A distant relative that I made contact with a couple years ago told me the family story which I soon learned was full of rumor, gossip, and error. She also said she didn't give a hoot about genealogy.
Sometimes stories can be proofed or can lead us to the correct information. However, in this case I really wondered who might have had an agenda to defame someone.
After I explained that genealogy is not the same as family stories, though the two can unite, I told her one of her stories was just plain wrong.
Then I offered to find some documents for her.
I went into the Ancestry TM genealogy database where I almost never look at the family tree function. I forgot to uncheck it and upon putting her mother's married name in, up came a family tree. She had not put it up there, but who had? I printed it out. None of it had an attached document. No death certificates. No marriage certificates.
I decided to use the locations stated on this family tree posting to search census for the surname - nothing. Most bizarre was that her very own mother was reported to have been buried in Canada. I know where her mother is buried and it's not Canada. It turns out that someone had decided that a person with the same surname but her mothers given and middle name reversed was her mother. What a mess.
That mess should not be called genealogy.
I realized that someone might have basically put all this information up with best wishes or hope someone else would straighten it all out.
This is just one more example of errors which are all over databases and all over the internet that other people rely on as fact.
Even if you are a hobbyist, hold yourself to professional standards. DO NOT ADD TO THE MISINFORMATION BY POSTING what is NOT DOCUMENTED on any database for other people to see or use or rely upon! And do not believe any "genealogy" that does not share proof documents.
We already have enough rumor, gossip, and error.
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