Matching first and last names are not enough to attach a record to an ancestor. Treat each candidate separately until several clues agree.
The method, step by step
- Build a timeline for each person: births, marriages, children, addresses, occupations and deaths. Distinguish exact dates from estimated ranges.
- Compare spouses, parents, witnesses and neighbours. Family networks and signatures can help, but a missing signature is not proof of difference.
- Look for conflicts such as simultaneous events far apart, a death before an attributed birth, or incompatible parents. Check for transcription mistakes first.
- Write down your reasoning and unresolved points. Keep separate profiles if uncertainty remains rather than merging trees.
What to record
Build a candidate table with spouse, parents, occupation, address and witnesses. Find a distinguishing clue, then a record confirming it. Absence from an incomplete index is not enough to exclude a candidate.
Worked exercise · fictional data
Two Jean Martins: avoid a premature merge
Fictional exercise: identify the parents of Jean Martin, married in 1888. An index lists births in the same commune in 1861 and 1863. Matching names and nearby dates make both candidates plausible; they do not identify the right person.
Starting records
- 1888 marriage, record image
- Jean, age 25, son of Pierre Martin and Louise Bernard; occupation: carpenter.
- Birth A, 1861, record image
- Jean, son of Jacques Martin and Marie Petit.
- Birth B, 1863, record image
- Jean, son of Pierre Martin and Louise Bernard.
- Published tree without a citation
- Jean is said to have been born in 1861; no record attached.
How to analyse the records
- Keep both candidates separate in your notes. For real records, note repository, commune, register type, date, record number, archival reference and image. An index entry is not equivalent to reading the record.
- Compare the parents first: Pierre Martin and Louise Bernard link the marriage to B. Age 25 is compatible with 1863, but a reported age may be approximate. It supports this lead without proving it alone.
- Occupation and address can trace a person but can change. An occupation missing from a birth record is not a contradiction. A different parental couple needs a documented explanation before merging.
- Find another distinguishing record: parents’ marriage, death, census or a sibling’s record. Check independence: three trees copying the same wrong birth provide one lead, not three independent sources.
What these records support
B is currently better supported by the exercise records. Keep A as a separate person. Explain the agreements, the record contradicting the published tree and the remaining check. If the parents’ names are uncertain in the marriage, leave the relationship open.
In the worksheet, enter the parents in both observations and set “check the birth and the parents’ marriage” as your next action.
Compare two observations →Record in your research log
- Candidate
- spouse
- occupation
- residence
- distinguishing clue.
Sources & references
- National Archives and Records Administration ↗ (Resource review date : )
- FamilySearch Research Wiki ↗ (Resource review date : )