Why should I have to merge my documented infor to another person's inaccurate infor?

Question

I have strong objections to being forced to use an already posted profile for an ancestor that is so inaccurate as to be laughable.  The person in question  is William Sparkman, Jr.  Virtually nothing in this persons gedcom concerning William Sparkman is true!

I have researched this man and his family for 30 years, have at least 30 pieces of documents, including his Bible, estate records..  

1. William Sparkman was married twice, 1. Elizabeth Hudson from 1795 1800

2.  Nov 11, 1800, Sarah d/o EDWARD SURRY and Winifred Leary SURRY( NC Marriage bonds) (Bble of William Sparkman which has been microfilmed by the FL State Genealogical Society).  

3. 1816 William had the first non hispanic or native american child known to have been born in Florida, Peter Francis Sparkman who became a very prominent Lawyer and landowner.

3.  William never served in the NC State House 1815-1817.  He was living in Camden Co GA  and FL at that time (Amer State Papers, Library of Congress) ( Alachua Co Ancient records)

One thing is true, he did die in Alachua CoFL

So I guess my questions are:

Do I destroy the credibility of my research by being forced to associate it with this fictional account?  

What can or will WikiTree do to recitfy this and other erroneous entries on their site?

Should I just delete what I have added in order to keep my reputation intact?

Captain William Simeon Sparkman Jr

Born  October 19, 1768  in Bertie County, NC

Son of Captain William S. Sparkman Sr and Anna (Gardner) Sparkman

Husband of Sarah (Leary) Sparkman — married  November 21, 1800  [location unknown]

Husband of Sarah (Brownrigg) Sparkman — married  January 3, 1820  [location unknown]

Died about  June 15, 1845  in Alachua County, Florida

Sparkman-7 — Profile manager: Patricia Thomas  [send private message]

Last profile change on 2 February 2014

22:09: Patricia Thomas edited the Middle Name for William Sparkman. [Thank Patricia for this]

This page has been accessed 237 times.

 

 

Comments

Laverne, no one is forcing you to do anything. In fact, I have not asked you to do a thing.  I more than welcome your imput. Please feel free to change any of my profiles that you feel are incorrect. They are open to everyone. And please remember that Wikitree requires us to treat each other with courtesy. Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello Laverne

I looked at the profile you posted and cannot see any merge proposal which I believe is Sparkman-7

Why do you say you are being forced into a merge? Forcing someone certainly is not the WikiTree way. WikiTree is collaborative. We all work together working towards a goal of one world tree. When someone believes they find a duplicate of an existing profile they send out a merge request. A merge is not compulsory. You will see the two profiles side by side by doing a compare to chaeck if the other profile is liekly a match. If there is a possibility but some facts differ then it is usually a simple matter of mutual respect and communication to work out any differences so the merge can proceed. It is normal practice to merge into the lower numbered profile. This is for technical reasons only. The resulting profile is simply the facts that are chosen from each of the two profiles to make a new profile with those facts.

Of course, placing the sources of information in the Biography section of a profile can assist someone who is likely to send a merge.

The WikiTree Honour code is our mutually agreed upon code of behaviour:

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Special:Honor_Code

If there really is a difference in opinion that evidence cannot be shown for, a differing point of view can always be placed in the Biography section. That allows for evidence to be found by someone (a third pary perhaps) that can be presented to either prove or disprove a claim.

I hope this helps.

Paul Bech

Comments

I agree wholeheartedly!

Answer 2

By merging any two profiles of the same person you re doing what you can to correct any erronious entries on wikitree. If you have documented evidence that is better than the evidence on the other profile then you can merge the profiles and, in collaboration with the other PM create a new biography that better reflects the known facts.

If, during the collaboration phase it becomes clear that some points are still disputed then these differences can be noted in the Biography narrative for further research.

After the merge both profile managers are retained as PM's so you still are involved in the ongoing collaboration. Far from destroying the credibility of your research you are proving your worth as a genealogist by improving the quality of data on this profile and helping prevent the promulgation of errors.