Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.10.2018, Síða 4

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4 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • October 1 2018
On the German side of
my family, several sub-
scribers to Ancestry .com
have misappropriated my 6th-
great-grandfather, Andreas
Dippel of Leusel (1681-1743),
as their own ancestor. And to
add further insult, Ancestry
keeps sending me “hints”
linking my ancestor to these
sloppy excuses for family
trees.
I have serious concerns
about the growing unreliability
of the burgeoning member-
generated family trees at
Ancestry and other online
genealogy sites, as imprudent
and careless “researchers”
scavenge these platforms
making specious connections
to serious researchers’ work.
Ancestry’s access to digitized
versions of original records
has been a wonderful boon to
genealogy, but too many of
the member-generated family
trees are increasingly just
rubbish. Fake pedigrees are on
the rise.
I have found that, in my
family’s case, most of the
ancestor pilfering has involved
the German branch. Beyond
laziness and sloppiness on
the part of dilettantes, several
other factors seem to influence
why my German line seems
more vulnerable than others.
The sheer number of North
Americans with German
ancestry means that there
are large numbers of people
looking for connections, most
with little or no knowledge of
German history, geography,
or language. German vital
records have been historically
more localized than other
Western European countries,
which has meant that it’s
important to know exact
villages and the religious
profession of one’s ancestors
to access primary records.
German naming customs,
where a person’s “call name”
was often not the same as their
first name, leads to confusion
and the anglicization of names
only adds to that confusion.
And the tenacity of family
myths about “what happened
at Ellis Island” (or other ports
of entry) frequently sets people
off on the wrong foot at the
very beginning of their search.
Ancestry’s television
advertising only adds to
the problem by making
genealogical research seem
easy and magical, rather
than the serious, careful, and
oftentimes difficult work that
it really is. Like any area of
study, dilettantism spoils the
result.
If the pursuit of genealogy
is motivated by respect for our
own ancestors, then we ought
to undertake the work with a
proper regard for fidelity to
the facts. Naturally enough,
we rely on the work of others
in producing meaningful
family trees. After all, we
are born into our families,
or adopted into them; we
don’t create them out of thin
air. But it’s essential that we
ensure that our linkages are
correct and then document our
sources to prove it. A certain
amount of speculation may
be inevitable when creating a
genealogical narrative, but our
basic facts should be correct
and defensible in the same
way we would defend any
academic exercise. And when
we find ourselves engaging in
speculation, we should name
it for what it is. Our ancestors
deserve that much respect.
This is why I’m so grateful
for Icelandic Roots, which is
arguably the most reliable,
well-managed, carefully
vetted online genealogy
platform in the world. Its
volunteers are committed to
ensuring the accuracy of their
database, so that those who use
its resources can count on the
information being as accurate
and complete as possible.
Icelanders have always been
noted for their thorough and
relatively reliable genealogies,
but the volunteers at Icelandic
Roots are meticulous in their
work and maintain the most
rigorous standards. Most
people have to rely on Ancestry,
FamilySearch, or one of the
other online platforms as
they explore and record their
family histories, with all the
risks and errors that involves,
from false leads to fake
pedigrees. Icelanders – and
especially those of you who
are full-blooded Icelanders
– have the good fortune to
be able to count on Icelandic
Roots, which is not just an
online platform but a genuine
genealogical community. I
think it’s a national treasure.
Stefan’s Saga
Stefan Jonasson
Editor
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Re: Finns, Manitoba
While catching up on
some past issues (April 1), I
was surprised to see a photo
of my great-great-grandfather,
Finnbogi Finnbogason, stand-
ing in front of his house. This
is a photo of which I have an
original. Does anyone recall the
big “Finns” sign? Was it on the
side of the railway building?
If it still exists somewhere,
the family is interested in its
whereabouts. Thank you.
Merrill Albert
merrillalbert@hotmail.com
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