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I've done a lot of work on Ancestry. I'm retired, and my parents are in their 90's.
The first sentence is relevant since I know tons and tons of my relatives and if a question comes up, I can also ask my parents about a relative. My tree on Ancestry is private.
I've run into folks who have the totally wrong information regarding relatives. I'll write to them and let them know, and nothing. They don't write back, they don't change anything and leave the totally bogus info still in their tree.
This last time I noticed a distant cousin had incorrect info regarding her grandmother. I wrote to her, let her know it was incorrect and asked her if she would like accurate information. I decided I wasn't going to bother to correct her info if she didn't respond or seemed not to care. To my surprise, she replied, almost immediately, and said yes, that she would totally welcome information.
I sent her some, with backup info (census, an obituary notice, etc.). She has never replied to thank me or even acknowledge that she got the email - and, nothing has changed in her public tree. She still has the wrong info on there.
I need to just give up and realize that, even tho these people are paying a nice sum of money to be on Ancestry, evidently they simply don't really give a frig about their ancestry. They're perfectly willing to shove names in there regardless of whether or not the names are totally incorrect. It's frustrating, but I'm going to have to come to terms with this and STOP TRYING TO HELP.
It can be frustrating... The reality is people are just busy living their own lives. There are far too many things to do and too little time to do it. Not all people value genealogy like we do and choose to spend their time elsewhere. Nothing wrong with either.
I too don't bother and if I did I'd spend all my free time sending messages to people about their errors. Often times I'll get messages from distant relatives requesting information which I'm more than happy to provide and more often than not I don't even get a thank you or acknowledgment back. However, there have been a few that I've connected with and are genuinely appreciative. Some of whom I've traveled long distances to meet (I went to them because they are older and don't get around so good anymore). The positive experiences more than make up for the bad ones.
There are a lot of sloppy people in the world, and in that regard, genealogy is no different than any other activity. There are those who want it right, and then there are those who don't really give a dam. And keep in mind that folks can build an Ancestry tree without a paid account. Many of them don't even need facts or knowledge.
So you want to get mad at people that have PUBLIC trees and send messages to them to correct them when you think they are wrong but yet you keep your tree private....SMH!
And just to note, I am not one that expects others to do my work for me because I actually enjoy the hunt. I have been working on my tree, my husband's and my son's and daughter's (from my first marriage) for at least a decade. However I am an open book and I WANT to share about the people that I am connected to because I realize that other people are connected to those people just like I am.
It can be frustrating dealing with people who have different priorities or simply don't care as much as you do how accurate their tree is. Even worse are those who force things to serve their own preexisting agenda. Like my 4th great grandmother people have made Native American with absolutely no documentation.
Before I came along people had given my 2nd great grandmother a totally different identity complete with wrong husband and kids a few of whom had similar names to her real kids. I had mixed success correcting this info with people. But, I think keeping your tree public helps to overwhelm the bad info with the good. My info was much more extensive and well documented. As of now, I am the only direct descendant researching this woman and since she is a grandmother, I care more than others do. Over time more people are picking up my info than the wrong info.
I answer anyone who contacts me, because you never know when someone else holds a piece of the puzzle you need. I rarely tell other people they have errors in their tree unless they have contacted me about something.
I've done most of my research without Ancestry. I've researched information in books in the genealogical library in my city (luckily, it's a very large city). I've interviewed relatives. I've emailed people, and even called a few. Very little use of Ancestry.
Don't waste your time getting upset over others' erroneous trees. They are not your problem. Just make sure that everything in your own tree is backed up with attached documentation.
So you want to get mad at people that have PUBLIC trees and send messages to them to correct them when you think they are wrong but yet you keep your tree private....SMH!
And just to note, I am not one that expects others to do my work for me because I actually enjoy the hunt. I have been working on my tree, my husband's and my son's and daughter's (from my first marriage) for at least a decade. However I am an open book and I WANT to share about the people that I am connected to because I realize that other people are connected to those people just like I am.
Well, first of all I took my tree private for very good reasons, none of which I'm going to elaborate on here. That being said, I have responded to everyone who has ever sent me an email asking me for info. I have no problem sharing at all - just not going to make my tree public.
I don't spend my time letting folks know they have bad info. I've done this, perhaps, 4 or 5 times over a span of 15 years. I just have to roll my eyes when I see my poor gramps saddled with two wives (he had one), and 16 children (he had 7), along with an illegitimate son. There was a man with a similar name who lived in the next town and they're confusing the two in some kind of weird merge. I don't "THINK" these people are wrong. I KNOW these people are wrong. I would never even attempt to correct anyone based on a hunch or some nebulous connection. I flat out KNOW - and, as I noted, I've even attached documentation.
I do my own work as well, but frankly, I'd be in seventh heaven if somebody wrote to me and noted that "Great-Uncle Max" was really "Great-Uncle Fred" and attached documentation. I'm not that vain to discount anyone's input and appreciate ANY assistance that anyone is willing to give me. I know I'm not the only one who enjoys genealogy and if there's a relative out there willing to share, I'm more than willing to listen.
I mostly stopped worrying about it. I just had a positive exchange with a woman who was concerned about conflicting information between my tree and another person's tree on Ancestry. I was able to help her get the right information and she went away happy.
There is one particular error in one family tree spousal connection that I was responsible for way back in the 1990s and I try to correct it in people's trees whenever I see it -- after all, I'm the one who accidentally listed the wrong spouse and it got picked up and now shows up on other trees. I'm usually met with righteous indignation (how dare you question my research) or total silence. If they would correct the tree and list the right person they would have an easy connection back to the Mayflower Pilgrims -- but they are too busy being indignant or just don't care.
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