When seeing a merge but not ready to merge, what do we do?

Question

Mary Boddie, who married Thomas Dixon 1, seems to be the same Mary Boddie as in my tree, on the Owen family line of my mother's ancestors. This tree, Boddie 3, has many names in it which are not in my tree (Berg-1880). First because I am trying to be careful in listing people (and still have errors) in my tree (Berg-1880) and too because whoever made the Boddie-3 tree and orphaned it had done extensive work for his/her own families' lines (numbering 323 names which simultaneously and naturally verge away from mine).  Now that I've found the correspondence, I should merge merge the two trees at this point of connection (Mary Boddie) and perhaps others. But to work with my tree any further I'd rather keep it sparse and fix the errors first. What's the best plan for a next step, Anyone know?

Answer 1

Roberta , Hi.  I would continue as you are. Getting your line together and correcting and sourcing your line. I would set the two profiles as an unmerged match.  Remembering that and unmerged match should be for a limited time. So you have time to work the details.  I would document on both profiles what your conclusions and sources are for the match.  What you are doing , and that you are actively working on the profiles. If the orphan profile becomes adopted contact the new manager or adopted it yourself to keep an eye on what is going on with the profile. Thank You so much for your dedication to making profiles correct. Work in the way that makes you most comfortable and that does not overwhelm and frustrate you.  And by all means do what you have done and ask for help. Great people here. Intelligent , helpful , insightful and funny .  And supportive.  Good luck Roberta.

Answer 2

(Trudy, although we almost always agree, I must say on this we differ)

Hi Roberta,

If they are the same person, then the two profiles should definitely merge.  WikiTree is different than other genealogy sites - we are creating ONE profile for every person and ONE tree for all of us.  We all work together on them (the Open Privacy level ones).

When I first joined WikiTree, I spent the better part of the first year straightening out the mess that was my mother's side in Connecticut.  Almost all I did was work with existing profiles - adding sources and making sure everyone was documented and in their correct places in the family - and in the tree.

If you want to work on only YOUR tree, then it is better to do in a different program on your home computer.  I haven't done that, but I'm sure others might have good suggestions for you, or you can search for subjects in the little search box at the top left of your G2G page.

Thank you for the question - really gets to the heart of things - and what makes WikiTree unique - and wonderful!

Comments

Hi Cynthia , we do mostly agree.  I think Roberta does wants to connect to the big tree. She has things to work out in her tree before she adds it to the bigger tree here at wikitree. Then she will complete a merge.  I think this is the purpose of the Unmerged match. To put things in a temporary safe place until things are solid and correct before merging confusing info into a profile , it is worked out and clear at the merge. I don't think Roberta wants to only work her line , I think the question she asked was about how to combine the two profiles effectively .  I think we may disagree. But Roberta is doing what you mention you did in your second paragraph.  And your over all work is much better off for the detailed togetherness of your profiles. I certainly know my profiles have benefited from your work.  I think Roberta is working in that direction and there might be a slight misunderstanding of her question. Anyway thanks Cynthia.

---

Thank you, Trudy.  You're right.  I might have misunderstood the question.

Roberta, If I misunderstood your question, I apologize!

Please, if your question has not been answered to your satisfaction, either respond here, or maybe ask again in a new question? This is a very friendly, helpful community.  I have been amazed by the wealth of knowledge and experience, and people are so willing to share.  Questions are always welcome.

---

Cynthia , I've noticed your work on the Warren and Carter families. THANK YOU YOU ROCK.