27 February 2013

No Tree and Private Tree DNA Results

The most common complaint from those who have taken Ancestry.com's autosomal DNA test is about the number of test takers who either have a private tree or no tree at all. Frankly I'm sick of the whining and need to vent. So here goes...

PRIVATE TREES

For the private tree issue I have suggestions for both sides. For those wanting to see private trees, take a break from your complaining and message the tree owners. If you message them you stand a chance of opening a line of communication. If all you do is grumble about people who have private trees I can guarantee you'll get nowhere and accomplish nothing. And if your message has even a tinge of "Why the heck is your tree private?" attitude you shouldn't expect a response.
If you really want a response don't demand to see their tree. Don't even politely ask for an invite to view it. Ask if they can tell who your common ancestor is or if they have an idea where the link may be. I did just that and now know where my connection is to the person with a private tree. If someone does give you an invite to their tree don't start copying all their media to your public tree. Anyone who does that is the reason those with private trees are wary about letting others view their tree.
To those with private trees I'll ask you to consider something. Please think about making a public tree. Hear me out. You don't need to add media. You don't even need to attach records. Create a tree that has only your direct line with names, birth dates/places and death dates/places. That's it. Attach your DNA results to that tree. I'd also suggest that if you are interested in finding family that you should message your matches. There are plenty of people who are doing what I'm doing and putting matches with private trees in the trash. I'll go back and look at them periodically to see if any have decided to switch to a public tree but I'm overwhelmed with matches and have decided to focus on finding connections on the closer matches with public trees.

NO FAMILY TREE

If a match shows "no family tree" check to make sure. The person could have multiple trees and be undecided about which tree to attach their DNA results. If they have a tree, or two or three, they may show as "no family tree" on your match list but when you click to their match profile you'll see this:


"Select a tree to preview" and you may find a clue or even an exact match.
Another reason someone may not have a tree is they were adopted. Y-DNA and mtDNA each focus on a single family line. Autosomal DNA looks at all of them and can be taken by both men and women. This is the ideal test for those who have been adopted and want to find out something, anything, about their background. Chances are if you have someone who was adopted on your match list they will be contacting you. I recently had someone who was adopted contact me. She is a very distant match and has realistic expectations. She just wanted to know more about the ethnicity we have in common. I told her what I know and hope I can help her more in the future.

JUST THE PIE

Some people may not care about making contact with distant relatives. This applies to everyone whether the trees are public, private, or non-existent. They may want to contact only 1st or 2nd cousins or may not want to contact anyone at all. You're probably wondering why they bothered taking the test at all. They took the test for the ethnicity results. Period. Just because they are your 7th cousin twice removed does not mean they have to return your messages. They did not take the test for you.

NO EMAIL

One last reason for no response may be Ancestry's glitchy message system. Last week I received emails for every message on Ancestry. This week? Plenty of new messages but not a single email from Ancestry's message system. Be sure to keep an eye on the number next to the envelope in the top right toolbar on the Ancestry.com page. That number should reflect the number of new messages whether you get an email or not.

Whatever the case you cannot force anyone to answer your message so quit whining and move on to your next match.


PREVIOUS POST: To Infinity and Beyond
NEXT POST: Photo Friday: DNA Fantasy
RELATED POST: AncestryDNA Site Tools

25 February 2013

To Infinity and Beyond

Comments after the jump.

 Peter Merihew
 B: 7 Oct 1826 in New Bedford, Bristol, Ma

 SPOUSE & CHILDREN
 Sarah Andrews (1738-1798) married 20 Feb 1791
 ✿ Edmund Merrihew B: 1791
 ✿ Elizabeth Merrihew B: 1793
 ✿ Ruby Merrihew B: 1795
 ✿ Amos Merrihew B: 1797
 ✿ Sarah Merrihew B: 1800
 ✿ Celista Pierce Merrihew B: 1802
 ✿ Alice Elsie Smith Merrihew B: 1805
 ✿ Peter Merrihew B: 1807
 ✿ Ruth Merrihew B: 1812

 FATHER
 Edmund Merrihew (1791-1882)
 MOTHER
 Eliza M. Taber (1786-1835)

 GRANDFATHER
 Peter Merihew
 B: 7 Oct 1826 in New Bedford, Bristol, Ma
 GRANDMOTHER
 Sarah Andrews (1738-1798)

 GREAT-GRANDFATHER
 Edmund Merrihew (1791-1882)
 GREAT-GRANDMOTHER
 Eliza M. Taber (1786-1835)

 GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER
 Peter Merihew
 B: 7 Oct 1826 in New Bedford, Bristol, Ma
 GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER
 Sarah Andrews (1738-1798)

 GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER
 Edmund Merrihew (1791-1882)
 GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER
 Eliza M. Taber (1786-1835)

 This continues ad infinitum.

22 February 2013

Photo Friday: The Vampire

Title: Androgeus, King of the Trinovantes Mandubratius
Attached in three trees to:
Androgeus, King of the Trinovantes Mandubratius
B: 80 BC
D: 62 BC

Title: Mandubratius
Digital art by KhanĂ¥da
Inspired by the Morrigan's Brood book series.

So that's how some people get their trees back to the Roman Empire.
They're related to vampires. [palm/forehead] Of course!

PREVIOUS POST: Keeping Up With The Joneses
NEXT POST: To Infinity and Beyond

20 February 2013

Keeping Up With the Joneses

Comments after the jump.

 Cadwallander Jones
 B: 1585 in Somerset, England
 D: 1681 in Virginia, United States

 FATHER
 Richard Jones (1570-1681)
 MOTHER
 Lady Ann Jeffries (1575-1616)

 SPOUSE & CHILD
 Anne Jeffries (1612-1703)
 ✿ Richard Jones (1608 Virginia - 1681 England)

 SPOUSE & CHILDREN
 Katherine Dedman Taliaferro (1584-1685)
 ✿ Richard Jones (1608 England - 1681 England)
 ✿ Cadwallender Jones (1613 Virginia - 1699)

 SPOUSE & CHILDREN
 Ann Bluet (1625-1683) married 1642 in Virginia
 ✿ Abram Jones
 ✿ William Jones
 ✿ Richard Jones (1580 England - 1681 England)
 ✿ Cadwalader Jones (1585 England - 1609 Wales)
 ✿ Frederick Cadwallader Jones (1601 - 1692 England)
 ✿ richard Jones (1608 Wales - 1681 Virginia)
 ✿ Richard Jones (1608 Virginia - 1681 England)
 ✿ Richard Jones (1608 Virginia - 1681 England)
 ✿ Richard Jones (1635 England - 1653 Virginia)
 ✿ Frances Ann Jones (1680 Virginia - 1726 Virginia)
 ✿ Cadwallader Jones (1843 England - 1692 England)

 RECORDS
 ✿ U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
     Cadwallader Jones, male, marries Katherine in Virginia
 ✿ Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s
     Cadwalader Jones immigrates in 1683. Lands in Pennsylvania.
 ✿ U.S. Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783
     Cadwallder Jones, Captain, Continental Troops

18 February 2013

Civil War Zombie Corps 2

Comments after the jump.

 Dr. Daniel Worth
 B: 10 Dec 1739 in Sherborn, Nantucket, Massachusetts, USA
 D: 10 Jul 1830 in New Garden, Guilford, North Carolina, USA

 FATHER
 .Joseph -split- Worth
 B: 1696 in Massachusetts, United States
 D: 14 Jul 1790 in Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, United States
 MOTHER
 Lydia Gorham (1701-1763)

 SPOUSE
 .Joseph -split- Worth
 B: 1696 in Massachusetts, United States
 D: 14 Jul 1790 in Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, United States

 SPOUSE & CHILDREN
 Eunice Hussey (1744-1830) married 9 Feb 1764 in Massachusetts
 ✿ Job  B: 1765 in Massachusetts
 ✿ Elihu  B: 1768 in Massachusetts
 ✿ Zeno  B: 1770 in Massachusetts
 ✿ Lydia  B: 1772 in North Carolina
 ✿ Sarah  B: 1774 in North Carolina
 ✿ David  B: 1776 in North Carolina
 ✿ Rachel  B: 1778 in Massachusetts
 ✿ Joseph  B: 1781 in North Carolina
 ✿ Stephen  B: 1785 in Massachusetts
 ✿ Thomas  B: 1802 in North Carolina

 RECORDS
 ✿ 1790 US Census
     Danl Worth in Guilford, North Carolina
     2 free white males over 16
     2 free white males under 16
     4 free white females
 ✿ 1820 US Census: Guilford, North Carolina
     Daniel Worth in Guilford, North Carolina
     1 free white male age 16 - 25
     1 free white female age 16 - 25
     1 free white female Under 10
 ✿ Massachusetts, Marriages, 1633-1850
     Eunice Hussey and Daniel Worth, 9 Feb 1764
 ✿ U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865
     Daniel W. Worth, Confederate, North Carolina

15 February 2013

Photo Friday: Quaker Oats

This tree has 97 photos.
44 of them are the photo below.
Each photo is attached to only one profile.
Those profiles are for various men and women across three centuries.
The most recent person with this photo died a year before the Quaker Oats Company was founded.
The photo has been attached to dozens of other trees.



The first sentence for the Quaker Oats Company page on Wikipedia:

"Not to be confused with Quakers."

Thanks to Jeri for the heads up about this photo ;-)
If you have a photo to suggest please send a link to buwtree(at)gmail(dot)com. 


PREVIOUS POST: What's in a name?
NEXT POST: Civil War Zombie Corps 2

13 February 2013

What's in a name?

Comments after the jump.

 Margaret Kent 
 B: 1830 in Lismore, Waterford, Ireland
 D: 1904 in New York, United States

 FATHER
 Daniel McCarthy (1786-1847)
 MOTHER
 Margaret Murphy (1784-1862)

 SPOUSE & CHILD
 Dennis Mccarthy (1830-????)
 ✿ Katie Mccarthy B: 1827

 SPOUSE & CHILDREN
 Dennis J Mccarty (1827-1877)
 ✿ Margaret McCarthy
 ✿ Elenor McCarthy B: 1850
 ✿ Julia Mccarthy B: 1855
 ✿ Mary Ellen McCarthy B: 1855
 ✿ Mary Mccarthy B: 1858
 ✿ Michael McCarthy B: 1858
 ✿ Mary Ann Kelly B: 1859
 ✿ Catherine Mccarthy B: 1861
 ✿ PIERCE J McCARTHY B: 1863
 ✿ Pierce McCarthy B: 1864
 ✿ Margarett Mccarthy B: 1865
 ✿ John Edward McCarthy B: 1868
 ✿ Felix McCarthy B: 1868
 ✿ Margaret McCarthy B: 1872
 ✿ Bridget Mccarty B: 1875
 ✿ Ellen Mccarty B: 1877
 ✿ Maggie Mccarty B: 1879

 CHILDREN with UNKNOWN SPOUSE(S)
 ✿ J E Hope B: 1829
 ✿ E C Vaughan B: 1834
 ✿ D R Cameron B: 1835
 ✿ E C Bolton B: 1835
 ✿ T Cuming B: 1837
 ✿ F W Carey B: 1843
 ✿ Thos Hugh Davies B: 1849
 ✿ Mary Ann Davies B: 1850
 ✿ Joseph H Berry B: 1860
 ✿ Clara Alma Swoffor B: 1861

 RECORDS
 ✿ 1900 US Census: McCarty Family in Indiana
     Dennis J 73, Margaret 62, Bridget 24, Ellen 22, Maggie 21
 ✿ 1900 US Census: Mccarthy Family in Missouri
     Dennis 70, Margaret 65, Katie 27
 ✿ 1891 England Census: Workhouse Inmate, Margaret McCarthy 61
 ✿ 1880 US Census: Mccarthy Family in Connecticut
     Dennis 52, Margaret 50, Julia 25, Mary 22, Catherine 19, John 17, Margaret 15
 ✿ 1880 US Census: McCarthy Family in New York
     Dennis 55, Margaret 55, Michael 22, Pierce 16, John 13
 ✿ 1870 US Census: Mccarthy Family in New York
     John 35, Margaret 38
 ✿ 1861 Wales Census: Defensible Fort Barracks, Pembrokeshire, Wales
     Maria Horsley 28, Henry Berry 25, Susan Berry 25, Joseph H Berry 5 mo., Joseph McKenn 28, John Swaffor 33, Eliza Swaffor 28, Clara Alma Swoffor 1 mo., Thomas Kelly 35, Mary Kelly 25, James Kelly 3, Mary Ann Kelly 2, George Birch 25, John Thos Davies 48, Margaret Davies 37, Thos Hugh Davies 12, Mary Ann Davies 11, J E Hope 32, E C Vaughan 27, C E Stirling 27, E C Bolton 26, T Cuming 24, F W Carey 18, D R Cameron 26

 All records show place of birth as Ireland except the last which has Warwickshire, England.

11 February 2013

Gene-illogical

Comments after the jump.

 Harley Meadows*
 B: 20 Sep 1909
 D: Aug 1982

 FATHER
 James Meadows* (1789-1871)
 MOTHER
 Anny (1789-????)

 SPOUSE
 Polly Mary Propst* (1815-1898)
 Married 7 Jun 1835

 CHILDREN (all have the Meadows surname)
 Amanda B: 1836
 James* B: 1839
 Francis Marian* B: 1843
 Alonzo Whitney* B: 1847
 William Jasper B: 1849
 Mary Ann* B: 1851
 Cordelia B: 1858

 RECORDS
 Attached to Polly Mary Probst
 1880 U.S. Census: Meadows Family - Alexander 67, Polly 64
 Attached to Harley Meadows
 1920 U.S. Census: Meadows Family - John 48, Harley 10, Henry 8

 *Each of these profiles has a photo, the same photo.

08 February 2013

Photo Friday: Family Crest

I've decided to post three times a week instead of two.
Monday and Wednesday will be the *head/desk* trees
or whatever else I feel like writing about.
Every Friday will now be a short post with a photo (or two or three).
So here's the first Friday Photo:

Title: Eschmann Family Crest
Attached to: Abraham Eschmann
B: 1688 in GĂ©, Mayo-Kebbi, Chad
D: 1749 in Oley, Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA
The same image was uploaded to his wife's profile.
Wife of Abraham Eschmann: Elizabeth Bagnall
B: 1766 in Hettinger County, North Dakota, USA
D: 1749 in Oley, Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA
They have a daughter born in 1715.
Notice that his wife is 78 years his junior.
Oh, and she died before she was born.
I don't even know what to say about their birth places.

The photo has been attached to two other trees.


If you find a bizarre photo, 
either something odd for a family tree or just a peculiar family photo, 
send me a link at buwtree(at)gmail(dot)com. Thanks!


PREVIOUS POST: Fixing What's Not Broken 3
NEXT POST: Gene-illogical

04 February 2013

Fixing What's Not Broken 3

If you haven't read the first two "Fixing" posts these are comments made on Ancestry.com's Facebook page. Specifically on threads asking, "How are we doing?" or something similar. These threads seem to be posted every other day now.
The most (intentionally) amusing comment:

✿ Go back in time and save the US 1890 census before it was burned up, please.

Okay, now on to some tips with a side of snark. As always my comments are in red and the other comments have been cut and pasted so I take no responsibility for spelling or grammar.

FROM THE CLICKOPHILES

✿ I liked it about 12 years ago when if you clicked on a person's name it would take you back one generation to say who the parents were and so on and so on.
✿ Ah, the mentality of a clickophile. "I just want to click and poof, a tree appears by magic. Why do I have to actually read and search and stuff?"

✿ It would be nice if you got back to a certain point on one branch and find that you are related to a certain person and research it back as far as it goes. It would be nice if you could automatically copy it if you find you are related to the same person up another branch. Also, it would be nice to have more verification that the information is correct.
✿ It's your job to verify the information and the last thing we need is an easier way to propagate erroneous information. 

✿ Make it a lot easier to find photos of your relatives- I've come across distant relatives who have mutual relatives of mine in their tree and they have tons of pictures of them. I'd love to be able to find those directly, rather than accidentally.
✿ Why can't Ancestry's hints be perfect and spoon feed everything to me so I only have to click once to add stuff? I don't want to search or anything.  

TECHNICAL ISSUES

✿ I would like to be able to specify a date that would automatically turn my PRIVATE tree into a PUBLIC tree. (Like after I die!)
✿ Everyone here who knows their own death date raise your hand. Leave your username, password and your wishes in regards to your tree to someone. They can change your settings after you're gone.

✿ Find a way to stop signing me out of the site while I am in the middle of a search. I constantly have to sign in again, and again, and again....
✿ I am always getting bumped offline. I'll be in the middle of looking at a record and then it asks me to sign on again. This happened 7 times last night before I gave up.
✿ how about not bumping me off line all the time..and this is not bumping me off the internet.., just off Ancestery.
✿ This usually happens when the user is on a browser that isn't compatible, usually Safari. Read here to find out if your browser is compatible. Also, clearing cookies/cache will solve a multitude of problems on the site. Always try that before calling support.

✿ I tried 3 times & could not get that link to open up. That would be one suggestion as to how to improve Ancestry: Have valid links !
✿ Of course there is no mention of which link but I'm sure Ancestry will check all of their millions (trillions?) of links just for him.

✿ I would like to see less ads.
✿ I pay for a subscription, I would really appreciate no more annoying "count the bouncing ball" or other adverts. They slow the loading of pages and are generally distracting.
✿ Get rid of pop up adds. They're distracting and unwanted!
✿ Ancestry.com doesn't have pop-up ads. You have malware, a virus, or an add-on to your browser. One known culprit is an plugin called Ghostery but I'm sure there are a number of others.

✿ First, thanks for all you already do. I love spending time searching. I do have a question, though, I have some ancesters that are duplicates. Mothers/fathers of 2 sons that marry 2 sisters. Is there any way to enter them without "duplicating?" If not, is it a possibility?
✿ How do you remove duplicates on your tree?
✿ being able to delete duplicate people
✿ Is there an easy way to Merge duplicates?
✿ I guess the new merge feature needs to be placed more prominently.   

✿ ...why should I add all my information when as soon as I add it becomes ancestrys an they make money, look at there TV ADDS an TV shows with all the actors they even have shows in other countrys They are doing everything they can to keep all your information an selling you photo copies I'm not saying I do not enjoy what service I do it has helped me with a lot but I have help them Look at there TV adds they are selling people photos right on TV AN they don't offer us any discounts I have deleted 4 family trees an my profile 3 more to go I'm leaveing ancestry I'm done
✿ From Ancestry.com's terms and conditions: "Except for the rights granted in this Agreement, Ancestry acquires no title or ownership rights in or to any content you submit and nothing in this Agreement conveys any ownership rights in the content you submit to us."

✿ I don't like that I added dozens and dozens of photos from ancestry photo hints over the last year and now those pictures are no longer available partly because the tree they were related to went private and I have no idea what else caused it. All those hours upon hours wasted !
✿ Once media has been attached to a public tree it is public even if the original tree is private, deleted or the photo was removed from the original tree. If your media suddenly disappeared you have other issues.

✿ i would like to be able to download the record images (i.e census, military) to my computer and not just to my trees.
✿ I too would like to be able download the records to my computer.
✿ When viewing the original record the last option is to save to your computer. Save to your computer = download

✿ Please add a feature that allows people who input a photo or other attachment to "approve" its copying to other trees. Otherwise, those of us posting valuable family photos and primary documents here will keep our trees private.
✿ And what happens once we're gone? Is everything on our tree forbidden from being copied forever? And what's to stop someone from taking a photo of their computer screen while viewing your photo or retyping your story? 

LEARNING

✿ The only thing I think could be added is a place where you could ask a question.
Ancestry's Facebook page, Ancestry's Community Forum, Ancestry's Message Boards, comments on Ancestry's blog, on Livestream twice a week after Crista's presentation, in comments on videos on YouTube,... Yes, there's absolutely nowhere to ask a question.

✿ I sometimes find hints for parents or children which, by the timing of the dates given, are impossible. Maybe a little more help for new members to understand how genealogy works?
✿ Videos from Ancestry available live, on YouTube, as podcasts in iTunes; other podcasts on iTunes that can be found by searching genealogy or family history; books from professional genealogists available at your local bookstore or library; numerous magazines; thousands of blogs;...


✿ Online videos to teach us how to do everything. I'd like one on how to organize my paper records. I'd also like one explaining how areas are listed in Scotland since it's different from the US (city, state, country) and several names have changed from 100+ years ago. Sort of like YouTube - just accessed thru Ancestry.com.
✿ Every Tuesday and Thursday Crista Cowen does a livestream video tutorial. It's posted to this playlist on their YouTube channel within 24 hours. Here's a playlist that's organized by topic. There's also a "Learning Center" on Ancestry.com. Since their YouTube channel has essentially become a learning center it would be nice if they revamped the learning center on their site. It's a bit haphazard. Just my opinion but there are lots of videos. 

✿ the educational seminars are always during the work week at 1pm EST. many can never participate. can you make a downloadable pod cast please?
✿ Have you searched iTunes for Ancestry.com? They DO have a podcast. They're getting a little better at keeping it updated with the latest tutorials. One of these days they will actually post to iTunes at the same time they post to YouTube. 
As to why the seminars are always during the work week, here's a response from the host of the seminars, Crista Cowen: 
"My show is every Tuesday and Thursday at 1pm (Eastern), regularly scheduled like any other show. Within a few hours after each episode originally airs, we archive it on our YouTube channel where you can watch it at your convenience. On occasion we do special events that are held at different times but will most likely always be during my own working hours. I do make an exception for the Tweetchat events (because I can do them from home if I need to). We hold one morning, one afternoon and one evening Tweetchat each month...I hope that helps you understand why we do these the way we do."
✿ Yes, a dollar a day doesn't sound like much, but the records I need from ancestry are for Austria, Croatia, Bosnia and Germany. No amount of emailing Ancestry.com had given me an answer as to whether they have any records from those countries ... so it is a pretty expensive exercise just to find out they don't. Maybe they could tell me here???
✿ Hover over the search tab on Ancestry.com. The last option is the card catalog. Click that and on the left is a filter. You can find out what countries Ancestry has records for. To find out what's available for those countries online try Cyndi's List.  

✿ I would like to be able to filter out what I don't want to see from searches. At present, I get what I ask for, plus anything that could remotely be like what I want. If I know I *don't* want it, it would be nice not to have to sort through it.
✿ A list of videos about searching is here.

OTHER RANDOM COMMENTS

✿ Somehow find a way to see records from the the Canadian Railroad Companies. They won't even let us see our own ancestors records from 100 years ago. Maybe an organization like you can have more convincing power than us as an individuals. Also the Canadian Ship records from before 1865. 
✿ An American company will probably have less influence than an effort by Canada's own citizens to change their laws.

✿ ...it bugs me when I copy a person's name from a CENSUS, and it won't automatically allow copying of the rest of the family AT THAT TIME without going back and forth-back and forth for dad, mom sibling #1, sibling #2, #3, #4, etc. This gets to be a real pain when there are abt 15 siblings. THANKS FOR ALL THE RECORDS, THO. I'LL GLADLY CONTINUE TO USE!
✿ Why can you load whole families from a census on some of them, but not all of them?
✿ When I'm adding a census to a person, the rest of the family doesn't show up anymore for me to add the census to them too. What happened?
✿ I hate that I can no longer attach records to every member of a family that is listed in them.
✿ 1850, 1860 and 1870 to add and save the whole household instead of one at a time.
✿ Welcome to the pre-1880 censuses! Did you notice that those censuses do not show relationships? The first person listed may be the "head of household" but even that is an assumption. It's up to you to figure out if the others in the house are children, nieces/nephews, grandchildren, servants, or some other relationship.

✿ Yes, the private thing is so weird to me. Why!? If you are hiding, do enroll on a public site.
✿ The site is public for you because you have chosen to use it that way. Everyone with a private tree may think it strange that you make your tree public on a private site. They have their own reasons for having a private tree. I'm also fairly certain that keeping information from you is not the reason. Don't take it personally.

✿ There should be a "delete person" button on a person's main page. Having to go into the 'edit' mode just to delete is time consuming.
✿ Yes, please put it front and center where it can be clicked accidentally.

✿ I would like Ancestry.com to make corrections in the census transcriptions that are totally botched. Some of my families records are a joke, and I can't believe Ancestry.com is proud of them. I would volunteer to help.
✿ If you want to make corrections, make corrections.

✿ When is the 1950 US census coming?
✿ I am wondering why the UK censuses from 1921 onwards aren't available.
✿ Two words: privacy laws. For the US the federal law is 72 years. Guess the first person missed all the hoopla around the release of the 1940 US Census. For the UK the privacy law covers 100 years. 

✿ I want to see more episodes of "Who Do You Think You Are?"!!!!
✿ A Facebook status from one of the producers: "Working on a 4th season of "Who Do You Think You Are" for a new network. Very exciting."

✿ i have original birth certificates from Scotland I have the history of the Montgomery family from when they left the U.S.A in 1 776 through till 1950s photos wills letters an there all off line I have the index of all the books written by The Montgomies I bet there is a lot information out people would be willing to share if they had some incentive My research s almost finished
✿ Finished? I do not understand. Does anyone know what this means in relation to a family tree?

Can Ancestry force people to think?

✿ the sight is awesome, I treat myself to one month a year! only thing different would be, your sight recognizing mistakes..ex.. sometimes the mothers are born after the children, etc.. I wish you had a program to alert that things are wrong before you add the information, a lot of peoples trees are messed up, you have to watch that when following them.. just my 2 cents.
✿ I think there should be some type of prompt in place that doesn't allow someone to enter a date of birth that would have a parent dying years before their child was born, having people live for 200 years, or letting someone enter 1982 instead of 82 for a person's birth/death date, or a city in the USA as someone's birth/death place when they lived during the Roman Empire. When looking at other trees, I tend to look at those things: was this woman of childbearing age at the time her supposed child was born, or has someone picked up completely wrong information in their tree? Is this a typical lifespan for a person? How did this person get to this place?
Also, I see a lot of people with a death place of "Y" which is a city in France, and wondered why a lot of my Welsh ancestors were dying there when I could find nothing in history about a war going on or a large migration of Welsh to the Picardie area of France. Then I read somewhere that a lot of people would enter a "Y" to indicate that yes, someone was deceased, and that Ancestry was picking up that information as the city in France. Since then, I have been removing that reference to Y, Picardie from any of my ancestors' profiles on which I come across it. When people enter questionable information such as this, you could have a message pop up that says "Are you sure?" and explain what doesn't make sense. It may be a little annoying, but maybe a logic corrector could be a feature you offer that people could turn on or off.
✿ It would be great if there was a way to alert you if the birth year listed of a parent is after/within 10 years of a child. I've run into occasions where there is a match on a person in another family tree, but the person's parent's birth year is after the child's. Most of the time this has proven to be an incorrect person match, not an incorrect birth year.
✿ That illogical date warning exists but doesn't work when you're copying trees. If people would engage their brain while working on their tree rather than turning it off and clicking away there might be fewer of those errors.

After the jump are comments about the price of Ancestry.com. Sigh.

01 February 2013

World Traveler

Comments after the jump.

 Patrick Lynch
 B: abt 1821 in Ireland
 D: Abt 1880 in Killarney, Kerry, Ireland

 Father
 John Lynch (1797-1865)
 Mother
 Mary Lynch (1800-1865)

 Spouse
 Mary Donoghue (1816-1880)
 Children
 Mary Lynch, B: 1 Feb 1841 in Ballylongford, Kerry, Ireland
 Thomas Lynch, B: abt 1852 in Motherwell, Lanarkshire
 Mary Ann Lynch, B: abt 1853 in Perth, Perthshire
 James Lynch, B: abt 1854 in Cambusnethan, Lanark

 RECORDS
 ✿ Ireland, Births and Baptisms: Patrick Lynch; male;
     Baptized 9 Mar 1820; Parents John Lynch & Mary Sullivan
 ✿ Ireland, Births and Baptisms: Mary Lynch; female;
     Baptized 19 Jan 1824; Parents Patrick Lynch & Mary Sullivan
 ✿ 1850 US Census in Onondaga, New York
     Eme Salway 35, Charlott Salway 38, Patrick D Lynch 27,
     Jonathan Skinner 65, Annice Seat 17, Rufus Freeman 9
 ✿ 1860 US Census Lynch Family in Kalamazoo, Michigan
     Patrick 40, Ivan 30, John 7, Mary 5, Margaret 3, Hannah 2, Mary L 60
 ✿ 1870 US Census Lynch Family in St Joseph, Michigan
     Patrick 57, Joanna L 48, John 16, Mary 15, Margaret 13, Joana 11, Ellen 7
 ✿ 1871 Scotland Census Lynch Family in Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire
     Patrick 50, Mary Cain 52, Thomas 19, James 17, Mary 15
 ✿ US Indexed County Land Ownership Maps
     P Lynch; Mendon, St Joseph, Michigan; 1872
 ✿ 1881 Scotland Census Lynch Family in Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire
     Patrick 59, Mary 62, Thomas 29
 ✿ 1891 Scotland Census Lynch Family in Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire
     Patrick 70, Mary 75

ⓑⓐⓡⓚⓘⓝⓖ  ⓤⓟ  ⓣⓗⓔ  ⓦⓡⓞⓝⓖ  ⓣⓡⓔⓔ

Born as a boy named Patrick in 1820. Reborn as a girl named Mary in 1824. Travels to New York sometime before 1850. Has a family in Michigan by 1860. Between 1870 and 1871 Patrick has an entirely different family in Scotland. He then goes back to Michigan in 1872 and buys land. Then he dies in Ireland and lives out his zombie days in Scotland.
Yup, nothing wrong here. It all makes perfect sense. (Where the heck is that sarcasm font?)

Thanks to Ann for the heads up about this profile ;-)


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