I need help with a merge

Question

I have a merge which crosses the line between documented genealogy and speculative genealogy, but the duplicates already exist.  It's a mess.

We have a Sarah Osborne Gatley with four husbands.  Two of her husbands are named John Crew and the other two are named John Crews.

John Crew II (Crew-128)

John Crew (Crew-30)

John Crews(Crews-768)

John Crews(Crews-151)

Mostly they cannot be merged because they each have different parents, and here is where the documentation fades into speculation.

Why can't we just DISCONNECT ALL THE PARENTS and merge them into one John Crew or John Crews?

This eliminates three problems at once.  First, it stops the speculation at John.  Second, it removes the conflicting parents.  Finally, it removes the duplicates.

Answer 1

Let me take a look, the reason we do not want to just remove the parents...is that the wife may be incorrect on one or more of the profiles.

Comments

There are definately two families mixed up in these profiles.  The one family is CROW, not Crew per the sources listed.   The PGM group should get involved as one of the profiles belongs to them.

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Thanks, Robin.  All along, I was hoping the PGM project would jump in and help.  This is a big mess--much bigger than one person ought to attempt to handle alone.  This is the kind of task that deserves a team effort.

Answer 2

Crews-151  may be a reach on a merge .... The siblings and parents are listed as Crow ... so the link to Gatley-1 may be questionable.

Crew-30 and Crew-128 seem to have the same father and dates. and perhaps need to be merged and editing Gatley-1 seems to be in order.

Sorry it doesn't look like an easy cleanup

Comments

Thanks.  This could become a textbook study on merging messes and how to (and how not to) fix them.  Every kind of trouble seems to exist here.

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I detached Crews-151 from his Connecticut (PGM) Crow parents. They did have a son John, but he married someone else and died at sea in 1667.

So Crews-151 is now available for merging away (or into, if you decide Crews is the appropriate spelling and if that's the lowest LNAB).

I think the PGM portion of this work is done. Let me know if you need any other help.

Answer 3

This has some similarity to what I requested here:

http://www.wikitree.com/g2g/245357/complicated-merge-leader-assist-please?show=245357#q245357

In looking at the profiles I see more than one family as well, and I see some issues which, in my humble opinion, should be addressed before merges should go forward.

1.  Many of these profiles result from older Gedcom imports and there is little if any proper sourcing.

2.  Parents and children are mixed because of the tradition of same name use from one generation to the next (one of the problems in the Clarke scenario).

3.  Records are not always accurate and reliable in this time period; spouse order can be a challenge to sort out particularly when there is intermarriage.

This is the third large merge challenge I have seen (I have another which will need help as well).  Based on the experience with the Clarke cleanup, perhaps a protocol of sorts needs to be drafted and worked through.


A)  Profile managers identify problem with group of profiles and create list of merges that need to be made.  Profiles have - research note- added at the top of the Bio section indicating there is an issue identified with the profile and work is being done, refer to Profile-XX as the lowest number profile for use.
B)  Profiles Sourced with Birth, Death and Marriage Dates (Spouse Order).


C)  Post into G2G with a possible new tag which identifies a specific need for assistance (In the Clarke case I asked for Leader help and PPP post cleanup - it takes more WikiTree Powers than most have to get the merging done).
D)  Two "Specialists" identified who know the line(s) that the Leader/Ranger doing the merging can refer to for assistance if questions arise during the process.

 E)  PPP Established At Merge completion to prevent repeat of problem.
F)  "Bio Clean Up Crew" / Profile Improvement assistance.

What I've outlined isn't a small undertaking and I don't put it out there lightly. I believe that the only reason we have these big complicated messes is a result of either a person/people who are significant in the lineage or events thus the "attention" they receive as people build them through other venues and bring them to WikiTree through imports.

Elizabeth

Comments

Great suggestions Elizabeth. Some of which we already do.

What we really need is a road map of what IS correct.  I've used g2g for this in the last. Then those working on merging and detaching can follow that map as a guide. You could start with the Crow family who may have had a son incorrectly attached to a wrong spouse. Let me take a look and see where I might dive in.

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I would suggest a Free-Space Profile to document and map the connections or lack thereof.

That way communications can be done several ways (G2G being just one) and everyone's input can be noted on the profile for all to see.