Video: Conflation in Your Tree

What makes genealogists cry? Conflation. Watch Jen's video to make sure you don't make this huge mistake in your tree.

This is important because conflation is one of the biggest issues that keeps a family researcher from being successful. If you're looking for the wrong person, or a person that doesn't exist, you will not make progress.

This important for all people in your tree, regardless of heritage. If everyone online refers to your ancestor as "Mary Henrietta Sarah," the reality might be that two or three separate women are being combined into one. A man may have had three different wives named Mary, Henrietta, and Sarah. If the mother of one of your ancestor is identified incorrectly, you may then keep researching the entirely wrong family.

Recently we sorted out a "Christopher James Lastname." Ultimately, he was listed in 0 records as Christopher James. Someone had attached a record to the Christopher Lastname in their tree, but that record was for a completely different person named James Lastname. Yet dozens of online tree-builders took that name and continued to propagate. That kind of error doesn't result in the wrong parents or the wrong children being attached to him, but it's still an error.

So... be careful, do your own research, and look at hints and other information with a critical eye.