I have been a serious genealogist since 1996. Early in my research I was delighted to find two messages submitted to Missouri mail lists that described, better than I ever could, just why we do it! The second letter was about the lessons of the search.

All information on this web site is the result of my own research with the assistance of interested parties who are closely related to these same family lines. That is to say ... none of the information has been copied from the files of other genealogists. I have details and sources available for every person mentioned on this web site. I am happy to share this information with anyone researching these same families.

In 2003 I began to notice what I call data collectors on the Internet. These data collectors take gedcom files from other researchers and merge them into their own databases. They have no idea if the gedcom files have been properly researched. True facts are hardly the point. Apparently the point is trying to have the largest gedcom file on the Internet. Ancestry.com has offered a forum to these data collectors that gives them the ability to copy and paste gedcom files to their heart's content. I have seen files containing more than 400,000 people. My own research has been merged into more than one such file. I hope this isn't a continuing trend. If there is an error in my research, I have to contact the owner of the data collection to make sure the error is corrected in that file also. It is unlikely that the person who copied the information will be seeking updates. To that end I have started leaving important details out of the files presented on this web site. No longer given are: marriage information, death place, burial location or cemetery. This information is available to any serious genealogist who asks about it. No information will be shared with anyone I even suspect may be a data collector.

In 2010 eight copies of my research on a particular line are posted at Ancestry.com. Eight people have trees that are exactly alike. They have all copied each other's copies of my research. My research included notes to help me work through the the brick walls. The notes appeared to these eight people to be hard facts. They weren't facts. They were thoughts. However hard these eight people worked at copying my research, they have done nothing more than post errors that will be on the Internet for eternity. They didn't do the research so they don't know about the errors. They are not genealogists in any sense of the word.

I no longer post photographs and documents on this website as they tend to make appearances on other websites without my knowledge.

I don't share gedcom files and don't ask others to.

Please visit a web page that far better describes genealogy fraud.