Rejected matches

Question

Occasionally, whilst searching, I come across profiles, in which I am NOT involved, which appear to be duplicate profiles, and yet they are marked as rejected matches. For example Schuler-295 and Schuler-578; Saalbach-2 and Saalbach-6. In this case I have suggested a merge of a connected person which may have a run down effect, but what is the correct way to approach other rejected merges which are very obviously duplicates - must I try to contact each profile manager, or is it sufficient to undo the rejected merge and suggest a new look at another merge?

Answer 1

I would look to see why they were rejected in the first place.  Sometimes their are conflicting parents or inaccurate birth dates.  But you are right, sometimes they appear to be duplicates.  I think many are rejected when they were uploaded via gedcom.  I would remove the rejected match and resubmit the merge request.  Also, if you are rejecting a match, it would be a good idea to go the extra mile and put a note on the profiles.  As a for instance, there were two Thomas Betts' living in Norwalk, CT at the same time.  They were about the same age, but not related.  So a little note could help to keep them from getting conflated.

Answer 2

I've seen quite a few instances where valid matches were marked "rejected" during a GEDCOM upload process, generally before the advent of GEDCOMpare. Often I think the person importing the GEDCOM was confused about how to deal with matches.

If you find a pair of duplicates that are marked rejected, just propose a merge -- and be sure to include an informative comment.

Answer 3

Some rejected merges are from people that think their family tree is just that. Their family tree, Ancestry and the other family tree site on the web. With these types of site when you upload a family tree it is your own to work on. Here on WikiTree when you upload a family tree it becomes available to all on here to work on. People still think that their family tree here is their's and only their's to work on.

Answer 4

Considering the stupid mistake I made in understanding how this process works, it might be what I did and then had to fix. When I was inputting my people I clicked the box thinking I was ACCEPTING and then continued to add information I knew and accidentally created a new profile with a rejection to the correct one. It took me a bit to figure out what I did wrong and undo it.

Answer 5

I proposed a merge which a "cousin" rejected. We have differences in names and dates (it is questionable which is correct) but I didn't know how to handle the rejection. I would love it if someone from outside could look at the situation objectively so I hope you will review the rejecteds whenever you see them and compare them for a possible merge. My ancestor is Gilcrease-73 and his is Gilchrest-42 if you'd like to look at mine. And, Thank You, for caring!

Edit: I looked at my profile and made some edits which may further justify my reason for the merge of these two profiles.

Comments

The single best thing to do in that situation is to add documentation (data, text, and source citations) that tells the person's story and helps another member recognize that the two profiles truly are the same person. It sounds like you've done that.

And the next time you propose the merge (yes, you can re-propose it) your "reason" should include your explanation (if you have one) for any discrepancies that might cause another member to reject the merge again.