Some amazingly well researched trees

[EmPers]

I've often come across these websites offering free hosting for family trees, and allowing you to search for your relatives on them. I've always just ignored them and moved swiftly on. However, earlier this evening, I thought I would investigate some of these, so off I popped to RootsWeb, and put in some details of one of my ancestors, after a few tries, I got one, so I looked to see what the varous people had. I was amazed at the brilliantly researched tree, for example:

Thomas West, b.1797 m. Sarah b.1799

Children:
1. Sarah West, b.1802

Clearly this person has put a lot of effort into making this, particularly when you learn that by the time they were 30, Thomas and Sarah had great grandchildren.

Now I can vaguely see why people might not have researched their family properly, maybe they think that the evidence they have is really good, maybe they are so excited about finding a link to some famous family they forget to concrete over the links. And everyone makes mistakes sometimes, but to ignore basic facts of human biology? What actually is the point?

[Rick]

Empers

Oh how I agree!  There really are people who think that they can log on in the morning and have a well established tree by tea-time!

OK, I am exagerating, but for example, I did a look up for a lady who only knew her Grandparents names, but 3 months later she had posted a gedcom online with over 7000 names, including Danish Kings!!

Nuff said!
Rick

This sums it up really..........  http://members2.1stnetusa.com/~a/garbage/

[Clincher]

I've seen family trees (on LDS?) which include someone born BC123 etc! Either someone is having a laugh or they're one piece short of a census

[Amy K]

Either someone is having a laugh or they're one piece short of a census

Oh that made me laugh!! No need to guess what i'm going to be going around saying to everyone over the next few day!!

[Hackstaple]

Rick - thanks for directing us to that site. My dog was insisting that she was descended from Charlemagne. Now I can prove she is exaggerating.

[Rick]

Hackstable

I have just done a quick check on the worldconnect site, and there are 2379 entries for Charlemagne.   http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/

Worrying isn't it!  Your dog isn't computer literate by any chance?

Rick

[Hackstaple]

No. She can't use a computer worth a damn. But she can count digestive biscuits.

[Sylviaann]

My carefully researched tree,which took me 10 years hard work and lots of money, was put on Rootsweb by someone else.  He managed to make a lot of mistakes.  Information I sent him said that Edmund born about 1670 was POSSIBLY the son of Thomas.  I had worked out from the Parish registers that Thomas was son of Edmund and grandson of  etc.  This was all put on the site as gospel.  This was all about 5 years ago.  We exchanged many e-mails when I tried to put him right.  He said in the end that it had made him ill.  What about me?

Now I see the errors are on Genesconnected.

These trees, like the IGI, should be treated as a guide only.

Sylviaann

[Rick]

My carefully researched tree,which took me 10 years hard work and lots of money, was put on Rootsweb by someone else.  He managed to make a lot of mistakes.  Information I sent him said that Edmund born about 1670 was POSSIBLY the son of Thomas.  I had worked out from the Parish registers that Thomas was son of Edmund and grandson of  etc.  This was all put on the site as gospel.  This was all about 5 years ago.  We exchanged many e-mails when I tried to put him right.  He said in the end that it had made him ill.  What about me?

Now I see the errors are on Genesconnected.

These trees, like the IGI, should be treated as a guide only.

Sylviaann

Sylviaann

The problem is that there seems to be a new breed of family historian, who thinks that they can research their tree totally online, and if it is in black and white on a web page somewhere then it must be ok.

Like you I began all this a long time ago, and spent hours going through films at County Record Offices and I don't regret a minute of it!  How unfulling it must be to tap into a ready made tree, especially if you don't bother to check it!

I am sorry to hear of your bad experience, and I had a similar one myself which made me take my tree offline.  The whole thing has made me very suspicious of people who contact me via old postings.  Sad really, but that seems to be the way of the world.

Rick