Which father is the "correct" and which two are duplicates? [closed]

Question

On 23 Aug 2020 Janne (Shoults) Gorman wrote on Vinsant-28:

[[Vansant-107]] and Vinsant-28 appear to represent the same person because: Using the same Will as source

https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Special:MergePerson&user1_name=Van%20Zandt-72&user2_name=VanZandt-29&action=compare

Rachel Van Zandt/Vansant/Vinsant required merging, however the profiles of her duplicate fathers require merging first.  Potential fathers are Vinsant-28, Vansant-107 (project protected) and Van_Zandt-63.  Should the merge be completed into the lowest internal entry number or the "correct" spelling of the surname (if known)?  

Comments

Bill Vincent changed the father for the duplicate Rachel and wrote this message on the profile for Vansant-107:

There is no real evidence that either this man (Vansant-107) or (Vansant-14), born about the same time in Pennsylvania, ever lived in North Carolina. It seems to me that there was one man by that name born in Pennsylvania to Rebecca (van der Grist) VanZant (either Van_der_Grist-3 or Van_der_Grist-5, for whom there are duplicate profiles, connected to different parents), and both married to men with the same surnames. That Garrett VanZandt married Anne Groome in Philadelphia in 1738, took the Oath of Allegiance in 1778 in Bucks County, PA, and is reported to have died there after July 1779. Ergo, I don't believe that information and sources related to North Carolina should be included in this profile. Since this man was born, lived, and died in Pennsylvania, any children known to have been born in North Carolina should be moved to Vinsant-28.

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It looks like the main issue here is confusion/conflict between three profiles for men named Garret Vansant (or similar):

• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Vinsant-28 - born 1726 in Virginia; died 1787 in North Carolina; no parents; wife named Mary; now connected to Rachel as her father
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Vansant-14 - born 1711 in Pennsylvania; died after 1779 in Pennsylvania; parents are Jacobus van Sandt and Rebecca van der Grist; married Ann Groome
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Vansant-107 - born 1710 in Pennsylvania; died in 1787 in North Carolina; parents are Albert van Sandt and Rebecca van der Grist; wife named Mary

As Janne says, it looks like there are two different men here. There are also two different women named Rebecca van der Grist identified as the mother of the man born in Pennsylvania, and it looks like https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Vansant-107 might a conflation of two or more men.

Could the members interested in these people undertake an effort to clearly identify (via details of the information and inline citations) the facts in each affected profile that are supported by solid sources (church records, wills, Rev. War service records, etc.) versus the "facts" that come only from online family trees, unsourced findagrave memorials, and other unreliable sources? Pinning down the verifiable facts should help in sorting out these conflicted families.

Answer 1

You should attempt to merge to the correct spelling. It will ask you why when you select a spelling that is a more recent profile. Go ahead and answer that and continue with the merge. Assuming the other profiles have managers, you will need to wait the shorter of getting their approval or 30 days to complete the merge. But still please proceed to propose this and start the process.