How should one deal with people who may match but you are not sure?

[A Hougie]

So my question is how to enter in Reunion when you have two people and you are not sure whether they are the same person.

For example you have one family, and you have adequate information that you are confident that they did exist, and that family includes child A and father B; and you also have another family (for whom you also have adequate information that you are confident that they did exist), and the second family includes a person (C) with the same information as child A and a father (D) who matches father B, but the information you have is not sufficient to be sure that A and C are the same person and that D and B are the same person.

Entering them as the same person seems dangerous, but keeping them apart means you miss the (probable) connections.

[genealogist.lily]

Re: How should one deal with people who may match but you are not sure?

So my question is how to enter in Reunion when you have two people and you are not sure whether they are the same person.

For example you have one family, and you have adequate information that you are confident that they did exist, and that family includes child A and father B; and you also have another family (for whom you also have adequate information that you are confident that they did exist), and the second family includes a person (C) with the same information as child A and a father (D) who matches father B, but the information you have is not sufficient to be sure that A and C are the same person and that D and B are the same person.

Entering them as the same person seems dangerous, but keeping them apart means you miss the (probable) connections.

I mentioned this a long time ago and it works for me. I added a field under the Note field called "Post-It" via Preferences > Fields > Notes > Add New Note. This note field is for my information only - I never select to include it in reports etc. I post all kinds of information for myself. Sometimes it is sensitive material that I would never want to share or publish, sometimes it is a vital stat and I'm not sure if it belongs to a particular person, and sometimes it is a note to remind me of a dilemma such as the one you mention above. In your case I would copy and paste the note with both families explaining that they could be one-in-the-same. Later, if you find you are correct it is a simple matter to merge them or remove the notes if there is no connection. ~Lily

[gilbertdh]

Re: How should one deal with people who may match but you are not sure?

I created sources that I assign to individuals: 1) spouse undocumented 2) child undocumented 3) marriage undocumented, etc. This brings all the types of problems together, and you can use Source Usage to find them. Then I also know that more information is in the Notes field.

In the Wish List forum a long time ago I suggested for a way to show in the Name itself that a person's existence or relationship is questionable: something like having the name in a font or italics or color. Then problem people would show immediately in both the Name Index and the Family view. This would help with unrelated people you have in your file; you know they are part of the family but not how, and you can't click through the ancestors and descendents and get to them since they aren't connected yet.

David

[Bob White]

Re: How should one deal with people who may match but you are not sure?

Don't laugh, folks! None of the above. I have a manila folder labeled "Needs More Research" and I periodically drag items from it to see if I can find any new clues. (I print out everything I have so far with my handwritten notes.) Some items have been in there for lots of years.

Most of my career was in the DMV Driver License division. So, I am pretty persnickety in regard to identifying one record to another. I know just too well how often there are two or more living people with precisely the same name who live in the same locale or have same/similar birthdates, etc., etc. In the case presented by A Hougie, I would not enter either one of the records. Maybe or maybe not but I tend to think that the solutions above could lead to a mess somewhere in the future.

One other major category lives in that manila folder. We all have the situation where we have pegged the female spouse and the children but have been unable to discover the female spouse's maiden and/or previous married name(s).

[gilbertdh]

Re: How should one deal with people who may match but you are not sure?

Off the top of my head, the gradations for establishing a fact are Possible, Likely, and Probable. Possible people never go into my file. Likely people may, depending on circumstances like how common the name or how large the family. Probable people do go into my file, but I then document the level of probability.

[adamdiament]

Re: How should one deal with people who may match but you are not sure?

I make an unconnected individual so that they are an "island" in Reunion. Their whole family may be an "island." Then in the Misc. Notes field for both individuals, I'll have something like, "May be related to/son of/daughter of/married to X, see unconnected X individual in file. Need more information to confirm whether connected."

[Bob White]

Re: How should one deal with people who may match but you are not sure?

At the time of this thread, none of us knew that there was this "islands" feature in the next version. Or several other version 11 features.

Having said that, using the islands feature to make these odd items more accessible is a good idea.