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For genealogical research you need something more than just a tree builder, you need a system to record facts based on documents (like birth certificates) and a

For genealogical research you need something more than just a tree builder, you need a system to record facts based on documents (like birth certificates) and a mechanism to link those records (I think person A mentioned in birth certificate C the same person as person B mentioned in marriage certificate D). The family tree is the accumulation of these the documents and the assumptions you made. It is possible that when you encounter a new document, you have to drop some of your assumptions, because, for example, it does occasionally happen that a person with a same (or similar) name is born on the same date in the same city.

gerdesj 3y ago
"For genealogical research you need something more than just a tree builder, you need a system to record facts" Facts are facts (indisputable for a given value of indisputable!) but you can and I think should also record anecdotes too. Mark the data as such. A generic term for facts might be "Events" ie events in a person's life. Assign a score or an attribution or whatever works for you. The thing about facts is that they can become distorted. Human memory is a bit ... malleable and let's face it the output from our sensors (eyes etc) are open to some interpretation. That's a bit meta! I suggest you forget about neat little trees when it comes to genealogy. Think thicket instead, really tangled thickets.
WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
> It is possible that when you encounter a new document, you have to drop some of your assumptions, because, for example, it does occasionally happen that a person with a same (or similar) name is born on the same date in the same city. Good grief yes. Families with the same surname, with kids born in the same order and in the same years. I had a 3 pack of that in one NJ town. Man marries 3x, all named Lilly. Siblings Smith marrying Siblings Jones. Second wife adopts first wife's name as their nickname. Siblings swapping spouses (divorcing first). Parents who reuse the name of a dead child, multiple times. Aging dad who remarries daughter-in-law's mom. Women marrying men with same surname (some related, some not).

gerdesj 3y ago

"For genealogical research you need something more than just a tree builder, you need a system to record facts" Facts are facts (indisputable for a given value of indisputable!) but you can and I think should also record anecdotes too. Mark the data as such. A generic term for facts might be "Events" ie events in a person's life. Assign a score or an attribution or whatever works for you. The thing about facts is that they can become distorted. Human memory is a bit ... malleable and let's face it the output from our sensors (eyes etc) are open to some interpretation. That's a bit meta! I suggest you forget about neat little trees when it comes to genealogy. Think thicket instead, really tangled thickets.

WarOnPrivacy 3y ago

> It is possible that when you encounter a new document, you have to drop some of your assumptions, because, for example, it does occasionally happen that a person with a same (or similar) name is born on the same date in the same city. Good grief yes. Families with the same surname, with kids born in the same order and in the same years. I had a 3 pack of that in one NJ town. Man marries 3x, all named Lilly. Siblings Smith marrying Siblings Jones. Second wife adopts first wife's name as their nickname. Siblings swapping spouses (divorcing first). Parents who reuse the name of a dead child, multiple times. Aging dad who remarries daughter-in-law's mom. Women marrying men with same surname (some related, some not).