If you have few sources, do you wait to add someone to your tree

Question

When there are few sources, do you hold off adding a person to your tree?  If that’s best, I won’t be adding many more.

Comments

If all I have is one source, I add.

I have one gr-grand who is a pod-person.  I have no certified birth or death, but I DO have a marriage certificate and I do have his name on 9 birth certificates (or registrations .. whatever .. they're legal documents).  So I added him on the basis of the marriage document and added the kids in his bio for good measure.  (Kids are also attached as profiles.)

I had to guesstimate the other two dates, based on info I have plus "family sources" (which can't be verified as they're just family notes).

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Thank you Melanie. I’ve gotten negative comments on my profile page for not having sources, amazing.

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Hi Ellen,

I think it depends upon the sources that you have, assuming that you have some. I don't believe it's appropriate to add profiles and relationships here based on unsourced family trees. But as Melanie mentions, if you have a BMD, census, or will record or any number of other legitimate source records for an individual, I believe that you should be able to create a profile, adding the facts that the source supports, and citing the source for those facts.

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I know that some people on here don't think that find a grave is a good source, but I think it is good enough so I added some of my Grandma's siblings with just that because I don't have a paid subscription to ancestry anymore to get more info. I also have just wrote on one or two, ancestry family tree but so far none of the rule-mongers have come at me!

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census, or will record . . .

commented 56 minutes ago by Rick Peterson

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My pod person doesn't even show on the census taken the one time I know he was living.  (Mid-1800s Scotland.)  I know he was alive in 1848.  I know he was dead by 1851.  But I can't PROVE it, well, except as a negative. 

That's why the marriage document (and the birth records for his children) is so important.  It is a legal document.

I don't think I would ever add a profile based on "family knowledge", even if that's what I put on profiles I create.  I usually have found at least one government source to back me up before I add.

That's what I like so much about Wikitree, even though it has made me work so hard to find verification for information I have in inherited family records.  We source and document what we claim!

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In addition, once the profile is created, you can use RootSearch to help find more sources. On the profile menu Name-xxx pick the pull down Research. Then enter your WikiTree credentials to log in (first time). Then pick your site to research. (Sometimes you need to remove mother maiden name or parents or change to married name.)

Also be sure to include sufficient information so that someone else can find your source. Here's an example from FamilySearch (just using the Cite this Record)

"New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:244G-6S3 : 10 February 2018), Sarah F. Lewis in entry for Louis James Hunt and Mary Anna Quayle, 27 Nov 1876; citing Marriage, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States, New York City Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 1,543,954.

Answer 1

Typically, I don't create a profile until I have (at least) reasonable estimates for a birth year, a death year, and a location, along with one primary source.   In lieu of these requirements, I collect whatever info I do have about the potential new profile in the biographies of linked profiles (typically children, siblings, spouses, or parents), which are sourced.  I am hesitant to create profiles that will be difficult to find via the search engine--i..e, those that lack reasonable estimates for birth year and location.  

Comments

Thanks Michael. I’ve been doing basically the same.

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Great advice on where to draw the line on additions Michael.

Ellen, even the use of Personal Recollection By Name and Date is considered a source.  A bad one in most folks estimation, including mine, but a source.  What's one man's treasure is another man's garbage and so on.  But you better have a darn good memory.  LOL

Here is the WikiTree Page on Sources

Also, when you add sources to Profiles where you had none before, you can remove the tag {{Unsourced}} while in the Edit Box.  It's not unsourced anymore, right?

Answer 2

Hi Ellen!

We've been part of WikiTree about the same length of time. I have to admit, I started out adding my profiles much as you did, without adding any or many sources, then went back and fleshed out the profiles and added sources. I'm glad no one has called me out for it before I was able to get back to those profiles to beef up the profiles. Please don't feel discouraged by the messages you've received. It probably would be a good idea to revisit the profiles you originally added and begin to add more sources to them before you create more profiles. Hopefully, like me, you will find it a wonderful experience to learn more about those ancestors' lives as you dig for sources and write their bios.

Comments

Thanks Nelda. I’m hitting walls, I think a few will just have to remain mysteries. Actually I’ve come across many unsourced profiles here. I keep trying, but it can be overwhelming.

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Ellen, don't let it get to the point that you're overwhelmed.  When you hit a wall, post a question here and someone will be along very soon to answer it or at least point you in the right direction.  That's one of the biggest benefits of WikiTree - the collaboration.  You're part of a community of genealogists now, with varying degrees of skills in vast areas of expertise - harness this power!!!

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Hi Gale, thanks. I’m getting ready to post another question specifically about one of my puzzling ancestors, I may not get it done till tomorrow. Any advice is appreciated.