my self & family & you mentioned mistakes - well, my family in those 2 census records had so many mistakes, it’s pathetic.
In 1940, my grandfather is head of the family. He was born in Germany & spoke 5 languages so I can’t say if he gave the information or one of my two aunts did & just didn’t know the right info. My mom was working -OK. She was widowed & no last name for her. I’m shown as a daughter. My grandfather was in his late 60s! I have an Irish surname that some people would think was Polish caused it ended in skew. But it starts with a C & my name is shown as Komorowski!. Completely incorrect.
In 1950, my mom is shown as head of household & name is spelled correctly for both of us. My grandfather’s name is correct but shows us all being born in NJ! My grandfather was Germany & my mom was NY. So so many facts are wrong & you cannot correct them. Where do you make corrections & I looked but can’t find where I can order original copies of pages. It makes me wonder what’s true on lid documents & what isn’t. It’s discouraging, for sure.
Joan, on the census, you can click into the index at the bottom and then click into the name field to correct transcription errors. In your case, I would type up a document with all that you said here, date and put your name and relationship to it... and maybe hyperlinks to the census image and then upload it to your Ancestors file (assuming you have a public tree). That way, you are creating a testimonial of the truth. If you have any other documentation to help verify your story, you could source that information in your document as well. Other will find it.
I have an individual log/timeline I note wern info comes from and any conflicts.
5:58 So true. Whenever I DO receive a reply, I am surprised.
Yeah... I get that question a lot!
Something I have found valuable, along with local historical society records, are funeral homes. Most families where I live use the same ones, even if they changed hands over the years. I went to a funeral viewing and simply asked about other surnames that I knew lived there. The guy got right into their records and I left with a sheet of paper full of names- a lot of relatives I didn't know of. I even found out a relative, a coal miner, wasn't shot to death, but was killed with a blow from a pickaxe! Turns out, the funeral home had been in business over 100 years and owned (and still is) by one family. The owner, at that time in 1926, provided services for Black and White. He told my relatives the truth, which wasn't what the coroner had written.
Yes! Funeral Homes can be a great resource.
I have been working on my brother-in-law's family tree. Linking his grandmother to her parents has been such a challenge. There were several trees out there that pointed me to her parents but NONE of them had a source for the connection. In my frustration it was so tempting to just say ok I'll just add them, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I finally found her father's will and she was listed in there as his daughter with her married name. Then and only then did I feel comfortable in actually adding her parents to her record. It turned out to be true, but ... One unrelated note but a reminder was on the 1st page of his will were listed his wife and "children". She was not listed there, so I thought ok she wasn't his daughter. HOWEVER, I went ahead and kept reading and a page or 2 back where the financial distribution was made and she was listed there. I'm going back for a further read, because I would really like to know why she wasn't on that 1st page. Anyway now that I have confirmed relationship, the censuses that I had found with last names spelled wrong, ages all over the place and first names changing in each one can now be pretty much confirmed that it is the right family - THANK YOU CONNIE for preaching the FAN club. That was so useful. They are a wonderful ethnic group so they huddled together like a flock of chickens.
I’m some situations women could not own or inherit land, so it might have been distributed to her husband. OR she might have already been given her inheritance before her father died. Sometimes this happened when she married.
I found evidence of a marriage on page 197 of a very lengthy court document of siblings suing each other over their inheritance. It appears that in 200 years, no one else had made it that far into the paperwork.
I did that once or twice but ended up removing the branch. Everyone assumed that one ggf married a certain person and it was copied through several families. I found in a book that this ancestor had been married twice and the children were the first wife. Still don't know who she was but it did change everything. I have 3 binders now and it's divided by family sides and copied research information
Yes! I always check THEIR info before I add it. Too many differences on the "same" person is a red flag. And I have a tip: recheck your tree like I do periodically. I've have people change info on MY tree about someone. I tell people visiting my tree "If you see something not right, tell me and I'll make any necessary changes." I'm also leery of trees with "too many" people.
Thank you for providing such helpful content. Now I have a couple more ideas for trying to break down a brick wall (that darned 1890 census!) of a direct ancester--can't find a grave or a newspaper clipping...nothing. Maybe he was abducted by aliens. :D
City directories, land records, tax records, local library, state archives? Just my two cents.
@@GenealogyTV That's pretty much what I had in mind. The area where I *think* he died is a little over an hour's drive. Never thought to see if there was a historical society for that county. I'm going to try to contact some folks and ask when is a good time to come for a visit. Maybe if I find some other family in a graveyard, he'll be there too? I swear--my family would challenge an experienced genealogist. It's very challenging for a noob like me. :D Didn't think about tax records. Hmmm
Thanks for the reply, BTW. I was thinking of your list of mistakes and one was expecting a reply (I didn't, but I'm glad you did).
Very informative video. I hate that Family Search is a global tree because I just don't have the time to try to correct errors by other people or figure out which of the 10 duplicates for my gg grandparents is correct. That being said, I have 2 stories about wrong info on trees, both involving my maternal great grandmother. I got a hint for a family tree on Ancestry and when I looked at the tree, I couldn't help getting a good laugh. They had her with 25 children, 1/2 born in London & 1/2 born in Newark, New Jersey (correct). Some of the children were listed as born after her date of death and they also had residences for her after her date of death. I printed it out just so I can look at it periodically and get a good giggle, lol. Obviously, didn't bother contacting that person. Recently, however, I've found another hint for her - someone copied her death certificate from my tree on Ancestry and added it to theirs. When I looked at the person she had attached it to there is no way it is the same person. My grt grandmother came to the USA in 1884 and married in New Jersey in 1886. This person had her being born in 1893 and the parents she had her linked to in her tree were totally different names (her married surname was McGuire, so you can imagine the fun of making sure it is the right person). I contacted her & she just echoed the information she had and then told me she had several people with that name in her tree - never even addressed the fact that she had a document attached to this person that had totally conflicting information to what she had in her tree. Obviously, I'm just going to let her live in her fictional world. You can't fight with someone like that. Oh and by the way - my great grandmother DID have 13 or 14 children (still trying to find them all), but none after she died. LOL.
I have my grandmother's history and some family from one of her brothers. Should I attach this? If so how do I do it? Thank you so much for your quick response.
If you want to attach it to any platform, you'll need to scan it or take a picture of it first. Then upload it to the ancestors profile from the gallery area.
Probably made most of these!
Definitely seen this happen on my grandfather and grandmother's marriage certificate. They had on it the wrong year of birth. They both stated they were a year older.
I knew my grandparents lived in Zanesville Ohio so we took a little trip through there and went to the library and it helped us a lot and even went to the cemetery where they were buried but I am having trouble with my other grandfather that was from Canada how can I get the information from there where I was told that he killed his wife and moved and things like that I kind a need your help on that what is your suggestion thank you for everything that you’ve done for us through the years God bless and please have a amazing day 🦋
I've had clients who have recently researched in the Canadian archives and was able to find a ton of stuff. You might investigate the archives in the area.
It’s not always a lie. Sometimes it’s clerical error. I know four people (3 still living) whose birth certificates are incorrect. Three of these have the date the certificates were registered as the birthdate instead of the actual birthdate. The other person was born in January. The clerk mistakenly wrote the date of the prior year. When my friend went to the courthouse to have it changed, they wanted to charge her a fee. She said, “Never mind, I’ll just take social security a year early.” (She would not actually do this, but she wasn’t willing to pay the fee, either.) Another case of incorrect legal documents is my grandfather’s death certificate. When my grief-stricken uncle reported the death, he was so flustered that he gave his wife’s mother’s made name when asked about my grandfather’s mother’s name.
This happened a lot.
My little input about #5. "Very important to pay attention and transcribe entire records." With Birth/Christening Records if there are Godparent/Witness/Sponsor recorded, pay attention to these names as well, they might contain clues. I've been able to find siblings/Cousins etc by doing this. For example: female Godparent/Witness to a birth, I search for first name and last name as if it's her married name and many times have found records of marriage showing maiden name matching that of one of the child's birth parents and a groom with the recorded surname. With a little research might be able to prove a father and that the Godparent is actually a sibling to one of the birth parents.
I support your first 2 points - I was researching a woman, every single tree she appeared in had her birthdate at 1873 meaning that she would not have been able to vote at the time I was looking at. My search found her baptism in 1868, meaning she was old enough. She had married a man younger than her so I suspect that she/they had brought her age down a bit, moving her birthdate. Had I just accepted their trees I would have discounted her. I would also add to not trust transcriptions always follow to the original sources.
Do you keep an 'inventory list' by surname, or for each individual?
No Sherry. My file structure is the inventory list.
Yet another great video. My pet peeve is when people put United States/USA when the date is before the 4th July 1776. When it should be British Colonial America.
Good point.
Sorry about all the questions. Can you take a tree that is made separately and attach it to the main tree?
You can with third party software like Family Tree Maker. You would sync both trees then merge them and resync again with whatever online platform you are using.
Genealogy TV It's a bit of a process.
My family will take everything to the grave. They won’t tell a thing smh. Even the small things smh
I had the same problem but I ended up working around my grandfather with other family and records.
If you find people on the web who are looking for the same people you are, Talk to them and you can research different people , they may have found things from another research sources that you can't get too.
So true.
I always research my own.
This seem very difficult just sitting at home in my house I did not have to take a DNA test in order to find out who I am and where I come from
I know family that was born in the 1700s and my great-grandmother born in the late 1800 she only died when I was 18 years old so it's a lot I know and I don't have to take a DNA to find out who I am I already know who I am on both sides of my family my mother and my father thank you
Thanks for the feedback.
I went through all that for sure. Also, I will add another reason folks don't reply is their email address changes and they forgot to notify others! Oops!
My cousin’s half-sister had been searching for her birth mother for a few years and she reached out to me a month after I updated my tree with my Aunts passing. As my cousin and I have not spoken to each other in the past 50 years I gave her my Aunts contact because I had no idea of where my cousin lived or her contact details. I’m pleased they have now been in touch with each other and have now arraigned to met.
I spent 20 years looking for my Great GrandFathers death details he had a very long name I lost count how many micro fish I went through looking, I finally had to give up because without the correct area for where he passed away it was impossible to find anything, it finally popped up as a leaf on my family tree, because I already had his marriage certificate to my Great GrandMother which then led me to his birth certificate.
What we had been told about where he died was not correct and this caused the problem, thankfully his name was correct and because he had so many given names it did make it easy to confirm. I had to wait another 15 years before I got the last piece of his puzzle all because the told us he died in the wrong workhouse.
I have not done much on my family history in the past 11 years not since Mom passed away, everyone I talked to were just not interested plus a cousin on my GrandPa side had done all the work for that part of the family tree, I have trouble with GrandMa’s side because of the Jewish connections I keep hitting a brick wall.
I have been thinking of doing the DNA testing but keep backing away because of my biological father was a player and I have a lot of half-bothers and sisters because of him and I’m not sure if I want to find that side of my family tree, he and his parents caused Mom so much pain, I only found out the full story after Mom got sick and her mind kept wandering into the past and with my Dad(Stepfather) I was able to piece together a lot of blank’s.I know I want Dad to do the DNA test as we have been doing his family tree and it’s so complexed.
I would do your father's DNA test while you still can. Life is short.
I took DNA test and some thing is not right with it because my DNA true lines change a couple of times. One minute I would have 9 true lines match then it change to 7 then 5
Yes... that happens to me a lot as I'm messing with a branch in my family tree. You can't rely on Thrulines to be accurate. Focus on the cousin matches.
I never import other people's information and I never assume that other people's information is correct. I will sometimes look at other people's family trees to see if they have some records that I may have missed but I don't copy anything. I have been researching for 20 years to make sure that the information on my tree is correct and have sources and records for everything, and if information came from sources that aren't online I will put a comment to let others know where that information came from. I have a certain ancestor who I have done quite a bit of research on and many people have put the incorrect people as his parents, they have mistaken him for an entirely different person. So many people have copied this wrong information.
My grandfather had no father on his birth certificate, but there was a family story of his being raised by a man whose name appeared on his younger siblings' birth certificates. Having taken a DNA test I now have proof that this was my Gt Grandfather. So well worth taking the test.
My next missing ancestor I have no family hints about. How do you find these people from DNA?
Find your best "known match" in that line (excluding immediate family), then click into the best known match, then click shared matches. All those people in the shared matches with your best known match share the same ancestral line and ultimately common ancestors. Then search the trees of the shared matches for clues.
Also, once you keep looking at the trees of your matches, you’ll start to see that many have the same ancestors. Make note of those. You may come across the link to your tree in the future. Two cases in point, below.
I knew that my 2nd great grandmother, Loulizza Ross’s birth was probably illegitimate, but I had the name of her father on her death certificate-Albert Hiler or Hiley. I couldn’t find any record at all for someone of either of those names. After taking a DNA test, I noticed a great many people had Highleys from Franklin County, Virginia. As it turns out, I matched descendants of every one of a James & Nancy Highley’s children who had issue. One of those sons moved to my area of Kentucky. He had a son Gilbert. Could the informant have confused Gilbert with Albert? Maybe, but Gilbert was much younger than Loulizza’s mother, but it’s definitely looking like this James is her grandfather or great grandfather.
In another, very recent, discovery, I learned about a probable NPE, and have figured out why I have all those matches with Matthew Guy in my tree. I had noted him, but never figured him out until recently.
Question: Is it considered rude or presumptuous to contact another Ancestry member when you find an obvious error in their tree? I don’t want to come off as a “know it all” because I certainly don’t! This is a distant cousin (who I don’t know) and there are errors branching down from a common 3rd great grandfather leading to my grandfather. The person listed there is not my grandfather. The person has the same name as my grandfather but isn’t him. Same name but with wrong middle initial and wrong wife (my grandmother). Other wrong relationships on my side in their tree as well. Thanks.
Personally, I don't just more from a time issue for me. I suggest you write a proof statement outlining the relationships and the documentation to prove it. Then upload it as a document to your ancestors on your file. That will likely generate a hint to the others who have incorrect information. Then you don't have to get into a contest with them at all.
@@GenealogyTV Thank you!
Very helpful to remind me to organize better. Here are some other mistakes: Dates! Reversal of numbers: 1879 instead of 1897, and different days in the month. I add and subtract to see ages and have found someone was 11 yrs old fathering a family? huh?! No way! When my aunt was born, her birth was recorded in two towns because the family had a summer and winter homes- two different dates. I'm aware of Christening vs birthdate discrepancy too. Names: why on earth did my maternal ancestors use the same names over and over? Brothers naming children born the same year, the same name. If one child died in childhood, they often named the next child after that one. It was common for a step-father to take on the widow's children when he married her and just change their names to his. Handwriting on records and especially the census. Mistakes on gravestones. Missing gravestones: used for construction, destroyed in war, to build etc. Creative or inaccurate spellings. Found my mother's marriage certificate record from my dad's name- her name was totally wrong . Even my husband changed the spelling of his name to separate from his dad. Churches that kept records before birth certificates often burnt down destroying everything. Colonial ships crossing the Atlantic list paying customers. My ancestor was an indentured servant and not listed on the ship's roster. ( but we have his letters) DNA: I've done "Ancestry" and "23 and Me" and "CRI Genetics": results do not interface at all!
Look forward to following your videos.
Thanks for the ideas! Great tips.
Everything you said is VERY true...I've gotten into so much trouble by DL other trees..lots of backtracking...and lies, yes they do..my Mother changed her birth certificate ( at a time when you could erase and type over 🤣) by 7 yrs!! (Younger) and lots of her info.. military...reflect that..and she lied to me, I only found out well after she died...you just never know..
My auntie born in 1921 she changed it to 1927 That's my grandmother sister she still living today
Thanks for sharing!
My main platform is Ancestry and my sisters kindly give me My Heritage subscription as a combined birthday and Xmas present from them both, which I appreciate very much. I prefer the ease of using Ancestry but have had some of my best personal family contacts through My Heritage. What I am now doing and wished I had thought of it sooner, is I am putting the certificate numbers on each bdm entry as a means of official identification and I include (sighted) if I have a copy of the document in my little hot hand. I don't load up all the certificates I have, some may be sensitive, or if I think it might be a breach of a close living rekative's privacy. The generosity of fellow researchers sharing official documentation can never be fully expressed, it has saved me $$$$$$, trying to access information from New Zealand. Thankyou so much Connie, I have learned how to maximise the Ancestry platform and will be enrolling with your TH-cam site when I work out the best way to do it.
You know… You could use hyperlinks from the records or ancestors from MyHeritage in the source column on Ancestry too ( if you’re not already).
@@GenealogyTV I struggle to use My Heritage, I have difficulty manouvering the site, and don't feel as if I have has much control over my tree as I would like. But I have now set up a second desk top computer screen, my birthday present to myself now I have retired, which is why I am so pleased to have found you on TH-cam one night when I was struggling to sleep at night after 40 years of night shift. Best nights sleep I have ever given up, you have given me second wind and confidence to delve deeper. I have so many notes stacked away from pre on line days that need sorting through. I have been now designated by my cousins as official keeper of the family tree. The cousins are rapidly decreasing through natural causes so I need to get into top gear, before I join them. Will be joining up with your site soon. Thankyou
Women in the past often lied about their birth date if it made them older than their husband to be. My birth very had my name spelled wrong by the attending doctor but only found out many years later. What a mess to get it corrected to match all of my records.
Connie any suggestions how to confirm my ancestor.is my ancestor.in 1840
Just revising he is definitely him there in 1850;
Research the neighbors and see if they are the same in 1850-60. Look for at least 5 pages before and 5 pages after your ancestors in any census record to see if they are the same. You're also looking for other family members living nearby.
@@GenealogyTV ty ma'am
#2 Thank you! OMG... So many times I have suggested that maybe great grandma did not give birth to that surprise last child at age 56, but maybe she is raising a grandchild.... but no.... if there is a baptism that names her as the mother I am told I have a dirty mind, and how dare I suggest such a thing. Anyway, thank you for saying it out loud that sometimes people lie for what feels like a justifiable reason in the day.
I have some confusion in my head. My dad's fathers last name is turning up a different last name. My aunt said the other man is not my great grandfather. But I have dna in fact more DNA than the supposed real last name. I can't find anything and am so confused. I am hoping someone will be able to tell me one day.
Go to dnapainter.com/tools/sharedcmv4 and plug in the cM's you're finding for that DNA match to see all possible relationships.
@@GenealogyTV Thank you very much.
I have a cousin, God love her, she's driving me nuts. She has family photos I've never seen most importantly photos of my Dad I've never seen, info from a family bible that her mom, my dad's sister closest to him in birth order & sibling bond, that she continually tells me she will send, but hasn't yet. She told me she would do this years ago. I do try every few months to touch base with her as she requested I do, but she has yet to send the info. 🥴I can really relate to the family not responding to my efforts of contact. I've msg'd many of my cousins asking questions & requesting photos, especially older ones that would likely know more than those closer to my age, they have seen the msgs yet do not respond. I refuse to give up. I continue to periodically reach out 🙂
I wonder if there is a way you can send her an prepaid empty box. You'd have to estimate the weight though... or maybe a flat rate priority box?
@@GenealogyTVthank you so much for replying & trying to help. I greatly appreciate it. I offered to do that the first moment she offered the photos, documents, & other info yet she has yet to take me up on it & so I continue, as best I can 😉, to patiently wait.
I see lots of lying on marriage records…..for many reasons- they are not marriage age, or the spouse does not know their true age. And the clerk makes so many mistakes with spelling, poor handwriting, etc. then it is transcribed in error.
Typo below should say birth date not birth very.
Trying again. Birth certificate. Hate spellchecker ❤️.
Ancestry does not provide yDNA testing for paternal lines. FTDNA is my choice.
And if you are doing English ancestry do not forget GENUKI.
GENUKI?
I would take a DNA test in a heartbeat if the companies that do them weren't selling all our data to dodgy third parties. If we could tick a box (or pay a bit extra) to retain ownership, it might help with trust issues.
You can opt out.
What happens when all your DNA matches go to both sides, mom and dad. At least it seems like it.
Your parents might have been related? Maybe?
People/documents lie...Amen to that! My birth certificate has a very significant "untruth" on it. Whether my mother knew the information was incorrect at the time or was just as surprised as me when the DNA tests came back, I will never know.
Our marriage license contains mistakes that we have tried to have correct, but each "correction" ends up making a bigger mess. OY! It shows that we were married Oct. 3, when we were married Nov. 3. It shows that I was 18, but I was 19. We gave up trying to have it corrected.
Other folks' trees...this is being a major problem for me in researching my brick wall 2nd great-grandmother. I can't get good, valid hints because of them. There is another family with a daughter with the same name as my mystery grandma (Maggie/Margaret), both born around 1862/63, both born in Alabama. Some trees have both that family's daughter AND my 2nd great-grandmother listed as the daughters of the couple. Some just straight up have the other woman attached to my 2nd great-grandpa or have my 2nd great-grandma attached to the other woman's husband.
While I cannot find any records for my Maggie before and including her marriage to my 2nd great-grandpa, I do have her death certificate listing my great-grandpa as the informant, and a photo of her tombstone, as well as the obits of her 3 daughters who made it to adulthood. All of these, in my opinion, are evidence that my 2nd great-grandma did not remarry after my 2nd great-grandpa died in 1900. She remained and was buried under the surname Williams. Census documents support my opinion. She died in 1926 in South Carolina. This other woman died and was buried under the surname Weeks in 1922 in Alabama. The evidence that I have presented hasn't been enough to get anyone to correct their trees. So, I keep getting useless hints. It is like my Maggie was just dropped off of a spaceship onto earth with no past.
My tree isn't perfect or mistake free. I didn't know not to copy other peoples' trees when I first started with Ancestry. I am working to correct, verify, and document everyone in my tree. My initial research was begun long before I even knew Ancestry existed (or would exist), back in 1979. I've learned a lot since I was that 14 year old listening to grandparents' stories.
As I go through 40+ years of belongings, I am finding the old notebooks from cemetery adventures and hours at the libraries. Thanks for the suggestion about cover pages.
Thanks for reiterating the importance of documenting everything and for another informative video. Have a blessed weekend.
Thanks Susanne. I think the best thing we can do is make sure our tree is as clean as possible. When there are discrepancies, we can document and upload our reasoning for others to find.
A tree might be a rough outline to prove or disprove. Fun, fun, but not official and it might make the ancestors angry. I called a Public Library several times to correct my Great Uncle's Birthdate. His handwriting was photographed and in the Internet as he signed up for WW1. He learned German and English, as a kid and it showed in his handwriting. It took a year to get his Birthday month and date correct because you have to look at the letters and numbers correctly and make an accurate interpretation. I learned German later in life so that I could understand their Library mistake. I knew him well and you don't forget a guy's Bday when it was on Halloween. Even if you have 4-5 Purple Hearts, stuff happens to you, even after going to the next World, which will rile your descendants. Look at digitized versions, but also the photo of the documents. I told them to see his gravestone photo in the Internet, which was correct. Whew. Thanks for that. Ancestor research is tricky! My Grandmother's gravestone has a wrong date on it, but women don't mind it if you believe that they are younger, my Mother told me with a laugh. I was 6 when my Grandmother passed away, but I remember it. Maybe there is some modern way to correct a big hard Granite stone or it will never fit with the Church documents. Then you will wonder what's up should she be in your family tree outline.
I'm glad you're taking the time to correct the errors... and learn other languages!
@@GenealogyTV Yes, aggravating, as with one correction to the day, 31st, they then changed a correct birth month of October to December. Me, on the phone again, as they probably thought that an email from where I am located was bogus. I didn't want to see my Great Uncle be recorded incorrectly for Eternity. I am sure that he is pleased but not surprised at my undying effort. Thanks for your Videos.
I had to show Family Search that church records that they had locked up and only available in Salt Lake City, Utah, was actually available online through the church who owns them. These companies that have these records contracts need to review their records status more often.