Having been a member of WikiTree now for several months, I am appreciating more how important accuracy is.
Just because you find a relative's name in some document doesn't mean it's them. In most cases, there are many people with the same name. I've actually checked on several social media sites for people with my name; there are quite a few.
As you may know, there's more often than not one child in the family who's named for the father. A junior has the identical name as his father, not just his first name. And, a II, 2nd, doesn't have to be the very next generation, it can be a grandson, even a great grandson.. Jr., II, III are accurate ONLY if the names are identical: first, middle and surnames.
Just because your mother, father or grandparents told you something, doesn't make it true. I can't tell you how many "family stories" or family legends have fallen by the wayside since I began researching my families because records just tell a different story - and not just one record.
If your grandmother said Uncle Whatever was born on October 12th, but his birth certificate says the 9th and a baptismal record says the 9th, and his enlistment record says the 9th, then he was born on the 9th and Grandma was wrong. Grandparents can be WRONG. So can parents.
MOST OF THE FAMILY TREES ONLINE ARE INACCURATE. Most have NO SOURCES. If they have no sources of where the information came from, the only use they have is a hint to a possibility that requires more research to determine of the posted information is real.
I will NOT believe anything you tell me about our joint family history unless you have documents to back up what you think you know. In most cases, I HAVE.
I will admit that there are terrible errors on "official" documents, but no documents means NO ACCURACY, NO PROOF. I try to find a birth, marriage and death record for everyone in my database. And, if I can find more than one of each; and, if I can find other documents backing up those facts, all the better.
You may think I'm being picky but I was born on a specific date, in a specific place, to specific parents and I have a document to prove it. Same with my son. If anyone says differently, I have grounds for a suit of some kind.
If you don't think it matters, then it won't matter to you if I start spreading a rumor that your parents weren't your parents and you were born in another country and you're 5 years younger than you say you are. DO YOU GET THE PICTURE?!
PLEASE STOP POSTING INACCURATE FAMILY TREES ONLINE. If you don't have documents to substantiate your posts, you're just writing fiction and creating a lot of chaos and confusion. If you've already posted a family tree somewhere, please, remove it.
If you think I'm making this too big a deal. Tell me this: Does it matter to you that your car mechanic knows what she's doing while working on your car and is accurate in diagnosing and repairing things? Does it matter to you that your dentist fills the correct tooth? Does it matter to you that your doctor correctly diagnoses what's wrong with you and the treatment is dispensed accurately? You'll know right away if your optician doesn't give your the correct lens prescription, won't you? Does it matter to you that the cashier gives you the correct change? How many more ways can I say it:
ACCURACY MATTERS
