I am so tired of finding my ancestors including my mother and brother attached to the wrong family trees. When another person searches for ancestors and they come across an error filled family tree they will be led down the wrong path. As a genealogist this bothers me.
Below is an example of a family tree I recently came across with my ancestor erroneously attached to it. This person had sources on some of the events, but not all. Most of the sources are indexes, and you can’t see the originals. In the cases where you can look at the original, it is obvious that this is not their ancestor. When you do genealogy, you have to look at original records and study them. A timeline will show the mistakes in your family tree. In one case she has children born 8 months apart and another 14 days apart. Also, two different dates of arrival, and marrying the same woman two year apart.
For reference: My ancestor is Konrad John Reinhardt (2nd great grandfather) born February 18, 1852 in Nusselock, Baden, Germany
Below is the one I recently came across. I put and asterisk next to my ancestors, and notes about the entry.
Konrad Reinhard (different person not my ancestor)
1851 June 9 – Born in Neuenhiem, Heidelberg, Baden, Germany My Notes: As you can see this man has a different date of birth and a different birth place than my ancestor.
1851 June 22 – Baptized Neuenhiem, Amtsgericht, Baden, Deutschland
1873 October 31 – Death of his Father Peter Reinhard – Neuenheim, Heidelberg, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
1875 March 16 – Marriage to Anna Katharina Pauline Sieber—Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
1876 June 8– Birth of daughter Anna Katharina Ida Reinhard – Neuenheim, Heidelberg, Baden, Germany
My Note: Up to this point the information may be correct for Konrad Reinhard born 9 June 1851.
*1877 February 14 – Birth of daughter Eva Fredricka Reinhard(t) – Heidelberg, Baden, Germany. My Notes: Here is where it starts to go wrong. This is my ancestor (Great Grandmother) born to my 2nd great grandfather Konrad John Reinhardt and Anna Maria Schweppler. Notice that the birth of daughter Anna Katharina Ida and Eva Fredricka are 8 months apart.
1877 February 25 – Birth of daughter Elisabeth Reinhard –Neuenheim, Heidelberg, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. My Notes: Notice the birth of my great-grandmother Eva and the birth of Elisabeth are 11 days apart. Really?
1877 April 26 – Marriage to Anna Katharina Pauline Sieber – Baiertal, Heidalberg, Baden, Germany. My Notes: He just married Anna Katharina Pauline Sieber two years ago in 1875. This happens to be the marriage date of my ancestor Konrad John Reinhardt to Anna Maria Schweppler. If you look at the actual marriage record you can clearly see the names.
1878 August 22 – Birth of daughter Susanna Reinhard – Neuenheim, Heidelberg, Baden Germany
1878 September – Death of wife Anna Katharina Paulina Reinhard – Neuenheim, Heidelberg, Baden, Germany
1879 February 11 – Death of daughter Susanna Reinhard – Neuenheim, Heidelberg, Baden
1880 April 13 – Marriage to Elizabeth Herdt – Heidelberg, Baden, Germany
*1880 August 10 – Birth of son John Conrad Reinhard(t) – Baden Baden, Germany. My Notes: This is my great uncle born to my ancestor 2nd great grandfather Konrad John Reinhardt and Anna Maria Schweppler. His birth year is actually 1879 August 10. There are several records online that state this is his birth date.
1880 – Arrival in United States. My Notes: My Reinhardt’s arrived in December 1879. There are several records online where this information can be found. I also have a record from the Amana Historical Society that gives the date they arrived in America and Amana, Iowa.
*1880 – Residence – Amana, Marengo, Iowa. My Notes: This is my Ancestors listed on the 1880 US Federal Census. Wife is listed as Anna not Elizabeth who he married in 1880. This is not his family.
*1881 February 10 – Birth of daughter Elizabeth Reinhard(t) – Amana, Marengo, Iowa. My Notes: This is my great aunt born to Konrad John Reinhardt and Anna Maria Schweppler. I personally knew Aunt Liz and have her birth record.
1882 – Arrival in United States. My Notes: They just arrived in 1880 according to this family tree. Did they arrive twice?
*1884 January – Birth of daughter Emma Reinhard(t) – Illinois. My Notes: This is my great aunt born to Konrad John Reinhardt and Anna Maria Schweppler. I Personally knew Aunt Emma.
*1887 March 26 – Birth of son Fred Reinhard(t) – Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois My Notes: This is my great uncle born Konrad Reinhardt and Anna Maria Schweppler. I personally met him once, and my mother was close to his daughter Shirley.
1889 April 5 – Death of his brother Ludwig Reinhard – Neuenheim, Heidelberg, Baden, Deutschland
*1889 May 1 – Birth of daughter Anna Reinhard(t) – Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois. My Notes: This is my great aunt born to Konrad John Reinhardt and Anna Maria Schweppler
1889 August 30 – Death of his mother Anna Katharina Vogel
*1891 October 3 – Birth of daughter Agnes Hoph – Hodgkins, Illinois. My Notes: I don’t know where this surname came from. Agnes Reinhardt was my great aunt born to Konrad John Reinhardt and Anna Maria Schweppler in Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois. She was born on date listed above. I personally knew Aunt Agnes. She married in 1920 to Art Lightfoot. A search of Agnes Hoph is a Cook County Illinois birth record for a son Harvey Reinhardt and father is listed as Leu Reinhardt in Hodgkins, Illinois. The time line on Agnes Hoph in this particular family tree has her leaving the country and arriving here several times. One lists her as coming from Cairo. I am sure Agnes Hogh is not my ancestor Agnes Reinhardt.
*1900 – Resident – Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois. My Notes: This is my ancestors on the 1900 US Federal Census. Wife is listed as Anna not Elizabeth who he married in 1880. This is not his family.
*1901 – Birth of son Milton Reinhard(t)– Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois. My Notes: Milton Reinhardt is actually the grandson of Konrad John Reinhardt. Milton is the son of Elizabeth Reinhardt. He is listed on the 1910 Census as the son of Konrad John and Anna Reinhardt. I have his birth certificate which lists Elizabeth Reinhardt as mother. He was illegitimate, that is why he is probably listed as their son. It was a well-known fact in our family that Milton was Elizabeth’s son.
1907 April 3 – Marriage to Karoline Gander – Bergzabern, Bayern, Prussia. My Notes: If you believe this timeline to be correct, does he travel to Germany to get married again (I guess that is possible) and what happened to the wife he married in 1880 Elizabeth Herdt?
1908 April 24 – Death of sister Anna Rosina Reinhard
*1910 – Resident – Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois My Notes: This is my ancestors on the 1910 Census. It lists Anna as the wife not Elizabeth who he married in 1880 or Karoline who he married in 1907. Anyone can see that the owner of this family tree added my ancestors to the wrong family tree.
*1919 March 8 – Death of daughter Anna Reinhard(t). My Notes: This is my great aunt Anna Reinhardt. I have her death certificate.
1921 – Death – Neuenheim, Heidelberg, Baden, Germany. My notes: My 2nd great-grandfather Konrad John Reinhardt died 6 July 1922 in Chicago, Illinois. He was living with his daughter Elizabeth Reinhardt Farrell in Chicago. His body was sent to Ottawa Illinois and he is buried in the Ottawa Avenue Cemetery, Ottawa, Illinois. As anyone can see the man in this family tree is not my ancestor. Also, if you believe this timeline, he had been living in Ottawa, Illinois since about 1885, yet he goes to Germany and dies there? Possible I guess but I would question why when his wife and kids are here. There was one source that listed him as a farmer. My Konrad John Reinhardt was a shoemaker.
Because my great-grandmother was attached to this family tree, my grandmother, grandfather, mother, father, and brother are also attached to it. I hope that I don’t get attached to it too!
I know writing about this will not change anything. Sometimes when I tell a not-genealogist they say, “so what.” But to me it does matter. It is especially irritating when I have spent countless hours researching, pouring through microfilm, traveling to court houses, etc., and another person just goes online and attaches every person with the same name as their ancestor to their family tree. This requires very little research or work. It is just plain carelessness and involves no critical thinking. Sorry, that is not doing genealogy. I have contacted five different people who have done this and not one of them has replied. They haven’t replied to say sorry; I made a mistake or to defend their tree. I will continue to expose them.