What the WHAT?

If you haven't read a "WHAT?" post before, these comments were found on various Facebook pages, message boards, and anywhere people discuss genealogy online. They were all cut and pasted, no editing. I have removed all names to protect the clueless. My comments are in red and should be taken with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

 ✿ I love the TLC show Who Do You Think You Are? last night's episode on Brooke Shields was fascinating!!! I've gotten back to 17th century on mom's side; finally found Scottish connection on dad's side....then my free 2 wks Ancestry.com ran out. LOL. i have the names; now want some stories. :-)
Two weeks to get back to the 17th century? Yeah, that's a well sourced tree.

 ✿ My paternal great grandmothers lineage goes back to the 1st high king of Ireland, Brian Boru. Now I have set to document it!
If you haven't documented it how do you know that's who your line goes back to?

 ✿ Let me on [Who Do You Think You Are?]. I heard my dad say he is a direct decent of Sir Lancelot. I want to see if its true
You need to be on a television show to find out your father is not a descendant of a fictional character? Actually, I might watch that show. It wouldn't be WDYTYA? but a show confronting people delusional about their genealogy would be highly entertaining.

 ✿ ben [surname, not capitalized] ancestry search results
Knowing the difference between posting on Facebook and using a search engine should be a requirement before doing either.

 ✿ I had a one month subscription and i cant get a refund even though I only used it for a day. I don't care what your policies are. ITS MY MONEY AND I WANT IT NOW.
"I don't care what your policies are" or that I agreed to them.
[same person about two hours later]
NVM! They actually refunded it! Yayyy
Good to know. Complain on social media and you don't have to abide by the terms of service. Ancestry.com will just refund your money.

 ✿ FIND SOMETHING ON THE RALPH [surname] FAMILY.
Apparently this person doesn't know the word 'please' and thinks a Facebook page will respond to a demand.

 ✿ I just created a new tree and evidently the hints system is down again. I just renewed my subscription less than a week ago and once again....I'm not getting what I paid for. And please don't tell me to clear my cache & cookies or give the the same link that I always get. None of those things work.
The search is working but I can't be bothered to do that. I only add records that are handed to me on a silver platter. The 90% of collections that don't show up as hints aren't of any concern to me.
This was a comment by a self-proclaimed "professional" genealogist by the way.

 ✿ Is there an easy way to find missing generations?
Research?

 ✿ I have been an Ancestry member since 2006. In all my years of looking for ancestors I have never gone an looked at other features they have. I discovered today with the help of the search button that they have free downloadable pedigree charts and family group sheets. Needless to say my printer has been running. Got on Amazon and ordered my legal binders for my family trees.
Eight years. Eight YEARS and you haven't poked around the site? SMH.

 ✿ got it pierman ,rogers. pierson ,burroughs
[a few posts later the same person continues]
Thompson , morrision,rogers,pierman,pierson, bird,murry, Johnson,moores,
And your point is?

 ✿ love hearing the stories of the different families, makes me want to search more and more into my family. thanks to ansctery i've been able to get past some road blocks and gotten back to greek myths. thanks for the education and stories
Not enough education apparently.

 ✿ Any word on how long until the search function for those born before 1000 A.D. is going to be fixed? I've got a LOT of family from way before then, and I can't get anything but some stray German school book information .... I've talked to customer service, who sent a report to the tech folks. Slowing me down !!
How am I supposed to find all those fantasy trees to copy if your search isn't working?!!? Oh and all of us have "a LOT of family from way before then" but none of us can document them.

 ✿ I love ancestry.com found my family back to 202 a.d.
Ancestry's records usually don't go back further than 1600. There are a few exceptions. None of those exceptions include records prior to the year 1200. 


AFTER THE JUMP: Adam & Eve comments, some head/desk moments and a few comments that would require an Idiot Whisperer to decipher.

Kan u hep me fine my famly?

Usually in genealogy we say that spelling doesn't count. That applies to searches and records created before the advent of Social Security, not to Facebook and message board posts. If you want to be taken seriously, in life not just in the genealogy world, learn to proofread. Spelling, grammar, capitalization (especially of surnames)...it all matters.

This is especially important if you're posting on a page/group/message board where the language used is not one you are fluent in. If you don't use an online translator before you post another user will use one after. They may be able to help you break down a brick wall but if you can't write a coherent post you won't be able to communicate with them.

If you are posting, or reading posts, on Facebook I would recommend not using the Bing translator that automatically appears on some Facebook posts. If there are minor misspellings Google Translate will suggest possibilities. I pasted the title of this post into Google Translate and while it detected the sentence as Norwegian it also asked if I meant, "Can u help me find my family?" Bing, on the other hand, detected English and the translation was the exact same thing I pasted in to be translated. I have also seen the "see translation" option under Facebook comments that were entirely in well written English.
One last tip, no online translator is perfect. If you are going to publish something in another language try to find an actual person to proofread your work. Otherwise you could end up with something like this.

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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.

Gen Glossary for Beginners

DEFINITIONS

Abstract: A summary of a record. Example: You have 50 pages of a military pension record. There is important information spread throughout those 50 pages. Rather than type out every word of the record to make it easily legible and accessible you create an abstract. You can then add it to your tree as a note or a story.

Birth Certificate, delayed: Before Social Security started in 1935 it was a rare occasion that required a birth certificate. After 1935, however, it became a necessity. Applying for a certified copy of your own birth certificate required affidavits from two people who would swear you were who you claimed you were. You did not have to apply in the same state you were born in so if copies were not passed down in your family these can be difficult to find. You need to think about when and where they were when they needed one. Example: My great-grandmother (b. 1905, MO) did not have a copy of her birth certificate. She may never have bothered to get her own but she wanted her son (b. 1926, TX), who was mentally challenged, to receive Social Security benefits. She didn't have a copy of his certificate either. She submitted paperwork for both of their certificates at the same time. In Texas. In 1957. Luckily a cousin has copies of both certificates.
Collection: Short for "collection of records". Examples of collection titles: American Civil War Soldiers; Texas Death Index 1903-2000; New Orleans Passenger Lists, 1820-1945. Various collections may be gathered in one place to create a database. 

Database: "A comprehensive collection of related data organized for convenient access, generally on a computer." [Random House Dictionary] For genealogy the largest databases are at Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org but there are many other databases and many websites that have a collection, or a few collections, that pertain to genealogy in their database.

Extract: A portion of a record transcribed word-for-word.

Index: A list of individual records in a collection. The amount of information can vary from index to index. Example:

                                 Texas Death Index            California Death Index     

 Name                               ✔                                             ✔
 Birth Date/Place             ✘                                             ✔
 Death Date/Place           ✔                                             ✔
 Mother's Maiden             ✘                                              ✔

The amount of information in a record may even vary from record to record in a collection. Both of the indexes above are for the state's death certificates. IF an image is attached it will just be a list of the records not the individual record. An index is created for filing purposes and may not include all information from a record.

Primary Source: Information on a record, or part of a record, that was given by someone with first hand knowledge.

Query/Question:

Query - n. a question; an inquiry  [Dictionary.com]
            v. to put a question to; ask  [World English Dictionary]
Question - n. a form of words addressed to a person
                    in order to elicit information or evoke a response  [World English Dictionary]

This may seem obvious to many of you but I can't count the number of times I've seen just a name, just a surname or a request to help "find my family" on a discussion board with no further information. Makes me wonder if that person would request courthouse records by sending a note with just, "I need information on my grandfather" or "John D. Smith." It makes me, and others who would love to help, want to yell:



At the end of the video below Crista Cowen gives tips on writing a message board post. If you're only interested in the part about writing a post go to the 22 minute mark.



Secondary Source: Information on a record, or part of a record, that is given by someone who does not have first hand knowledge. A death certificate is a primary source for information about a person's death but all other information including name, date of birth, parents' names, etc. is secondary information. Yes, you read that correctly. A death certificate is not a primary source for someone's name. The informant on a death certificate could've been a grandchild or a neighbor. They may have called the deceased Papa or C.W.. Did they know his given and middle names were Charles Wheeler? Even someone who knew that fact could've been overcome with grief and may not have remembered a middle name or maiden name at the moment they were filling out the death certificate.

Transcription: A word-for-word copy, typed or handwritten, of a record. Transcriptions and extractions are not as common due to the ability to Xerox or photograph records. There are, however, times when you will not be able to Xerox or photograph an item you need. It's always best to copy it word-for-word so you're not asking yourself later, "Why did I write it that way?" Write it first, interpret it later. Also, be sure to write down the source of the information (i.e. microfilm - number and title; book - title, author, publisher information)
Source: Where the facts on your tree come from. If you search for other trees on Ancestry.com part of the summary shows how many records and how many sources the tree has. On Ancestry.com 'sources' are other trees. Everywhere else sources are records and Ancestry trees are, well, if you've read any of the Tuesday posts on this blog you know what I think of them ;-) Ancestry.com automatically sources all records that you attached from their site which is convenient. You can see the source information in the fine print at the bottom of the indexed record. Here's an example:

Source Citation: Year: 1850; Census Place: Lebanon, Warren, Ohio; Roll: M432_737; Page: 28A; Image: 325.

Source Information:

Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

That same source is included if the tree is downloaded. Here's what it looks like in my software:

128. @R-2146978506@, “1850 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005. Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Seventh Census of the United States, 1850. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1850. M432,, 1,8054::0, Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com. 

Year: 1850; Census 

Place: Lebanon, Warren, Ohio; Roll: M432_737; Page: 28; Image: 321., http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=1850usfedcenancestry&h=19623955&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt, 

Birth date:  abt 1784

Birth place:  Pennsylvania

Residence date:  1850

Residence place:  Lebanon, Warren, Ohio

The goal of sourcing is to make sure anyone, including you, can find the record again if needed. To learn how to source items found on other websites, microfilm, books, etc. check out Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.
Vital Records: Vital is defined as "of or pertaining to life" [Dictionary.com] so vital records are birth, marriage and death records, the basic records for someone's life.

ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMS

BC: Birth Certificate
BMD: Birth, Marriage and Death
DC: Death Certificate
FHC or FSC: Family History Center or FamilySearch Center. FHCs are branches of the FHL and are located all over the world, usually on the campus of an LDS church.
FHL: Family History Library. This library is Mecca for genealogists. It is a part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

FNU, NMI, LNU: All of these refer to names. They are abbreviations for the following: First Name Unknown, No Middle Initial, Last Name Unknown

GEDCOM: GEnealogical Data COMmunication. This is a computer file for genealogical data. A GEDCOM file can only be read by genealogical software and is data only meaning no media (photos, stories, etc.) will be included in the file.
LDS: Latter-day Saints, also known as Mormons.

NARA: National Archives and Records Administration (United States)

NEHGS: New England Historic Genealogical Society, the first genealogy society in the United States.

NGS: National Genealogical Society
UNK: Unknown


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Asking For Help

There are plenty of people who are willing to help you get to the next step. It's good research karma ;-) There are message boards on Ancestry.com, FindAGrave.com, and RootsWeb.com, just to name a few. These are searchable for years and may have boards dedicated to surnames and/or places. There's also Facebook: Genealogy Tip of the Day, Ancestorville, and others that cater to specific ancestry like Swedish Heart Genealogy and AfriGeneas. You can download a list of the 4,000+ pages and groups on Facebook here.

BASIC ETIQUETTE

 1) DON'T YELL. You may think that your post will catch someone's eye because it's all in caps but online that is considered yelling. Putting a surname in all caps would be appropriate or a word or two for emphasis but an entire post in caps is just rude.
 2) No cursing. On some pages your post will be deleted and you may be banned. If you read other posts you should be able to tell what is and isn't acceptable for that particular site.
 3) Say thank you. If someone takes the time to check the subscription site they're paying for to see if there's a record of your ancestor acknowledge that, even if they didn't find anything, e.g. "Bummer. Thanks for checking."
 4) Don't be greedy. When someone gives you information don't then ask, "What about...?" or "Can you look up...?" Say thank you and go research.
 5) Proofread your post! If you're going to post and then not be online for a few hours make sure you're not sending someone on a wild goose chase searching for your ancestor in 1720 when you meant 1920.
 6) Have messages enabled on your account. If the answer to your question is lengthy or if a helper has a question about your post that may be too personal for a public wall they may want to message you.
 7) Comment on your original post. If you forgot a detail or have a clarification do not post the information in a new post.
 8) For those who like to help... Tell how/where you got the information. Remember the Chinese proverb:

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

After the jump: What to include in your post