Adding sources for a deceased family member.

+3 votes
230 views
The Sources help suggests sources from texts etc. Is it appropriate to add the actual documents? Death/ Baptism and birth certs etc? How to do that? Not a reference link as such??

Thanks, Debbie
WikiTree profile: Paul Hunter
in Genealogy Help by Debbie Hunter G2G Rookie (230 points)
Absolutely. The citation for a document you have in your personal possession is similar to one that you would use for a reference link, except in this case you are the link. You state the title of the document, indicate the source (you), indicate where you got the document from and do a transcription of the details of the document. By your citation I should be able to go to the provider of that document and look it up myself.

Something like this;

"Birth Certificate", Source: Your Wikitree ID, Personal Family Collection, Provided by: AnyState Vital Statistics, Anystate, USA, Transcription: Name: Joe Smith, Date of Birth: 12 Jun 1789, Mother: Sarah Smith, Father: John Smith, Place of Birth: Anytown, AnyState, United States, Certificate #12-234

You could also take a picture of the document you have in your possession and add the image to the profile.

1 Answer

+3 votes

If you acquired a document from a family member (e.g., Grandmother gave you her marriage certificate before she passed), then it is a family artifact.

If you obtain it yourself (e.g., order a copy of a marriage certificate from the State for your deceased grandmother), then it is an officially supplied document.

Even though an agency identity is printed on the original certificate given to you (artifact), odds are that the version originally issued is not the same that the office issues today (document) so we handle them a bit differently.

So with that in mind, you can provide an image of both a document or an artifact, and label them as a 'source image', but the fact should still be sourced in the Biography.

--

For example, you upload a copy of the marriage artifact as an image, and then in the biography, you source the facts of date/spouse from that image:

Smith-Doe Marriage License and Certificate of Marriage, 29 June 1976; Smith Research Files, privately held by [[Smith-123|Michael Smith]], St. Joseph, Michigan, USA, 2014. Issued 17 June 1976 by Any County (State) Clerk, local file no. 123456, state file no. 12-345.

by Steven Harris G2G6 Pilot (813k points)

Related questions

+2 votes
1 answer
188 views asked Jan 31, 2024 in WikiTree Tech by Matthew Ryckman G2G5 (5.6k points)
+3 votes
2 answers
398 views asked Oct 28, 2013 in Genealogy Help by Lauren Conte G2G6 Pilot (126k points)
+10 votes
2 answers
246 views asked Aug 21, 2022 in Photos by Chet Ogan G2G6 (6.9k points)
+4 votes
1 answer
+6 votes
1 answer
158 views asked Oct 24, 2023 in Appreciation by Stacy Gregg G2G Crew (340 points)
+10 votes
1 answer
144 views asked Oct 6, 2023 in The Tree House by Anne Hunter G2G Crew (710 points)
+11 votes
2 answers
242 views asked Sep 24, 2023 in The Tree House by OC Hunter G2G Crew (490 points)

WikiTree  ~  About  ~  Help Help  ~  Search Person Search  ~  Surname:

disclaimer - terms - copyright

...