Mistakes happen.
In 2017 I deleted our old Bramble Bush and started a new one because of how many errors I believed were there.
In hindsight it might have been better to go through and fix the errors since I deleted about 5 years of research that has now shown to be mostly correct.
It wasn't a waste though because I now know what is in our Bramble Bush resulted from a reasonably exhaustive search.
In 2013 I had conversation via Ancestry messenger with a person who has many published genealogy works. We shared back & forth then evolved to email communication. I have a few books and other resources written by this person, and have followed online sources of theirs as well.
During these communications they shared their username/alias they used for genealogy along with their actual name.
I thought we had developed a long distant cousin relationship.
In 2015 I recoiled at my desk when I opened my Ancestry messaging to this message from their alias.
I wondered if they even realized we had connected 2 years before they sent this message. Was I that mistaken when I thought we had a collaborator relationship?
Back in 2015 I went into our Bramble Bush & deleted each person in that entire line with a plan to never look at it again. It was 2 years later that I deleted the whole tree.
Initially I had considered blocking the person, but realized I admired their research even if I didn't appreciate their delivery.
Mistakes happen all the time. I understand it's frustrating.
In the past 10 years of researching with online sources I have found myself muttering WTF frequently. I have NEVER typed a message like the one I received.
Sometimes I will message the person asking for their sources, but ultimately I am not the Genealogy Police. I can only look out for my research.
There is also the possibility they are right & I am wrong so I would like to keep the line of communication open.
Genealogy really is a shared collaborative activity.
In the 5 years since I deleted that tree I have slowly built it back up. This week I added back the line that related to that message. I immediately felt anxious about not making a mistake.
In the end I made a mistake.
I ended up duplicating the line when I added a new person via a census record. After adding several generations above them I discovered the mistake. I know - Rookie Mistake, but mistakes happen.
I was left anxious worrying about the response of a person I have not spoken to in 7 years finding my error before I had a chance to fix it.
This left me dismissing everything I had to do to fix the problem. Sadly I didn't have enough time due to other commitments that day so I deleted the entire line.
Wonder how long until I repeat this whole process again - hopefully without the mistake.
Mistakes happen!!!
This is why I search -
Cause ...
You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***
Links:
Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/
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