27 January 2013

Model of Idiocracy

The title is meant as a dig at the family tree owner,
not the person in the photos.
It's not her fault someone used photos of her in an idiotic way.
She looks great for a centuries old zombie.

All of the photos after the jump are attached to a single tree.

24 January 2013

You might be a clickophile...

(With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy.)

...if you think copying other trees constitutes research.

...if you think you can go back 10 generations in a matter of hours or even days.

...if you are more interested in unsourced connections to royalty than sourced connections to laborers.

...if your "brick wall" was built in a day.

...if you think a man who died in 1842 could have been a soldier in the U.S. Civil War.

...if you cannot resist adding yet another fake coat of arms to your tree.

...if you accept shaky leaf hints without question.

...if you are willing to accept a marriage record that is dated years before the bride's or groom's birth date.

...if you think a woman over 60 or dead can give birth.

...if you have figures from Greek and/or Roman mythology in your tree.

...if you think everyone with the same surname is related.

...if you do not think it is unusual for a man to have 30 kids with 2 wives over 10 years.

...if you do not see a problem with one woman having 50 children.

...if you think flag clip art is more important than scanned records.

...if you think a person can have marriages and children over 3 centuries.

...if you are positive you have a Cherokee Princess in your tree.

...if you have scans of cabinet card photos as profile pictures for people born in the 1700s or earlier.

...if you add a person to your tree without realizing there are already 10 people on your tree with that same name, born in the same year, all with the same parents.

...if you do not know the difference between Paris, Texas and Paris, France.

...if you think a 1930 census record is a good source for someone who died in 1892.

...if you think every person that has the same name is the same person.

...if you think all data found in books or online is true.

...if you do not care that the profile of your great-grandfather on your tree makes him look like a polygamist. (Assuming he wasn't.)

...if you think a bigamist in 1850 had one family in New York and one in California.

...if you think you can have an accurate family tree going back to Adam and Eve.

...if you think this means you need to look for more trees:



PREVIOUS POST: Gobsmacked
NEXT POST: Model of Idiocracy


21 January 2013

Gobsmacked

All birth, marriage and death places not listed are either England or not noted.
Comments after the jump.

 ROBERT HARVEY
 B: 22 Aug 1763
 D: 20 Dec 1840

 SPOUSE
 Hannah White (1734-????) m. 17 Jun 1747

 SPOUSE and CHILDREN
 Susannah Levett (1772-1797) m. 1791
 ✿ Isaac Harvey, B: 7 Jul 1794
 ✿ George Harvey, B: 1 Apr 1796
 ✿ Robert Harvey, B: 26 Jan 1799
 ✿ Susannah Harvey, B: 27 May 1801
 ✿ Thomas Harvey, B: 1803
 ✿ Sarah Mary Harvey, B: 13 Mar 1807
 ✿ William Joseph Harvey, B: 13 Jan 1819

 SPOUSE and CHILDREN 
 Ann Parson (1770-1843) m. 1795
 ✿ Robert Harvey, B: 7 May 1796
 ✿ Elizabeth Harvey, B: 11 Jul 1797
 ✿ George Harvey, B: 29 Jan 1799
 ✿ Mary Ann Harvey, B: 17 Mar 1800
 ✿ George Harvey, B: 15 Dec 1803

 SPOUSE and CHILDREN
 Susannah Ellingford (1776-1807) m. 1798
 ✿ Nathaniel Gilliam Harp, B: 26 Jan 1799
 ✿ Robert Harvey, B: 26 Jan 1799
 ✿ Thomas Harvey, B: 26 Jan 1799
 ✿ Susannah Harvey, B: 27 Apr 1801
 ✿ Thomas Harvey, B: 26 Jul 1803
 ✿ Thomas Harvey, B: 1803
 ✿ Sarah Mary Harvey, B: 13 Mar 1807

 SPOUSE and CHILD
 Ann Richardson (1778-1858) m. 1810
 ✿ William Joseph Harvey, B: 13 Jan 1819

 SPOUSE and CHILD
 Margaret Lamb (1820/Ireland-1860/Australia) m. 1846 in Australia
 ✿ Grainger, B: 5 May 1856 in Australia

 SPOUSE
 Maria Fleoture (1811/Ireland-1868/Australia) m. 4 Jan 1861 in Australia

 SPOUSE
 Jane Larcombe (????/Australia-1869/Australia) m. 30 Nov 1868 in Australia

 SPOUSE and CHILDREN
 Ann Mason (1868-????) m. 1891
 ✿ Albert George Harvey, B: 1892
 ✿ Mabel Annie Harvey, B: 1895
 ✿ Elsie Emma Harvey, B: 1897
 ✿ Ernest Harvey, B: 1899

 SPOUSE and CHILDREN
 Mary RAWORTH (1799-1846)
 ✿ Ann HARVEY, B: 23 Aug 1828
 ✿ William HARVEY, B: 9 Jan 1831
 ✿ George HARVEY, B: 15 Feb 1833
 ✿ Henry HARVEY, B: 29 Mar 1835

 SPOUSE and CHILDREN
 ELIZA BUNTING (1810-????)
 ✿ HENRY HARVEY, B: 1830
 ✿ MARY HARVEY, B: 1831
 ✿ ROBERT HARVEY, B: 1833
 ✿ GEORGE HARVEY, B: 1834
 ✿ JAMES HARVEY, B: 1835
 ✿ WILLIAM HARVEY, B: 1838
 ✿ SARAH HARVEY, B: 18 Aug 1841
 ✿ JOHN HARVEY, B: 1843
 ✿ RICHARD HARVEY, B: 1845
 ✿ Eliza H Beaudin, B: 7 Sep 1846

 SPOUSE and CHILD
 Jane (1817-????)
 ✿ Kezia Harvey (1844-????)

 UNKNOWN SPOUSE and CHILD
 ✿ Jemima Harvey, B: 1828

 SPOUSE
 Ann SURNAME (1813-1893)

 SPOUSE
 ANN (1809-????)

 SPOUSE
 Helen Nicholas (1914-1972) m. 1935

18 January 2013

This Time It's Personal II

Before we get started there was a great post over at Clue Wagon earlier this month: In Which I Assign You A New Year's Resolution. If you enjoy my blog you'll definitely like Kerry's post!

On to today's post...
Once again someone has poached my family and mangled their details to fit them into their tree. Almost two months ago I left comments letting the tree owner know about their mistake. They haven't fixed it so here we go.
Everything in italics is taken from one of my trees. Note that the name on the profile is not one of them.
More after the jump.

 Petra Anzaldua
 B: 27 Apr 1918
 D: 13 Dec 1985

 FATHER: Jesus Contreras (1887-1930)
 MOTHER: Eugenia Gonzales (1888-1976)

 SPOUSE and CHILDREN
 Julian Contreras (1870-????) m. 1891
 ✿ Altigraca Contreres, B: 1887 in Texas
 ✿ Eutimio Contreras, B: 1893 in Texas (the tree continues through this son)
 ✿ Aotimeo Tim Contreras, B: 1893 in Texas
 ✿ Sipriano Contreras, B: 1894 in Mexico
 ✿ Pedro Contreras, B: 1895 in Texas
 ✿ Jose Contreras, B: 1897 in Mexico
 ✿ Benito Contreres, B: 1898 in Texas

 SPOUSE and CHILDREN
 Juan Dimas (1916-1998) m. 1945
 ✿ Jesus Dimas (1942-1942) Born and died in Texas

 UNKNOWN SPOUSE and LIVING Child

 US CENSUS RECORDS attached to this profile:
 ✿ 1900 Contreres family in Beeville, TX: Julian, Apr 1870; Petra, Sep 1873;
     Altigracia, Aug 1887; Aotimeo, Jan 1893; Pedro, Apr 1895; Benito, Mar 1898
 ✿ 1910 Contreras family in San Bernardino, CA: Juan, 40; Petra, 35;
     Sipriano, 16; Jose, 13
 ✿ 1920 Contreras family in Victoria, TX: Julian, 50; Petra, 49;
     Benito, 21; Lupe, 14, Petra, 7
 ✿ 1930 Contreras family in Refugio, TX: Petra, 58, widow;
     Ronmea, 26 (divorced); Lupe, 24; 7 grandchildren
 ✿ 1940 Refugio, TX: Petra Contreras, 67, widow;
     living with daughter Petra (28) and her family

 Also attached:
 ✿ Marriage license list from the newspaper, includes Juan Dimas and Petra Contreras.
 ✿ Photo of Petra Dimas hugging her niece after her niece was baptized. 
     It's one of the few photos my mother has of her Tia Petra.

14 January 2013

In Dutch

in Dutch - in disfavor or trouble
Comments after the jump.

 Luur VanKuykendall
 B: 1576 in Wageningen, Gelderland, Netherlands
 D: 1619 in Wageningen, Gelderland, Netherlands

 FATHER: Jacob Jansen Luuersen Van KuyKendall (1620-1655)
 MOTHER: Stijntie Douwes (1617-1682)

 SPOUSE and CHILDREN
 Christinje VanKuykendall (1594-1622) m. 1609 in Wageningen, Gelderland, Netherlands
 ✿ Charsten Leursen, B: 1600 in Wageningen, Gelderland, Netherlands
 ✿ Charsten Leursen, B: 1600 in Wageningen, Gelderland, Netherlands
 ✿ Jannetje VANKUYKENDALL, B: 1613 in Wageningen, Gelderland, Netherlands
 ✿ Jannetje VANKUYKENDALL, B: 1613 in Wageningen, Gelderland, Netherlands
 ✿ Jacob Luursen VanKuykendall, B: 1616 in Wageningen, Gelderland, Netherlands
 ✿ Urbanus Luursen, B: 1618 in Wageningen, Gelderland, Netherlands
 ✿ Urbanus Luursen, B: 1618 in Wageningen, Gelderland, Netherlands

 SPOUSE and CHILDREN
 Margaret Grietje A Tack (1663-????) m. 1681 in Esopus, Ulster, New York, United States
 ✿ Christina Styntje VanKuykendall, B: 1682 in Kingston, Ulster, New York, United States
 ✿ CORNELIUS Kuykendall, B: 1686

 SPOUSE and CHILDREN
 Margaret Grietje A Tack (1663-????) m. 1681 in Esopus, Ulster, New York, United States
 ✿ Christina Styntje VanKuykendall, B: 1682 in Kingston, Ulster, New York, United States
 ✿ CORNELIUS Kuykendall, B: 1686

 CHILDREN with UNKNOWN SPOUSE
 ✿ Matthew Kuykendall, B: 1686 in Kingston, Ulster, New York, United States
 ✿ Matthew Kuykendall, B: 1686 in Kingston, Ulster, New York, United States

11 January 2013

The Price of Fame

Why waste money looking up your family tree?
Just go into politics and your opponent will do it for you.
- Mark Twain
Whether it's a photographer invading your vacation or the fact that thousands of people know your birth date and other personal details, the price of fame is privacy. Become famous and you won't have any.
In every presidential election year genealogists scramble to be the first to discover something new and interesting about the candidates family histories. This was the first presidential election since I started working on my family tree. I was disappointed that Ancestry.com or another genealogy based company didn't use this opportunity to post each candidate's ancestral information as examples of well sourced trees.
Why not use it as a chance to inform people about what goes into a documented tree? How much were they able to find online? How much was done over the phone or by mail? How much traveling was involved? Are there still discrepancies? Why were the details of one record chosen over another? The questions are endless.
Instead, we got was this.
Below the jump is profile information for a living United States President. I was unable to figure out where, or even if, his profile connects to the main tree.

07 January 2013

A picture is worth...

Finding a photo of an ancestor you've never seen before can be a wonderful moment and worth a thousand tears. Just getting a hint for a photo is exciting. Even if it's not a photo of the person it could be a scan of a record you haven't seen. So with anticipation you click on the hint and see... a flower. Or a fake coat of arms. Or an image of art work that doesn't even come close to being from the same era your ancestor lived in. I've posted about this before. This time we'll take a look at two different trees.
The first tree no longer has any photos at all. WooHoo! It's possible the owner had one too many complaints about their photos showing up as hints on other trees.
At a glance the tree looks to be well researched and well sourced. There are no photos of COAs or family crests. It just had flowers, lots and lots of flowers. Before all the photos were deleted I counted the duplicates. The number in the list below is the number of times the same exact photo was uploaded. Each time the photo was attached to only one profile.
231  Yellow
200  Buttercup
165  Cream
  89  Maroon
  79  Orange
  67  Red
  48  Pink
  47  Blush
  45  Purple
  16  White
That's 987 photos when fewer than 25 would have served the same function if the person had just attached multiple people to each photo.
A tree with different photo issues after the jump.

03 January 2013

Clickophile II

All of the following are from one tree.
Comments after the jump.

Ida De Toesny
B: 1154 in Norfolk, Norfolk, England
D: 1199 in Framlingham, Norfolk, England
Parents: Ralph V de Toesny & Margaret De Beaumont
Spouse: Roger 2nd Earl of Norfolk, 'Magna Charta Baron' Bigod
Child: Margaret Bigod 
Ida De Toesny
B: 1155 in Flamstead, Hertfordshire, England
D: 1199 in Framlingham, Norfolk, England
Parents: Ralph V Lord Flamstead DeConches De Toesny & Margaret deBeaumont
Spouse: Henry II Curtmantlle Plantagenet*
Child: William 3rd Earl of Salisbury De Longespee
Ida de Toesny 
B: abt 1158 in Flamstead, Hertfordshire, England
D: 1199 in Framlingham Castle, Norfolk, England
Parents: Ralph V Lord Flamstead 'de Conches' deToesny & Margaret de Beaumont
Spouse: Roger II Earl Norfolk, Magna Carta Baron Bigod
Children: Maud or Margery Bigod, Hugh Magna Charta Baron Le Bigod, and Maud Margery Bigod
Ida De Toesny 
B: 1155 in Flamstead, Hertfordshire, England
D: 1199 in Framlingham, Norfolk, England
Parents: Ralph V De Toesny & Margaret De Beaumont
Spouse: Roger Bigod
Child: Mrs. Ralph Basset
Ida de Toesny 
B: 1154 in Norfolk, Norfolk, England
D: Feb 1224 in Normandy, Bedford, Tennessee, United States
Parents: Ralph V deToesny & Margaret deBeaumont
Spouse: Roger Bigod
Spouse: Henry II England Plantagenet*
Children: Hugh LeBigod and William 3rd Earl of Salisbury de Longespee
Ida de Toesny 
B: 1154 in Norfolk, Norfolk, England
D: 1199 in Framlingham, Norfolk, England
Parents: Hamelin DeWarenne Plantagenet & Isabel deWarenne th Countess Surrey
Spouse: Henry II Of England
Child: William 3rd Earl of Salisbury de Longespee
Ida DeToesny 
B: 1154 in Norfolk, Norfolk, England
D: 1199 in Framlingham, Norfolk, England
Parents: Hamelin, Earl of Surrey DeWarenne Plantagenet & Isabel th Countess Surrey DeWarenne
Spouse: Henry II Of England
Child: William 3rd Earl of Salisbury de Longespee
Ida Plantagenet
B: 1154 in Norfolk, Norfolk, England
D: Feb 1224 in Normandy, France
Parents: Hamelin Plantagenet & Isabel DeWarenne
Spouse: Roger Bigod
Child: Hugh, Earl Norfolk, Magna Charta Baron LeBigod
Ida Plantagenet
B: 1154 in Norfolk, Norfolk, England
D: Feb 1224 in Normandy, Bedford, Tennessee, United States
Parents: Hamelin Plantagenet & Isabel DeWarenne
Spouse: Roger, 2nd Earl Norfolk Bigod
Child: Hugh LeBigod
*mistress, not wife