What should be done with 2 different published sources with conflicting information?

Question

What should be done with 2 different sources with conflicting information? In his 1938 book ''Utterback history and genealogy of the Utterback family in America, 1622-1937'', William I. Utterback made several mistakes with some early generations of the Otterbach/Utterback line. These mistakes were corrected in the 1964 Benjamin C. Holtzclaw book, ''Ancestry and Descendants of the Nassau-Siegen Immigrants to Virginia 1714-1750''. But this has resulting in many discrepancies in profiles - both ancestors, descendents, dates, etc.

For example, in my line, the parentage, birth date/location, death, etc. of Johann Henrich "Henry" Otterbach/Utterback - husband of Agnes Brumbach/Brumback - vastly differs between these 2 sources. This has resulted in (at least), these 3 different profiles: Otterbach-40, Utterback-232, and Utterback-408 (even tho this last one has him married to Anna Brumback). 

What should be done w/ the profiles that are contradicted by the Holtzclaw source? I'm pretty sure that source is generally considered to be correct (when it comes to differences between it and the Utterback book).

Answer 1

Hi Bob,

While I don't have knowledge of the specific sources in this particular case, whenever I encounter conflicting sources for a fact or relationship in a particular profile (or multiple profiles), I use a Research Notes section of the profile to record the pertinent information. I document the conflicting information and corresponding sources, the fact/relationship that I chose to enter as data/relationship on the profile, and the reason(s) why I chose it.

Other researchers may come along later with questions and/or additional sources/information. If so, they'll be able to see what's been done so far and why, and can contribute any additional information that they may have, and re-evaluate the fact/relationship as necessary.

Comments

Thanks, Rick! So what do you suggest when there are two different profiles representing the same person, but with different parents - because of these discrepancies between sources? For instance, Otterbach-40 represents Johann Henrich "Henry" Otterbach, son of Johannes (b. 1659), according to the Holtzclaw source. Utterback-232 represents the same person, but according to the Utterback book, he would be a son of a different Johannes (b. 1702) - even tho this profile doesn't have parental links, it could. The two "Johannes"s are two separate people under different parts of the family tree. Some of the children of these two "Henry"s are the same, others are not.

If the two Henry profiles are combined into one (according to the most reliable source, believed to be Holtzclaw), more than likely, in the future someone else will create another Johann Henrich to follow the Utterback book source.

If both profiles are left, with their parental links (if they exist), one could put a Research Notes section in each, saying that that profile follows either the Holtzclaw or Utterback source. This would keep the incorrect one from getting created again in the future, but also perpetuates the inaccuracies of the Utterback book source, as well as goes against the "one profile" rule.

I'd say the first option is preferable, but how do we prevent this from happening time and time again (with these particular profiles)?

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Hi Bob,

If we believe that they are the same person, then I believe the profiles should be merged. There is no way to prevent someone from creating a duplicate profile here on WikiTree. But we can document in the merged and related profiles any conflicting information and the reliability of the sources in question. If later a duplicate is created again, we'd still be in the same boat that we are now. But in the meantime (and if a duplicate is not created again), there won't be duplicate profiles for that individual.

If the duplication becomes problematic/recurring, then I believe that profile and related profiles could be requested to have project-protection. That still doesn't stop anyone from creating a duplicate, but it can help prevent any duplicates from being connected to the existing profiles that have been established based on the reliable source.