Allowing users to make corrections to index entries at Ancestry.com is a nice feature, but it’s frustrating that infromation not on the record can be added or that users can suggest “corrections” that are more specific than what is in the original record itself.
A member of my “Genealogy Tip of the Day” group on Facebook noticed this entry on Ancestry.com for John Burns in Marshall County, Tennessee in the 1840 United States Census. John’s age is indicated as 75.
That age is not given for him in the census. He’s presumably the oldest male in the household. Readers familiar with the 1840 US Census should be aware that the only specific ages that are given in the 1840 census are for Revolutionary War pensioners. Those ages are on the right hand page of the enumeration.
There is no entry on the right hand page indicating John Burns was a Revolutionary War pensioner. His age is not given.
Good genealogy methodology stresses the importance of looking at the original–which was done in this case and which indicated that there was no specific age for John Burns. What makes it slightly confusing is that the “index entry” for John Burns (the first image shown) really looks like a transcription of the record. After all, the age tallies are given from the census. That makes it appear as if the specific age appears in the record as well–which it does not.
The point to remember is that what appears in those “index entries” at Ancestry.com is not necessarily a transcription of the record and one should not assume that everything on that entry is on the actual record.
Which reinforces the importance of looking at the original, using the original, and using this index entry to get to that original.
There are times when one may find additional information in an index entry and choose to cite it (“When the Index Augments the Record”). This is not one of those times.
Note: It is possible to try and contact the submitter of the extra information. Whether they reply or have a reasonable source for that information is another matter entirely.
toni says:
That and “facts” ancestry makes up from “facts” on an individual’s page in a family tree. I added a Best Guess death date and location for a grand aunt and next thing I know, there it is at ancestry as a fact that comes up in a search. NOT a link to my tree. HUH?? I wonder how many trees now give that information for her in their trees. My tree is now private. Not at all what I wanted to do. I had hoped someone might see Best Guess and look harder. It must be out there somewhere! She lived. She died.