Do the Math, Check the Places, Look at the Facts

There are three ways to improve the quality of your own research and to evaluate the validity of what you find online, particularly in the FamilySearch.org Family Tree. They are the following:

• Do the math
• Check the places
• Look at the facts

I found the following entry this morning in the FamilySearch.org Family Tree.

Elizabeth Medhurst born 1665 died 1663

Here is a screenshot of the family information:

The husband was born the same year that his wife died. Both children were born after the wife died and if we look further at this particular entry, we find the following

Daniel Mitchell b. abt 1663 of Westfield, Suss. Eng.
Married abt 1687, of Westfield, Sussex, England

What this says, in reality, is that who ever entered this information did not know any of the birth or death dates and did not know any of the places where the family lived. The source for this information is listed as follows:

What this shows is that there is no support for the information at all. All of the entries and information in this particular record are entirely suspect. There is nothing to support the existence of this particular family and it inclusion as an ancestral family at all.

If you examine you own pedigree on Family Tree, you will find similar entries. Remember the three cautions above.