I have held off posting my family tree online ever since it was possible to do so. Many people seem to have jumped at the opportunity. Unfortunately, many of the many miss out on a few fundamental items that I wish were corrected.
(1) Documentation! It seems like 90% of online trees are undocumented. If they are, census records [helpful] and citing someone else's tree are the main sources. Those other trees are frequently in error and lack citation as well. Rsearch your data and post the documentation. If you have a marriage date - give the source!!
(2) Piggy-backing [latching onto another posted tree] and assuming the other tree is well-researched.
(3) Unreliable trees with reliable sources. An unwitting researcher will post a tree with sources and goof-up! Say they have an abstract of a will attached to the tree. The will of "James Brown" [wriiten Jan. 20, 1845, proved Mar. 10, 1845] names his wife Wanda and children James Jr., Robert, Sidney, Ella [wife of Garrett Davis], Victoria and Louise. It also names, Walter Watson, "my wife's brother. The tree shows James Brown [born 1790, died after 1850], wife - unknown, children - James, Robert, Simeon, Elmer, Victoria and Louise. C'MON! You have a nice range for James' death, Jan.-Mar. 1845. No Robert in the will. Two kids misnamed, one the wrong sex! The Mrs. is also identified, even her maiden name! Check 'em when you post 'em!
Once in awhile I will contact someone to correct an error. Frequently, the person will make the correction. I finally located the wife and marriage record for one of my ancestors. About 25 trees had the wife incorrectly identified. I contacted many of the posters and a couple corrected the error. Still, the majority have the incorrect, undocumented spouse. The kicker in this is that the census records are partly to blame. The letter 'm' was transcribed as a double 'n' every year [1850-1870].
Come on folks! Stop collecting names and post accurate data with accurate sources.
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