ATTENTION Curators, please assist

Never said they did have all those people...but if they had people available, that was considered a 'plus'....and they did, over time, go out of their way to entice certain people, with certain trades or specialties, to their towns..

The 'indentured' were often from good families as well as those who were not...the thing they had in common was that they did not have the price of passage....so they signed agreements to work for X number of years for whoever sponsored them....often they could buy their way out of the debt/obligation by working very hard and paying their passage fee off early....but they wer not 'free planters' until they had paid off any debts that had incurred...and could not join any church until they were free of debt.

Some were truly indentured and worked for tradesmen, and hopefully learned a trade which was worthwhile once their term of service was up...

You are totally right tho that England did find every opportunity to see that those with opposing religious views obtained passage....it was much easier to let them go then incur the wrath of the public by making them into semi-martyers (by punishment or imprisonment)....and as long as they paid the passage back (often by providing timbers, foods, furs, that England wanted) they were pretty much left to do whatever they wanted....out of sight, out of mind...

They clearly didn't think THAT one over carefully enough....cause it came back to bite them in the a.......

I'm afraid Private User is going to be a very, very unhappy camper. Back before about 1750 (at the earliest) there is no such thing as Private Profiles - and outside 4th cousins there is no such thing either.

The only options are: 1) Live with it and put up with the occasional inconveniences and frustrations, AND/OR 2) download your tree and work on it offline.

You can get a GEDCOM download from under "Family / Share Your Tree", and as for GEDCOM software, there's a lot of it online (and more available for pay).

Yes, I meant to talk with Dylan.....

He is surely missing out on a lot of fun....and a lot of information.

He has his close relations set to private...and as I told him before, WE can not SEE them or EDIT them or anything....we know that they are there because we see that a space is filled with an initial and last name....but that is it...

If that is what he wants, our own rules allow him that....but when he travels outside his 'private' zone he needs to get used to the fact that there are many other people and families involved....

We had to get used to the idea also....but before long it really is nice that others agree on profiles...and in the event new data would involve a change in some detail....with a valid source and sometimes discussion, the profile can be upgraded and made even better..

It's really up to him whether he wants to 'vut bait and run' or stay and make friends with a great group of people....who, if the most recent discussions are an indication....are having fun exploring and learning...

"cut bait and run"

I actually trimmed back my privacy limitations a bit so that other people could get a better idea who was related to whom. (There's an isolated Public profile of fairly recent date, in fact, because the person is deceased and can be found in Wikipedia.)

Just got another doublet of Thomas White of Somerset pried off the Swanbourne family - again.

I have a feeling some people are entirely too gullible about those "Smart" Matches that too often aren't....

there is a reason you have to set a balence on here because when you lower your standards people take advantage of it

"Obviously early migrations involved recruitment, but how long this went on I am not sure. ..."

It varied from town to town, region to region, & era to era. The city of Boston was a utopian / religious vision "come create the City on the Hill.". The state of Georgia was planned as a penal colony. The first descriptions of Virginia were propaganda tracts designed to attract Virginia company investors in the Citie of London. And a little description of "there be gold in them thar hills" set off one of the biggest migrations in history ....

I thought ive seen the most enlightening convo, but this takes the cake so far

At michael, thanks for being a good cousin, @eldon bored with famous people as well, however, I would like to think if their was a family member that had valued me like one of my best friends and if id have something of value, that a family member id leave it to if there is non of my descendents. Ive seen so many pass and the state took anything of value and thru the rest away and didnt both to find relatives.

Gedcom on geni -http://help.geni.com/entries/466636-Has-your-GEDCOM-importer-been-d...

@judyl some of us might want to know our family around the world and meet for lunch sometime.

Was thinkin if there wasnt so many purators/tons that the world would think/be alot different. ? Is were do we stand and where to go from there. Common grounds and to find someone to be etarnally happy with. . . .

So sad to read about those 4th cousins and no relation. Part of ur dna and blood is runnin thru them as in u, u know the relation and ur still gonna say there not related, i heard that bull from another relative more close that cant fly his own kite. The only reason beyond four is the marraige ok beyond 4 thing and theres evidence of defectives the closest your related to a person. . .

I have not been following this whole discussion from the beginning, and only saw a link to it in my e-mailed family newsletter. That being said, after reviewing some of the varied comments, I for one, would like to see the "family tree" preserved apart from the "world tree". It may be a "lofty goal" of the curators to connect everyone on here with everyone else - but for those of us who are here to create our own "family tree", I think we would just like to be able to look at our own tree - without the extra confusion of all those other profiles attached - plus I think it would give our computers a "stroke" trying to load all of that information, never mind us trying to scroll through all the connections to even attempt to make some sense of it. Perhaps I am related to some king or queen or other in the dark ages - that's nice to know, but that is not the goal of my research. I am here to provide the information to my posterity, and to gain personal knowledge of who my relatives were and how they shaped who I am. Their history is an added feature too. After all, we know that we are all related anyhow - since all humanity originated from Adam and Eve. Why can't there be two separate trees - a personal family tree, and then a World Tree that we can view separately (if we want to do so).

Regarding creation of a GEDCOM on here - last time I tried to download a GEDCOM from my tree on Geni it created such a mess, that it was not useable at all. Perhaps the curators can find a way to fix that so we can download our information as a useable GEDCOM file on our personal computers.

Another way to assist us with our research on Geni would be to create daily digests (as on JewishGen and their SIGS (Special Interest Groups), so that a question could be posed to all who have signed up to receive that particular daily digest, and the information could be dispersed to many people at once - rather than having to pose the same question on all or some of the discussion groups we are involved in on Geni. I have gleaned much more information via these digests from JewishGen than I ever have on Geni, and have also been able to assist others as well from information gleaned from my personal research.

I like the format on Geni, and have had my tree on here for some time. Now that I am retired I plan to add more information as I continue my research. Currently I am facing a brick wall, and have been unable to continue with one branch of my tree. I have a PRO membership, because I was coerced into doing so by the powers that be on Geni because of the size of my tree, but I do not want to be coerced by any of the curators or anyone else on Geni to make merges that I am not comfortable with. I do not believe in "supposed connections" with no back up to my satisfaction. I strive to find as much information as I can from various sources to prove to the best of my ability that the profiles I create on my tree actually belong there. What good does it do me to have "incomplete profiles", added by a curator or anyone else, that are like a place holder in my tree without any proof that they actually belong there? I am sure that I am not the only one who feels this way. This only creates confusion for us in our personal trees and serves no useful purpose.

The discussion groups are good, and I think that perhaps the curators are now seeing that not all of us are of one mind who post our information on Geni. Most of us are not "professional" genealogists, nor have 10,000+ entries in our trees. We just want to create our own personal family tree where we can post information to be viewed by us and others (and not changed by others without our permission). We have worked long and hard to create our trees, and we do not want to have this work "muddied" by those with lofty goals that do not necessarily match our own, and in fact create more problems for us with our trees by adding information that does not necessarily belong there in the first place.

Hi Joyce

We've been trying to make it really, really clear.

You don't have to see all those "world family tree" profiles at all!

Please adjust your tree view to something smaller. Mine is set to 3 generations ONLY - (one down, 2 up). That's as much as I can handle at once.

Please post it you're not sure how to adjust your view after trying what I suggest.

Joyce....I do not believe that Geni allows importing GEDCOM's anymore....they created too many dupllications of the same people....and confusion because some also had errors (usually of omission, or wrong connections)....and I believe it took almost 2 years for all the duplicates to be merged together....

Of course you may not care that there used to be 600 profiles of the exact same person.....with another 300 or so that had to be sorted out that COULD have been the same person....but a lot of us remember those days.

Geni does allow a certain range where you can have your private profiles/tree....but at a certain range you either must become part of the World Tree....that IS the purpose of the Geni site.

If all you want is a private tree without range....it is available on other Sites...including My Heritage.....

Altho we are associated with MyHeritage, they are NOT the research site.....and, as was just pointed out by Maven....the information from them can be WAY off in the data they present.

Maven.....Applause to you....

I have deceased members of my family as public....but totally agree with you....

Every one of those public profiles can be found either on Find a grave or by Obits....and some are in Town Histories, Town Reports (under 'deaths') and either also on Wkipedia or other sites (often Family Tree sites).

Allowing others the opportunity to 'skip' the closer reaches of you tree allows others to hop-scotch to others of their own families (which is what the majority do)....to get to other of their own family members...

Hi Melissa King! That 4th cousin thing..where did you hear that?? I have had DNA testing done and it can link you as far back as 6th or 7th cousins! Dont listen to what everybody says,,lol

Fay, I was referring to creating a GEDCOM from my Geni tree information and exporting it to my personal computer so that I can look at the information at home without being on the Geni site. Last time I did this it was a real mess and I wound up deleting the file. I did this quite a while ago, but it seems from the comments on here that this has not changed.

Also, I don't believe that I am part of the "World Tree" as yet, and when I started to create my tree on Geni years ago there was no such thing as a "World Tree". This seems to be a more recent addition to this site, as well as all the discussion groups. At what point am I "forced" to be part of the "World Tree"??? I think that the original intent of this site was for people to be able to create their virtual tree so that it can be viewed by them and their relatives, etc. to gather as much family information as possible on their families to include in their Geni tree. I am not looking to add 10,000 profiles or more to my tree that have very little or no significance to me or my family. I have already purchased a "PRO" membership, which I was forced to do because of the size of my tree. However, I can understand that there is some cost involved to maintain such a large site, and because I want to preserve my tree and research on here I agreed to pay for the privilege.

I like the Geni site, but it appears that it has taken the form of a "Medusa" trying to spread itself out in too many directions at once, and not necessarily to the liking of many of us who have personal trees on here. The discussion groups are a positive addition to the site. However, I am not so sure about the World Tree. As I stated before, we are all related through Adam and Eve anyhow. While it might be interesting to know that I am related to someone famous who lived hundreds of years ago, it does not assist me in finding records on my paternal grandmother's family that everyone tells me do not exist anywhere. I am desperately seeking living relatives on that side of my father's family before the people who have the information I seek are all dead. I am past retirement age, and I am sure that anyone from my generation who is related to my paternal grandmother is probably at least as old or older. So you see, the "World Tree" is of little significance to me in my personal research. The lofty goal of connecting everyone to everyone may be interesting to some - but not the main purpose of my research.

As far as utilizing another online site, such as MyHeritage, there may be flawed information there, but that can also be true of information that people have added to their trees on Geni, or anywhere else online. That is why you have a personal collaboration with the person who provided the information - to discern if in fact that information belongs in your tree at all - depending on the source of the information they provide to you. As you know, not everyone with the same or similar surname is automatically related to you. You must verify any information you obtain, including whatever you obtain from anyone on this Geni website. Anyone can have errors in what they post anywhere. I have had to correct my own information over the years, as I am sure many of us have had to do as more knowledge is gained about our family members. The information available on research sites such as Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.com, and even Ellis Island can be flawed as well. Geni is by no means "perfect" in every way, research site or not.

It appears that Geni has taken a new direction, away from its original intent, to provide a place to create your virtual tree (at no cost) and to share the information as you see fit with your family as well as others of your choosing - and I am not sure that I agree with this new stance. I don't want to recreate everything I have on Geni somewhere else online. It has taken me many painstaking hours to get as far as I have, but neither do I want to be coerced into doing something with my tree that I am not comfortable with. Perhaps you should have taken a poll of those having their trees on Geni to see what their feelings were about being forced into the World Tree before autonomously doing so. I still believe that there should be a way to preserve a personal tree apart from the World Tree (as some have suggested), and that perhaps the curators or "powers that be" do not want to take the time to do so. I am sure that you will find that many others feel as I do.

It is theoretically possible to maintain a separate tree on Geni, but in practice, once you get to the point where you have Public profiles, somebody is going to come along, say "That's *my* relative", and merge the profile(s) into their tree - which is probably connected to the World Tree.

I agree the GEDCOM downloads are a mess - am still delousing one I pulled down last month. Boy howdy errors up the wazoo! But if you want the information and *don't* want the hassle of the World Tree, it's pretty much the only way to go.

Thank for the clarification Maven Helms. However, what is the point where the number of profiles in your tree automatically adds it to the "World Tree"? This question was not answered totally. Are you saying that all it takes is someone to make a merge with your tree who is already in the World Tree, and that automatically includes your tree in that World Tree?? I get merges for review all the time, but I don't automatically approve the merge. I had a relative of mine approve a merge of one of my profiles with someone else's, and I noticed that the merge was incorrect. At that point I contacted the profile manager of the other tree, and asked that the merge be undone - after I provided information to him that the merge was in fact an incorrect one made by a distant cousin of mine who did not have the proper knowledge about that particular profile. Again, just because names are the same (or similar) does not automatically mean that they are in fact the same person (as was the case in this particular profile).

There must be an easier way to maintain a personal tree - without having to "delouse" the horrible GEDCOM that Geni creates. Perhaps the curators can work on a way to correct this issue so that we can in fact download a GEDCOM that is useable.

Also, is there no way to prevent "placeholders" from appearing in one's personal tree once it is merged into the "World Tree"?? I had someone make a merge like this before, and I immediately asked them to remove it! All it did was create confusion in my personal tree and was of no use to me at all.

It's never automatic, but the farther back you go - and the more people you agree to collaborate with - the more likely it becomes. (And if *you* get one of those blue Tree Match flags and act on it, nine times out of ten you're connected.)

As for "placeholders", I use them sparingly and only when it can't be avoided (as for instance when A is clearly identified as a grandchild of B but I don't know exactly who came in between). I also use "signposts" to indicate particular branches of certain trees - *these* are always colored green (Gender "Unknown") to show that they're not real people.

Confusion is an intrinsic hazard of collaborative work. I'm told it's a lot better than it was, but still!

My best advice is, keep your tree-view display focused down - not more than two generations either way - and work on one bit of the tree at a time.

So I don't even need to give permission for you to merge my tree, wtf????

It's...complicated, and I'm not sure I understand all the rules. It seems to depend in part on how many other profiles have already been merged into the matching profile, how many people are collaborating on which profile, whether there is a Master Profile involved, and if so how tightly the curator has locked the fields.

Private profiles will show up in the Merge Center or on a Geni name search, but I for one generally let 'em alone - they're too much hassle. (I can't vouch for what other people may do, though!)

If you see any of your profiles with a white + inside a blue circle int he lower left corner, somebody has requested a merge on that profile. You can click on that icon to view the "pending merge" page and disallow it. (It's rare, but not totally unknown, for this to be the case with anything but a Public profile.)

Dylan - your tree is merged. You did that when you merged your tree with your uncle's. His tree was merged with the "world family tree." You control the "private zone" as a manager (see privacy link). You have edit rights as a co manager to merged public profiles. A profile with 700 managers will (should) be curated, and curators are available for updates (profile link needed and contact - "send message to manager" link.

Joyce at 4th cousin no removed marraiges i was told, but cant remember where. Some infohttp://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin_marriage

Erica Howton,
I'm not sure why this business with Dylan has gone on so long, considering he generated the problem himself. He obviously needs to contact customer service to see if they can rectify his mistake. Here is a screenshot of his post before he started accusing others of doing merges against his will. There are ways to fix it, but it's messy. And you absolutely CANNOT merge anything "without being prompted." I know, having made some boneheaded merges, myself.

http://media.geni.com/p13/98/ce/99/38/5344483b8aafab34/quz65wem_lar...

I like the big tree, that's why I joined.
Jessie German

LOL, no I didn't create my own problem. My tree was merged with the world tree without prompt. This is what the problem was with the beginning and why I'm concerned.

Where's customer service?

Dylan, the purpose of Geni.com is to make one world tree. It tells you that when you sign up.

Geni is creating one family tree for the entire world, built from the collaborative research of millions of genealogists.
Source: http://www.geni.com/worldfamilytree

If you would like to contact customer service, please go to this link and submit a support ticket: http://www.geni.com/help/newticket