Using MyHeritage to correct entries in the FamilySearch Family Tree

For some time now, I have had access to the MyHeritage.com Tree Sync program that can synchronize data with the FamilySearch.org Family Tree but unfortunately, I have not had the time in wrapping up our service at the Maryland State Archives to do much more than look at the program. I will be working on evaluating the features and benefits in the not too distant future.

What I can say now it that when you begin the process of synchronizing, you import the initial information from FamilySearch and create a new family tree in MyHeritage. So the data in this family tree is the same as the data in the FamilySearch.org Family Tree. For this explanation, I am using the term "Family Tree" with initial capital letters to refer to the FamilySearch.org Family Tree any other family trees will have initial letters in lower case.

As I worked with the newly imported data now on MyHeritage, I began to realize that I have been using the MyHeritage family tree to correct the corresponding entries on the FamilySearch Family Tree and I further realized that now that I have the same data in both websites, I can rely on error correction program on MyHeritage to correct the information on my part of the FamilySearch.org Family Tre. I also thought it would be a good idea to explain the process in detail. In my opinion, the benefits of using MyHeritage for this purpose far outweigh the demands of the somewhat complicated procedure.

This process only works if you have a family tree on the MyHeritage.com website and some of the same information on the FamilySearch.org Family Tree. You can do this with any family tree on MyHeritage, but it works much better with the synchronized, newly created family tree. You will also need to have the full data subscription to MyHeritage.com (equivalent to the FamilySearch Partner version that is free to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).

To start to review the information, you go to the MyHeritage.com Consistency Checker listed in the "Family tree" menu item and choose a person to correct.

This section of the Consistency Checker shows children who are born before their parents or in other words are older than one of their parents. The first one on the list is William Hobbs. Here is the MyHeritage Essentials page for this person.

The key here is that if this error shows up in MyHeritage, it came from my imported file from the Family Tree. You might note that there is a link from this person back to the same person in the Family Tree on the left side of the image.

Here is the same person's entry in the Family Tree:

If you examine this entry in the Family Tree, you can readily see that William Hobbs is listed as being born in 1689 and his father, Richard Hobbs is listed as being born in 1695. Why was this information carried over from the Family Tree? Why haven't I corrected this information previously? The answer to the first question is simple; this MyHeritage family tree is a copy of what is in the FamilySearch Family Tree. But the second question opens up a world of issues with the Family Tree.

This particular person is from my wife's family. That is not an excuse, that just reflects the reality that because of the history of the Family Tree and the way it was created, unlike for most people who would not see their spouse's family, I am connected to my wife's entire family. Part of that reason may also lie in the fact that I am distantly related to both my wife's father and her mother on separate lines.

But the real reason this person has not been corrected is that he is too distantly related and we have yet to work our way back that far in the family lines. We can tell that it has been some time since this person was edited or reviewed by realizing that the birth date is non-standard in the Family Tree. The date should be standardized.

Now, back to William Hobbs. He has no sources listed in FamilySearch, but there is a Record Hint that seems to correct his birth date. However, here, the real problem is with the person listed as his father. Richard Hobbs. The date listed as his birth dates is actually the date of his christening which is supported by a source. Without some extensive research, there is no way to determine his birthdate. He could have been born years before his christening. The simple solution to the problem is to remove the birth date or change it to reflect that it occurs "before" the christening date. There are other issues with the entries including standardization, duplicate entries, and other issues. What may look like a simple solution, actually leads to a cascading increase in issues that may take hours or longer to resolve.

But with a few clicks from MyHeritage, I can determine a valid research point on the Family Tree. Unfortunately, there is no simple solution for this apparent data issue.

Let me give another example.

Here is another entry from the MyHertitage.com Consistency Checker.

There appears to be a problem with Thomas Selfridge's birthdate. So I can use the link to go back to his entry in the FamilySearch.org Family Tree. Indeed, there appears to be an error. But as I examine the different sources I find that there seems to be some inconsistency about his birthdate. Some of the sources, such as census records, give an estimated date of death as 1792 or 1793, if these later estimates of his birthdate are more accurate, his mother's birthdate in 1785 becomes less problematic. Since the present entry in the FamilySearch.org Family Tree is an estimated date of "about 1786" and given the differences of the birthdate in different sources, it is likely that there is no real issue. The problem can be resolved by entering a different estimated birthdate based on the sources with the later date or simply removing the birthdate altogether due to the conflicts. I chose to make the estimate correspond to the later birthdate.

Again, the tools on MyHeritage.com have been useful in correcting an entry in the Family Tree. But, in reality, both of these examples indicate the limitation of the sources already cited and the need for additional research.

I could continue to give examples because the MyHeritage.com Consistency Checker indicates that there are 775 inconsistencies in my portion of the FamilyTree. This is somewhat discouraging, but not at all unexpected. I certainly cannot say that my family tree is complete.