Barking Up the Wrong Tree: Cherokee Woman

23 January 2018

Cherokee Woman

It's been a while but I'm back with another crazy profile.
How many errors, inconsistencies, or just plain idiotic things can you find?

Cherokee Woman

Birth 1710 in ,,North Carolina,USA
Marriage 11 Jun 1734 in Antrim, Antrim, Ireland*
Marriage 29 Jul 1740 in Fairfield, Northumberland, Virginia, United States*
Marriage 18 Oct 1744 in Fairfield, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States*
Marriage 1753*
Marriage 1783*
Death 1785 in Cherokee, Georgia, USA

*All marriages are to James Robert Adair.

PARENTS
Thomas Webb Hobson
B. 1665 in St Stephens Parish, Northumberland, Virginia, United States
D. 1714 in St Stephens Parish, Northumberland, Virginia, United States
Sarah Clark
B. 1675 in St Stephens Parish, Northumberland, Virginia, United States
D. 10 Oct 1743 in St Stephens, Northumberland, Virginia, United States

SPOUSE
James Robert Adair
Birth 1709 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Marriage 30 Oct 1733 in Wigtown, Wigtownshire, Scotland to Agnes Craig
Marriage 11 JUN 1734 in Antrim, Antrim, Ireland to Ann Mc Carty
Marriage 11 Jun 1734 in Antrim, Antrim, Ireland to Cherokee Woman
Marriage 11 Jun 1734 in Antrim, Antrim,, Ireland to Esther McBride
Marriage 29 Jul 1740 in Northumberland County, Virginia to Clark Hobson
Marriage 29 Jul 1740 in Fairfield, Northumberland, Virginia, United States
Marriage 03 Jun 1744 in Georgia, USA to Ann McCarty
Marriage 18 Oct 1744 in Fairfield, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States to Ann Mc Carty
Marriage 18 Oct 1744 in Fairfield, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States to Cherokee Woman
Marriage 18 Oct 1744 in Fairfield, Connecticut, USA in Esther McBride
Marriage 1753 to Cherokee Woman
Marriage 1754 to Isabella Lowery Hamilton
Marriage 1783 to Ann Mc Carty
Marriage 1783 to Cherokee Woman
Death 1783 in Robeson County, North Carolina, USA

Of course this profile only has other trees as "sources." So I took a swig, steeled myself, and took a look at the attached profiles on those trees. What I found, after the break.

ⓑⓐⓡⓚⓘⓝⓖ ⓤⓟ ⓣⓗⓔ ⓦⓡⓞⓝⓖ ⓣⓡⓔⓔ

First, the attached profiles were for a number of different people. 11 of the 23 profiles had the name "Cherokee Woman." Those that didn't had one of these names:

Cherokee Woman Adair
Nancy Lightfoot (Cherokee) FOSTER Adair 2W5GGU
Ann Mc Carty
Nancy Lightfoot Foster
Sarah Susannah Laferty
Ester Ann "Cherokee" McBride-Hobson

Second, seven of the Cherokee Woman profiles only have other trees as "sources." No surprise there. For the few that do these are the records attached:

1900 United States Federal Census
H Foster; b. Aug 1883, Georgia; Race: Black
American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI)
Esther Hubbard McBride
Family Data - Individual Records
Clark Hobson; Parents: Thomas, Sarah Hobson, Clark; Birth Place: Northumberland, VA; Birth Date: 1711
Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s
James Adair; Arrival Year: 1763; Arrival Place: Charles Town, South Carolina
U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s
James Adair; Arrival Year: 1763; Arrival Place: Charles Town, South Carolina
U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
John Adair; Male; b. 1753; Spouse: Nancy Lightfoot Foster; Marriage State: of GA
U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
Sarah Laferty; Female; Birth Place: PA; Spouse: Joseph Adair; Spouse Birth: 1711, PA; Marriage: 1732, PA
Virginia Census, 1607-1890
Clark Hobson; Year: 1748; Place: St.Ephen Parish, Northumberland County, VA
Virginia, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1607-1890
Clark Hobson; Year: 1748; Place: St.Ephen Parish, Northumberland County, VA

These tree owners aren't alone. There are literally dozens of profiles for a Cherokee Woman with these dates and hundreds more for other "Cherokee" Women.
Someone please make it stop!

6 comments:

AnonymousWednesday, 24 January, 2018
Wish I could make it stop. I have a "Tecumseh's daughter Massa" one that a couple of relatives came up with in the 1990s and which has turned into fact. Please, if you ever come across that while perusing Ancestry trees, feel free to call it out. Ugh.
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McComberdescendantThursday, 25 January, 2018
Glad to see you back - have missed the (appropriately) sarcastic posts....
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Debbie Sarelli HalleyFriday, 02 February, 2018
I absolutely love your articles...I so look forward to reading them.
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historybuffSaturday, 11 September, 2021
I find other people's mistakes very irritating also...not so irritated at my own mistakes...maybe you know how I feel. I mean, other people are obviously not as concerned about details and accuracies as I am and they probably just want to create connections to their favorite famous persons or something like that. I don't know how they can sleep at night, knowing that their family tree is riddled with mistakes! I think everyone should take a special vacation just so they have time to correct every mistake in their tree. How can the rest of us find correct information when all those slack-offs are taking their own sweet time to do the right thing? I am very proud that I kept my tree up to date even though I had to tell my mom I couldn't let her live with me...how could I do genealogy AND take care of my mother? We need to have our priorities straight, after all....
Just want you to know there is a kindred spirit here correcting family tree mistakes 24/7!!!
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EmilySaturday, 03 September, 2022
Laughing the biggest laugh. I'm a descendent of James Adair and Clark Hobson Jr, and from will and extracted probate records found that Clark's parents were Thomas Hobson and Clark Hobson. That's how Clark Sr signed her will: Clark Hobson. Can't find Clark Sr's maiden name or Thomas Hobson's parents because the wildly incorrect records are eyeball deep. "Thomas Webb Hobson m. Sarah Clark! Thomas Webb Hobson m. Cherokee Woman (somehow after his death, but decades before Cherokee Woman married James Adair). No, James Adair married an Indian Princess in 1702, and Clark Hobson was his son, and here's my proof! [insert record from WWII]. No, James Adair never married Clark Hobson, Clark is a BOY'S name, James Adair married a British princess." Ad nauseum. It's both very funny and very annoying. So, bless you, lol.
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EmilySunday, 04 September, 2022
But wait, there's more. Same tree, different branch, Jacob Barnes, 1739-1781. One user's tree had a lot of records attached, so I checked my sources against hers, and she has lJacob's parents as "Summer Moon Cherokee" and "Mr. Summer Moon Cherokee 7th ggdad). Summer Moon Cherokee, party of two?
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Blog Reviews

Barking has been "deemed offensive to [Ancestry.com's] brand" and is banned from their Facebook pages. In Ancestry's "Community" comments with links to Barking are censored.
Dear Emma, Hannah, Jemima, Mary Jane, and all of her other personalities agree that I use "the banner of 'education' to actually mock, deride and laugh at [Ancestry's] own customers" and I "can make [my] point concerning tree inaccuracies & cock-ups and their effect on our 'hints' system without being downright unpleasant and sarcastic about it."
Allen says, “your cute little blog is a waste of bandwidth at best”
Ann thinks I'm "...copying and pasting mistakes on trees and calling it a blog" and that my readers are "mean-spirited people...who like to have a laugh at the expense of others."
Sue was really offended by the “...continual stream of sarcasm and constant poking fun...What a nasty taste in my mouth your blog left me with. Unpleasant, sarcastic and jeering at people who you obviously see as your intellectual inferiors. Won't be reading that again.”
And finally from Les, "You truly are a horrible woman, pointing out mistakes is one thing but blatantly laughing and taking the p is completely out of order."

Why?

Researching our family histories we are bound to make mistakes. Hopefully we are quick to correct them. Unfortunately some people refuse to read or think before adding information to their family trees. Some trees have been abandoned so the errors are there for eternity. Here we will laugh, mock and shake our heads at the carelessness, stupidity and/or ignorance of those errors.
All examples are taken from trees published online.
I'll also post tips occasionally, though the messed up trees are a great example of what NOT to do.
If you have an online tree to suggest for a future post please send me a link: buwtree(at)gmail(dot)com

The Fine Print

1. Copyright: Barking Up the Wrong Tree is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License and is owned and administered by Loretta Gillespie.

2. Content: Barking Up the Wrong Tree is responsible for the content of this site, not including visitor comments. Barking Up the Wrong Tree reflects the personal views and opinions of Loretta Gillespie.

3. Credit: Credit is not given to tree owners to protect the clueless. A tree owner who discovers their tree on this site should correct their mistakes so no one else realizes they were once a clickophile.

4. Accuracy and Validity: While there are helpful pointers on Barking Up the Wrong Tree a majority of posts are intended to be humorous. The disastrous trees are copied exactly as they appear on Ancestry.com. These trees are being used to show others what NOT to do.

5. Images: Attempts are made to source images used despite the fact that the trees they are taken from do not include source information.

6. Comments: Barking Up the Wrong Tree will exercise its right to delete comments which are deemed to be spam, offensive, childish or just plain stupid.

7. Liability: The content at Barking Up the Wrong Tree is not to be taken as fact nor absolute. Barking Up the Wrong Tree contains posts that are humorous and posts that are research tips. Barking Up the Wrong Tree is not responsible for anyone who cannot tell the difference between the two. The sites that Barking Up the Wrong Tree links to via hyperlinks are not under its control. Those sites are responsible for the content of those sites. If you do not find the humor on Barking Up the Wrong Tree to your taste then stop reading. If you choose instead to send an email to the owner it may be published on Barking Up the Wrong Tree and mocked publicly.

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