Another rant about (some) Ancestry users

[Jomot]

Furious isn't the word.......

A tree owned by someone who describes her experience level as "Advanced" has wrongly included my husbands family in her tree.  Usual story of someone with the right name and 'close enough' birth details being shoe-horned in and made to fit.  Lets call him 'John'.   

This 'advanced' researcher thinks John was her GGG Grandmother's brother.  He wasn't.   It took me all of 30-seconds to prove that 'her' John died in 1859 - the burial image is on familysearch and contains enough detail to leave no doubt - but despite this she found someone of the same name marrying 40 miles away the following year & shoved him into her tree.  This was my husbands GG Grandfather.   

So far so normal, but.....

This person then continued researching John's family for another 3 generations and amongst other things has made public the death certificate of one of his grandsons who died in a county lunatic asylum of general paralysis of the insane, aka late stage syphilis.   

I already knew this but had deliberately kept it to myself - he was married with young children when he died (early 1920's) and so rightly or wrongly the family were always told that he had died as a consequence of wounds sustained in the war.   His grandchildren & great grandchildren still believe this.   So does his niece - my very much still alive MiL - whose details this 'advanced' researcher has also published.

So this stupid woman couldn't be bothered to purchase a marriage certificate or check for a burial, but thinks its OK to publish a death certificate of someone she wrongly thinks she is distantly related to (cousin 3 times removed?).  Why?   Presumably because she seems to find some kind of thrill in how & where he died and so wants the world to know.  How pathetic can you get?   And no doubt it will be copied by numerous other people - all equally unrelated to the man in question but  equally 'thrilled' by the scandal of his doubtless slow and pitiful death. 

I have contacted her and politely given her the correct information, as a result of which she has now stopped accepting messages. 

Like I said, furious isn't the word...

[groom]

I'm not surprised that you are furious. Did she actually buy the certificate or has she copied that from someone else?

If she wont accept your messages, I'd make a point of commenting on all the parts of her tree that are wrong, stating that this is the wrong family and that the common ancestor died in 1859. At least that way you are alerting others, and who knows you might force her to make her tree private, so at least others won't see it.

[carol8353]

Can you get in touch with Ancestry and explain what has happened and get them to remove this man from her tree?

[Jomot]

I'm not surprised that you are furious. Did she actually buy the certificate or has she copied that from someone else?

If she wont accept your messages, I'd make a point of commenting on all the parts of her tree that are wrong, stating that this is the wrong family and that the common ancestor died in 1859. At least that way you are alerting others, and who knows you might force her to make her tree private, so at least others won't see it.

I'm assuming she bought the certificate as it certainly doesn't appear on any other online tree. 

It appears she has now made the tree private again  - or maybe just blocked me from seeing it if that's possible (??) - but before she did I managed to add some notes with links to the familysearch burial image and my Postem to the marriage record on FreeBMD.

Can you get in touch with Ancestry and explain what has happened and get them to remove this man from her tree?

I'm certainly going to try, but as he's clearly deceased I doubt I'll get very far unfortunately.

Still quietly seething   

[Rosinish]

I have contacted her and politely given her the correct information, as a result of which she has now stopped accepting messages. 

Hi Jomot,

I think her actions says it all.

You need to take a step back really & let them "get on with it".

At the end of the day, you know the truth/facts.

These people are "name collectors" & "scandal hunters" 

I have seen many trees with a lot of my family detailed including my own father who now seems to descend from someone unknown to me yet I have all details such as BMD's, baptisms & census records from my father's birth right back to late 1700's.

I thought about "putting them in the picture" as they had obviously all copied other trees but the info. is so distorted on each tree (none of which is correct).........I decided "what's the point".
I have spent a fortune finding all the info. myself & decided to leave as is.
I haven't looked at what's on the branches of them as I now couldn't care.

However, the small amount I have online will stay that way........I'm adding no more to it.

I would be so happy if someone contacted me to point out a mistake I'd made but some people don't want to know.......they think they're right & nothing will budge them.

Take pride in your own work, knowing it's properly researched & ignore the faults you have found.

At the end of the day it's not affecting your tree but theirs.

Annie

[Erato]

Somebody made a mistake on their tree, a not uncommon occurrence.  You pointed it out.  If they don't wish to accept your input, then that's that.  You haven't lost anything except a bit of time.  As for the syphilis, nearly four generations have passed.  Surely it doesn't still qualify as a scandal that must be hidden.

[Jomot]

Surely it doesn't still qualify as a scandal that must be hidden.

His niece (my MiL) is still living and has a treasured photograph of him wearing his uniform (he looked a lot like Richard Gere).  She is immensely proud of his sacrifice, fighting for the entire duration of the war and then dying of his wounds, so yes, to her it probably would still qualify as deeply shocking & upsetting, especially today of all days.

On a logical level I know you're right, and Annie's reply is also kind & sensible, but I'm in defensive mode for my MiL at the moment - calm & logic will kick in later no doubt 

[Rosinish]

I will be honest here..........

No matter how close or distant a relative on my tree was, I wouldn't be advertising a fate like that either Jomot in your defence. ADDED (My own personal decision).

I can understand your anguish as his niece is still living & that would be somewhat a shock to say the least & she wouldn't believe it but it would affect her as she would run over it in her head & grieve her.

Annie

[whiteout7]

Perhaps, just keep it hidden from your MIL. I have one hidden on my tree that died of the same thing. There was no treatment back then. I've told one family member and we are still amazed he didn't pass it on to his decendants. Took me ages to work out what paralysis of the insane was, just tell her it was paralysis of the insides (if it is hard to read) then she will think it was something else.