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I'm kind of anal about it. I won't take someone's word (their tree) that this is the person I am looking for. I have to research it myself. I've had "suggestions" for my tree that were WRONG. I think a lot of people don't research well enough to know if the person they are attaching to their tree really belongs there. I can't find who my mom's parents were or even any information (census, etc) that I am 100% sure are her. So that information remains blank until I know without a doubt I've found the right people. And I may never find the information I'm looking for.
My maternal tree is a public tree on Ancestry while my paternal tree is private there.
I'm comfortable with the data in my maternal tree and have meticulously listed all the sources for that data. For that reason, I'm comfortable with people copying that data to their trees. I've never minded their copying the photos or the stories I've composed either.
My paternal tree is another story. I've made it private because I'm uncertain of a lot of the data and relationships. I don't want the information copied because it could be wrong. However, the tree serves two useful purposes for me:
(1) Ancestry hints - I hope at some point Ancestry will find historical records for persons in my Tree which I can investigate and which will aid me in proving or disproving the information in my tree.
(2) Even though the tree is private, I've made it searchable on Ancestry. Occasionally another member will contact me for access, believing we are related. So far a brief email correspondence has been enough to confirm we are not related and I've denied access. I keep hoping though that one day a genuine relative will contact me.
I can't believe how naive some of the people who contact me are though. One contacted me earlier this year, announcing - "I notice you have someone named _________ in your tree. That's my grandfather! That was like like saying - "my grandfather was John Smith too so we must be related." It's true the surname is unusual in North America but it was very common, and had been for centuries, in the little village in Europe where my grandfather was born.
My two cousins have done a lot of work and their trees are both public. I don't mind if folks get information from both of them (one has a ton of photos of our grandfather); but I have been totally bent out of shape when morons have taken the info of my grandfather . . . then gave him a previous wife and other children. Heck, the poor man evidently had a child out of wedlock. Worse, when they decide to add on extra "facts," they don't even bother to look at their handiwork.
One person noted that the "first" wife was born in something like 1860. Then (surprise) she gets married and has their first child ----- in 1865. At five years old? Seriously? Of course, after this one idiot posted that, about 6 others promptly pasted and copied the same info. Are you bleeping kidding me?? To add insult to injury, I've written each person and told them a) I lived with this man and his wife, I absolutely assure you there was no previous wife; nor was there a child out of wedlock; and b) if you're serious about ancestry, you might want to look at the details. No one would ever be married and be having a child at 5 years old. You know what I've gotten in response, that is, when they bother to respond? "Oh well!"
Totally happy my tree is totally private and a lot more accurate and ONLY accessible to family members.
And on the flip side of not keeping your tree private...
I was recently looking through several trees on Ancestry trying to validate information similar to that contained in my private trees. Although I noted many trees with incorrect information, there was one tree that had information that I knew was correct. As I compared her data with mine, I noticed that she was missing a name and corresponding dates for an ancestor that we shared. I contacted her through Ancestry and just dropped her a brief note about the name, dates, marriage and children. I also explained that I was offering the information because based on her sources that were NOT from other trees, I knew she was a serious researcher.
I received a very nice thank you note the next day explaining that the shared ancestor's whereabouts were a mystery until I contacted her. In this instance, had this researcher's tree been private, she would not have necessarily benefited from the information I offered.
Happy my tree is private so that I can control the accuracy of the information but also sad because I MUST keep it private to control the accuracy of the information...!
I personally keep my tree private, however I'm always tempted to make it public just so they'll be at least one correct tree out there. A number of my ancestors have the wrong parents attached (in every other tree out there), and I admit it drives me crazy. My other thought was to message each person who had them wrongly identified, and "correct" them, lol.
I actually love sharing my work with anyone who's interested, I just prefer that they have to contact me. I like to know who's looking at my research and how they're related.
My trees on .com and .co.uk are public. Most of my research was done before joining Ancestry and I always try to cite three sources because that's what I learned in my wonderful online group from the UK.
I will use Ancestry hints as just that, HINTS. A springboard to looking it up for myself. Some people have my same lines going back further than I do but I don't care because I'll stop if I can't actually prove it. What's the point in having fake information? It's all about finding the truth.
When I first got on Ancestry earlier this year, I did get upset because several people had my grandfather dying in Vermont when I knew he died in bed at home in Mass. where he had lived all his adult life. If it had been someone from 300 years ago it wouldn't have been so bad because the records can get mired and the relationship isn't that close, but when it's your own grandfather it's close enough to "hurt." I emailed the people and one was sort of grumpy about it but said she would change it. Change it or just eliminate it if you don't want to be bothered, but don't perpetuate false information.
These days there's so much online that you can just type into Google and often get an entire book on the early history of a New England town. Full text reproduction! So it no longer requires people to run around to tiny obscure libraries like looking for a needle in a haystack. Information is so much easier to find now so there's no excuse for simply copying someone else's information without checking it out for yourself.
Last week I "took" a copy of a letter written by an ancestor from someone's tree but it looks like it was there for the taking because about ten other people have grabbed it too. I see that some people have taken some of my pictures of people and I'm glad to share them. You can tell because Ancestry lists the names of people who have added this item to their tree.
One person noted that the "first" wife was born in something like 1860. Then (surprise) she gets married and has their first child ----- in 1865. At five years old? Seriously? Of course, after this one idiot posted that, about 6 others promptly pasted and copied the same info. Are you bleeping kidding me?? To add insult to injury, I've written each person and told them a) I lived with this man and his wife, I absolutely assure you there was no previous wife; nor was there a child out of wedlock; and b) if you're serious about ancestry, you might want to look at the details. No one would ever be married and be having a child at 5 years old. You know what I've gotten in response, that is, when they bother to respond? "Oh well!"
I have yet to respond with these words, but I've been tempted to message those with messed up trees "you know, you're paying to keep this crap online. If you don't care about the accuracy of your family lines, why don't you just delete the damned thing and unsubscribe. Save yourself some money and keep those of us who are serious about the validity of our family history from pointing at your tree and laughing."
Last edited by SilverwingNC; 11-30-2012 at 07:51 AM..
I keep my tree private but I am not sure its to keep it accurate or to keep others from seeing its inaccuracy.
Even with records, there can be inaccuracies.
I was veered off course early in my research with one line because I relied merely on census data. I suppose it could be somewhat excused because it was a whopper of a coincidence - three brothers who all had the same names as ancestors I knew about, along with parents whose names were the same as those I was looking for. I had to go back and find the death records for the parents to discover that it was merely a wild coincidence. I then messaged everyone I saw who had that branch in their tree and passed on what I found. Some people did have the right info; they were the name doppelgangers; others corrected their trees.
But the laughable (and inexcusable) inaccuracy is, as pointed out by many, when the math just doesn't add up. It's plausible for men to become fathers at an advanced age; my g-g-g-g grandfather was 64 and his (third) wife was 29 when they produced one of my direct lines; but listing a mother who would have been in her 70s when an ancestor was born is a clear STOP sign that tells you to dig further, not shrug your shoulders and fill her name in.
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Still Births
