Does Anyone Get Lost in the FamilySearch Family Tree?

I have been noticing that many users of the FamilySearch.org Family Tree agonize over the issue of removing a wrongfully attached child or spouse. The situation is usually that the children or one or both parents listed in a family are not supported by any records or there are records, such as a census record, that do not show them as being part of that particular family. As shown by the image above, there is always the option of removing or replacing any individual in the Family Tree. But when should you do this?

The example above is not one of those removal or replacement issues. There are several sources listed supporting the relationships. But if I work my way out on this particular line, I will inevitably run into the issue of whether or not an entry is supported by the existing sources listed in the Family Tree. Here is an example.

Samuel Linton (b. 1775) is shown as married to Margaret McBride (b. 1773). Samuel is shown as born in County Down, Ireland and his wife, Margaret, is shown as being born in County Tyrone, Ireland.  Tyrone and Down are about 100 miles apart. The only source cited for Samuel is a Family Group Record that cites "Family Records" as a source. Here is the Family Group Record (FGR).

However, the birth date listed for the Samuel Linton on this FGR is about 1769. There is nothing that shows how his parents William and Sarah got together while living so far apart in the mid-1700s. William Linton (b. 1746, d. 1823) is married to Sarah Teaquite (b. 1741). William is supposedly born in County Down and Sarah is born in County Tyrone. Their four children are shown as follows:

The first child listed is supposedly born in County Derry, Ireland. The sources listed for this William Linton (b. 1768) are two marriage records showing he married Jane Mathers 30 January 1794 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

I could go on and on, but it appears that there are no records that support any of these marriages or child/parent relationships. But what happens if I start detaching all these people from these families? What if all of the temple ordinances have been done? (Which they have).

Well, it turns out that my direct line ancestor is the Samuel Linton (b. 1775) and there are no sources at all identifying his parents. So what if I simply detach him from this family? What about the ordinances?

Whether or not the ordinances were done for the wrong family configuration does not affect the validity of the personal ordinances done such as baptism etc. The only issue is that the sealing ordinances we need to be redone if the correct people are finally identified. If I were to detach Samuel Linton (b. 1775) from his parents as shown, then these parents would still be in the Family Tree and available if someone were to find a supported relationship. In short, no one is every "lost" in the Family Tree, an individual may not be attached to anyone or a short or long family line may not be attached, but these bits and pieces are still out there waiting for research that can show how they should be attached. If these people's individual ordinances have been done, then the ordinances are valid, but any invalid sealing ordinances would have to be redone if the correct relationships were identified. By the way, if a child is sealed to the wrong parents, the child is still technically sealed. The sealing to parents ordinance is like baptism, it is an individual ordinance. But almost always, the sealing ordinance will be redone when the correct parents are identified.

What about the mess I outline above? Well, from my standpoint, this line ends with William Linton (b. 1801) in Ardstraw, Tyrone, Ireland. Why don't I detach him from his parents as shown? The real reason is simple. I don't have any records showing anything different. So until I can find a record showing who William's parents actually were, I can either choose to detach the unsupported ancestors or not. But if I did detach them and they were later shown to be correct, they would still be out there in the Family Tree ready to be re-attached and their ordinances would still be done.