FamilySearch is both an amazing free resource for genealogy and family history while also being a tangled mess, at times. There are many errors on the FamilySearch Family Tree that need to be fixed or cleaned up with the corrections properly sourced. Untangling mixed up profiles and relationships is just one of many tasks needed to clean up the FamilySearch Family Tree.
I recently ran across just such a situation in one of my desecendancy research projects. Troubleshooting steps include evaluating sources, relationships, and locations. By doing this the FamilySearch Family Tree can be corrected, which will only make it better.
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How errors happen in the FamilySearch Family Tree
FamilySearch is a wiki-style family tree. The goal is to have one person profile for every person who has lived. What happens if there are two people with the same name, born the same year and place, and lived most of their life in the same general area? This kind of scenario happens more frequently than many realize and it is easy to mix up source records, attaching them to the wrong person. It is also easy to incorrectly connect people together. This can lead a researcher down incorrect paths.
I see this problem most often in England. There were a handful of male and female names in use, which were repeated among extended family members and in successive generations of families. Very often there can be several men with the same name and age all living within proximity to each other married to a woman with the same name. An example could easily be William Jones married to a Mary.
I don’t spend much time researching in England, and yet I ran into a similar situation in Georgia. I have been doing descendancy research for a DNA project and came across two women with the same unusual name, born about the same time, and in the same general area. The problem was they were both connected to the same man as his spouse on the FamilySearch Family Tree.
Meet two women named Inez Snellgrove
Inez Snellgrove, (G9BG-QR8) and (GJZW-M15), is enough of a unique name that my initial reaction when finding these two profiles on FamilySearch Family tree was to assume they were duplicate profiles. Before merging the two together, it was important to take a closer look to make sure.
Both women were born about 1916 in Georgia and both were connected to Willie Hammond Simons as a spouse. So the question expanded to identifying which one married Willie. With so many similarities, there is a strategy to figuring out which Inez married Willie.
Look at the sources
The first step is to evaluate any sources attached to both women, parents, siblings, and spouse. Also evaluate any record hints that have not been attached.
| Inez Snellgrove (GJZW-M15) | Inez Snellgrove (G9BG-QR8) | ||
| b. 1916 | Georgia | b. 15 August 1915 | Georgia |
| d. ? | d. 27 September 1981 | Chatham, Georgia | |
| 1920 Census | Emanuel, Georgia | 1920 Census | Telfair, Georgia |
| 1930 Census | Savannah, Chatham, Georgia | 1930 Census | Telfair, Georgia |
| 1950 Census | Savannah, Chatham, Georgia |
A look at the records attached to Willie Simons show that Willie was born in South Carlina but lived his entire life in Savannah, Chatham, Georgia. The record hint for the marriage between Inez and Willie show they obtained their marriage license and were married in Jasper County, South Carolina.
The census records pretty well establish there were indeed two women named Inez Snellgrove born about 1916 in Georgia. The primary difference between the two were their parents and siblings. Inez (GJZW-M15) was the daughter of William James Snellgrove and Emma Wertz and Inez (G9BG-QR8) was the daughter of Otis Oscar Snellgrove and Minnie L. Williamson.
Locations
Looking carefully at the locations in the source records can help solve which Inez married Willie Hammond Simons. The easiest way to look at the locations is to use Google Maps.
- Telfair to Savannah = 140 miles
- Savannah to Ridgeland, South Carolina = 35 miles
- Telfair to Ridgeland, South Carolina = 175 miles
Willie and Inez married in 1933. It would have been a long journey to travel from Telfair County, Georgia to Ridgeland, Jasper, South Carolina – a journey of about 175 miles. Would it have been reasonable for the couple to travel that far for a marriage license?
The journey from Savannah to Ridgeland is much shorter – about 35 miles. This distance seems much more reasonable for a couple to travel to obtain a marriage license and marry. Savannah, Georgia seems to be a very important location for Inez (GJZW-M15) and Willie Simons, so it makes sense to connect this couple together.
Make corrections
After making a decision on which Inez married Willie, the FamilySearch Family Tree needs to be corrected. Many complain about the inaccuracy and problems on FamilySearch, but it can only get better if problems are corrected when discovered. It can sometimes be intimidating to make changes like this, but it is worth the effort. With each correction, be sure to provide a thorough reason statement to explain why.
The corrections start with Inez (G9BG-QR8), the Inez connected to Telfair County, Georgia. She needs to be disconnected from Willie Simons and her “son” William Simons.
The next step is to dismiss the record hints on Inez (G9BG-QR8) that are not a match. These record hints included a Social Security record hint for William Gerald Simons, the son of the other couple. By dismissing this hint, the hints for the other Inez disappeared. In its place was a new record hint of an obituary for an Inez Snellgrove Prickett. This new record hint seems to confirm this relationship clean-up was the right decision.
