A not-quite-a-newbie with a question on sources

Question

Hello all,

I joined WikiTree several years ago, uploaded my gedcom of 600 some entries from Ancestry, found things here a bit more complex than I was able to get my head around at the time, and disappeared. I'm back now and really liking the idea of what WT is doing, so I'm hoping to struggle through the learning curve and become an active contributing member.

I want to make a start on cleaning up the sources on my uploaded profiles, and I'm struggling a bit to understand the sources that an uploaded gedcom creates from an Ancestry source. These Ancestry sources often include links to reference numbers, but I don't get anywhere clicking these links. Is there a way to get back to the original Ancestry entry from the source created from an uploaded gedcom?

BTW my main interest at this time is Bowens in New England in the 17th and 18th centuries. So far I've mostly dealt with my own line from Griffith Bowen's arrival in Boston in 1638, but eventually I'd like to include all the various Bowen arrivals of that era and tie them together back to Wales. I be delighted to share thoughts with anyone else with similar interests.

- Jim Bowen

Comments

Welcome back, James. 

Much has been researched about Griffith/Griffin Bowen and the other early Bowens of New England. His wikitree profile (which is in pretty good shape) is here:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bowen-319

However, the profiles of his wife and children could use significant improvement. 

The origins of Griffin and other early Bowens of New England have been the subject of much controversy, deriving from some sloppy, if not downright fraudulent, claims of an early researcher named EC Bowen. So tread with caution. 

If you want to work on early New England families, you may want to familiarize yourself with the recommended sources of Wikitree's Puritan Great Migration project:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Puritan_Great_Migration_Project_Reliable_Sources

Lastly, there are many folks at wikitree familiar with this era and even with the Bowen lines, so if you have a question, please feel free to reach out as you have done here. We're happy to help.

---

You might also want to peruse this old thread:

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/314796/the-forged-ancestry-of-richard-bowen

(Griffin has been erroneously associated as nephew of Richard.) 

---

Hi, thanks, Jillaine,

I have looked at Griffith's profile, as I am working on nailing down my descent from him. I have also read with interest the Richard Bowen controversy with which I had been unfamiliar.

My focus right now is on establishing that Samuel Bowen-2394, from whom I am definitely descended, is the unrecognised 5th child of Griffith's great grandson John Bowen-9066. I have enough evidence that it seems almost a certainty, but I've not yet found the fact to prove it conclusively.

- Jim

Answer 1

You will need to search again. At least that’s what I found.

Either register at familysearch.org (free) and use their copy paste system.

Or

On Ancestry use their share link system, or copy the record and source information part

Answer 2

Seeing that you seem to be excited about coming back to WikiTree and our mission here I hope this answer doesn't discourage you but what Marion said is pretty accurate.

Using Bowen-2398  as an example and source like this:

• Source: S-1529666437 Repository: #R-1674753941 Title: Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Page: Ancestry Family Tree Data: Text: http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=53994966&pid=101

This needs to be deleted and whatever source it was referencing if you can find it and know what it is replaced. There isn't any useful information in that source that can point you in the right direction. 

Some sources do have useful information such as:

• Source: S-1019550418 Repository: #R-1674753941 Title: Connecticut, Hale Cemetery Inscriptions and Newspaper Notices, 1629-1934 Author: Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. APID: 1,2900::0

They have dead links and could be reformatted to:

• Connecticut, Hale Cemetery Inscriptions and Newspaper Notices, 1629-1934 Author: Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. APID: 1,2900::0

It would be preferred to find a more complete source especially to a free version but that information alone would be enough to point someone else in the right direction of finding the referenced source so not all is lost.

Going through each entry and updating the sources is going to be a daunting task but it will greatly help in the accuracy of the tree and may even lead to new discoveries. You can always ask for help if you think the task at hand seems like to much, there are lots of great volunteers here that like to roll up their sleeves and tackle a task.

Comments

Most Ancestry source citations, like the ones that Leilani found in that profile, are generally designed to work only within the context of Ancestry.com. They are not much use outside of Ancestry. Also, many GEDCOMs contain old Ancestry URL formats that no longer work because Ancestry reconfigured its URL formats.

There are, however, some External Link Templates on WikiTree that can be used to generate links that will take Ancestry subscribers to the intended content, if it still exists on Ancestry. For example, although http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=53994966&pid=101 is dead as the proverbial doornail, the template {{Ancestry Tree|53994966}} will generate a link that will point to the Ancestry Family Tree cited on the page, where (if the Family Tree still exists on the site) a name search can be done to find the profile for the particular person. See Help:Links_to_Ancestry for information about using these templates.

Answer 3

James, you've gotten a couple of really good responses so far. If you still have your tree on Ancestry.com, it won't be as hard as you think because your sources should still be attached to each individual and you can obtain "sharing links" from the ones which have images by clicking on the little crossed hammer and wrench icon next to the image, then click on "Share" and choose one of the platforms to get your link. I use Facebook since I am a member there. Here's the thing, though--do not actually send the link to whichever platform you choose. Instead, close the pop-up and you will get a smaller box with the URL for the shareable link which you can just copy and paste into your citation, or use in a template as Ellen pointed out.

Indexed records, unfortunately, do not have shareable links, but are still usable. Instructions, also, on how to use templates for them were pointed out by Ellen.

Use your census info to find the equivalent image on FamilySearch (or other free site.) At FamilySearch you have a source citation to copy/paste and you don't have to struggle to format your own citations, plus, the image at FamilySearch is accessible to everyone. FamilySearch also has the SSDI with a source citation to copy/paste.

Personally, I would dump all the sources which refer to Ancestry Trees. Most of those trees will probably be inaccessible now anyway. Also, the information in those trees are only as accurate as their sources and you want to use the sources here not the trees.

There are some sources you can find at Ancestry which cannot be found elsewhere on a free site. If you post here on G2G, there are those who will help you construct a good citation for that source. For example, most World War II Draft Registration images are not on FamilySearch but are on Ancestry.com. I have a file in my documents with how to construct the source citation for them (which I would be happy to share and let others critique.)

All the best to you as you get back WikiTree and improving your tree here!

Answer 4

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Sourcing_Primer_-_Instructional is the link to the "how-to" for sources. As far as using Ancestry links, try to look for "shareable links" as non-members can view them. As stated previously I believe, share sources, not trees. You can however put a ===see also=== below the sources section and sources and then add a link to the profile. I often do that for familysearch profiles.

Answer 5

Many, not all, of the sources on Ancestry are also on FamilySearch.org. and they usually have links to the actual source, not a digest.

rsl

Answer 6

James, I see you have already received several excellent responses to your question. Your experience is very much like my own, but let me say that the learning curve is well worth it! If you are like me, you will learn a lot, and discover that “sourcing” is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding parts of doing good family research. One learning resource that hasn’t been mentioned yet, is WikiTree’s “Categories: Styles and Standards” and, in particular, the subcategory “Biographies”. Reading that section, and learning how to apply the guidelines presented there, helped me a lot.

Answer 7

This is an excellent thread; thanks to all who provided constructive answers.  Most of us have come across unhelpful (generally owing to terrible formatting) and sometimes misleading gedcom contributions.  I have only imported one gedcom, and to a large degree avoided major blunders by copying an Ancestry tree (in Ancestry), then pruning the tree so that it only contained well documented people, and finally creating the gedcom and importing it to WikiTree.  I recommend this as a best practice for those wanting to do bulk transfers.  In the long run,it saves time; pruning a copied Ancestry tree takes less time than repairing deficient WikiTree profiles.