It's All in the Name . . .

. . . as in getting the correct name of an ancestor to begin with to make dancing with the ancestors a bit easier.

Example: Phebe Clark, allegedly the daughter of Daniel, married Daniel Langdon, through which, my maternal grandfather is descended since Delana Catherine Langdon married Alexander Sweat. Their son William Joshua married Margaret Morris, and had three children, one of which was my grandfather.

Anyhow, I'd never been able to find anything past Daniel Clark. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

Until today! Woo-hoo!

I did a Google (I bow down to the greatness of Google, btw) search as follows: Phebe Clark, wife of Daniel Langdon. Voila!!! I found her parents . . . David Clark and Hannah Woodruff.

So, at some point, someone loading information on Ancestry got lazy. L-A-Z-Y!! Don't do it, people. Confirm your facts before putting stuff out there. Just sayin' . . .

So, when dancing with the ancestors, don't stop digging until you discover the truth, as in Daniel was really David!

S

Same Name, Different Ancestor

What the Heck???!!!???

So, I'm dancing with the ancestors, adding the siblings, and their marriages, of my direct ancestors - on my maternal side - and I came across the name Mary Hussey. She married Moses Swett, brother to my ancestor John Swett.

The name seems familiar. I don't know why. I scroll through the Swett/Sweat side of the family tree and -

BAM

- Mary Hussey married Thomas Page. Their daughter Bethia married John Swett, son of Benjamin Swett.

The Horrors!!

Okay, not really, because . . .

. . . Mary's brother John married Rebecca Perkins and they had a daughter who they - you got it - named Mary!

Whew!

Well, let's talk about freaky.

John Swett and Moses Swett are siblings. Mary Hussey (who married Thomas Page) and John Hussey are siblings.

Mary Hussey (who married Moses Swett) is the niece of his brother's mother-in-law and the cousin to his brother John's wife Bethia. Yeah, you read that right. Read it again for good measure.

Ewwwwww! Ha!

So, when you come across the same name, but different ancestor, when dancing with the ancestors, take a deep breath, and begin to dig just a little bit more. You'll probably find that Mary and Mary are related but not the same person, just like I did since, back in the day, the same names were passed down generation after generation, and amont siblings. Crazy but true!!

Sloppy Trees

Okay, when dancing with the ancestors, to me at least, it's important to get your facts as correct as possible before publishing the information . . .on Ancestry or anywhere. Check, double check, triple check and, if still in doubt, make a note so other researchers know that you're not positive of the information you're putting out on the web.

Now, I'll admit, my Ancestry tree probably has some incorrect individuals. As I go along, dig a bit deeper, I have removed certain individuals. There are points where I just stopped on a branch of the family tree because I couldn't confirm the information beyond that generation.

This is responsible research, people.

So, why am I ranting about this today? Well, clicked on one of the lovely green leaves Ancestry sports to notify members of a potential hint for that ancestor. I scrolled through the family trees and . . . WRONG information that couldn't possibly be correct!

Seriously people, they put the birth of a child of my great-great grandmother as being 1760. My great-great grandmother must have been a remarkable woman to give birth to a child . . . before she was even born! Yes, before she was even born.

It's not rocket science, people. If the relative you find on some family tree on Ancestry doesn't gel with the dates, as in the child is born before the parent, then you don't have to link that relative to your family tree.

When wrong people are linked to a tree, when dates don't gel, it makes research for others a wee bit more difficult.

Just sayin' . . .

S