MyHeritage - advice on agreeing part matches

[Al99]

I have joined MyHeritage for a year. They offer me matches which I can 'confirm' or 'reject' if it's not the same person. The trouble is, it is the same person but I don't agree with all the dates shown. ie in this instance the person matches, the DOB matches but the DOD is wrong (I have the death certificate). Even worse at least 3 people have used this wrong date. Should I confirm or reject? I don't see an option to change the date.

[Glen in Tinsel Kni]

Sounds like a Theory of Family Relativity (ToFR) rather than a Smart Match.

ToFR uses trees of other users and records from various sources to suggest how you may be related but it is down to you to make the decision if the suggestion is correct or not. If a record or tree(s) have different information you cannot amend it, the only option is to accept or reject it as it stands.

It can link you to tree owners you are related to but there is no way to know if they actively research or just copy from elsewhere without verifying accuracy of the information. It's personal choice whether to accept them, reject them or just ignore them completely. I had so many spurious ToFR's to trees that were obviously not my family I deleted my tree to stop any more being created but that's more a reflection of how poor they were in my case and I'm more than capable of making my own mistakes without help from technology sending me down the wrong road.

[David Nicoll]

Hi,

    Personally I do neither. It just adds to the confusion. As you say some dates are right some are wrong.
    Use them as a guide and hint to point you in research directions.
    They can provide links to places you would never have dreamt of.
    But the first rule is always do your own research and verify.
    I am still occasionally correcting my tree when I find a death certificate or similar that proves an assumption or interpretation I have made is incorrect.
    Even death certificates can have errors on them.

I hope this helps.

[Biggles50]

I am also in the choose neither camp.

My Heritage has its quirks and these do crop up, it is no different on Find My Past or Ancestry, you get used to not responding to hints that do not off value to your tree.

As you are new to Roots Chat and have posted in this section can I suggest that at some point you take one of their DNA tests!  The test will help to validate each line of your family tree.

Documentary evidence can be incorrect in itself.  I have three different Birth and Marriage certificates that have incorrect parentage listed, the DNA tests directs parentage to other people via DNA Matches.

[David Nicoll]

DNA can bring its own issues. You still need to do the paperwork slog, the link may not be where other people or indeed you expect.

[Al99]

It makes sense to do nothing and only add information that I agree with to my tree. Hopefully others will get my tree as a match and amend their own records if they agree.

As to DNA - Am I missing something? Surely it only confirms connections to the living?

[Glen in Tinsel Kni]

It makes sense to do nothing and only add information that I agree with to my tree. Hopefully others will get my tree as a match and amend their own records if they agree.

As to DNA - Am I missing something? Surely it only confirms connections to the living?

s

You can only match to someone who has tested but the dna shared with them comes from common ancestors so they help build an accurate tree back through the generations.

I'm adopted and there's no father named on my birth cert and both my bio parents are 'NPE' births (their birth certs both have the wrong fathers named on them). They both passed away in the 1980's long before home testing but DNA matches have not only confirmed they are my parents but also the issues with their birth certs and help identify my true ancestors.

[Biggles50]

It makes sense to do nothing and only add information that I agree with to my tree. Hopefully others will get my tree as a match and amend their own records if they agree.

As to DNA - Am I missing something? Surely it only confirms connections to the living?

Sorry but no, it does not necessarily confirm connections to the living, it can be used to solve mysteries such as an unknown parent of say a Great Great Grandmother.

It can be used to verify the Biological accuracy of tree branches up to and beyond ones 3xGGP’s.

It can be very useful where there is unknown parentage, even solve very recent unknowns.

You cannot rely on documentation by itself, even when you have multiple citations involved.

DNA is a tool, if you create a Family Tree without incorporating DNA it is a Genealogical Family Tree, if each branch is validated with DNA then the tree becomes a Biological Family Tree.

E.G.

My own DNA story

For 15 years I researched my family.
I had a family tree of 9000 family members.
In 2017 I took a DNA test, eventually I had a lot of matches with Irish heritage and another unconnected set of matches of Italian origin.
Unable to resolve the matches three of my Paternal Cousins each took a DNA test, the results showed that they are First Cousins to each other, but none of them share DNA with me, hence they are not biologically related to me.
My Paternal Nephew took a DNA test and the result shows that he is related to me but only as a Half Nephew.
I have a lot of DNA matches linked via my Mother so no problem in her lines.
The un-refutable conclusion being my Dad was not my Biological Father.
To shorten a long story, last year I found my potential Half Sister and once her DNA test results came back they proved her Father was also my Biological Father as she shares 1800cM of DNA with me.
There is ZERO documentary evidence of this only DNA, nor will there ever be any documents or accurate certificates, but unlike documentation, DNA at the level of shared centimorgans we are talking about does not lie.
My Birth Certificate does not list my Biological Father, it lists the man who brought me up, the man who was and will always be Dad.
So a Birth Certificate is just that a document that may or may not represent the truth.
I have two other GRO Certificates for other distant family members which have also shown to be in error thanks to DNA.

Hence you cannot rely on documentation alone if one wants an accurate family tree. 

The downside of DNA being that it is quite a learning curve getting to grips with DNA and as I found to my emotional cost skeletons can be unearthed.

Good luck with your tree.

[Al99]

Thanks for the explanations. I understand better now. Thanks to everyone.