Recently a friend of mine asked for some help in understanding her family tree. She was adopted at birth and is diligently trying to follow several of her family lines. In having her DNA examined she has been matched with several people in these lines, mostly distant cousins. While searching she researched the family trees on ancestry.com, familysearch.org and rootsweb.com. The trees on rootsweb.com in my opinion are easier to follow and usually contain more information about the people in the trees.
This time she was looking for America Ellen Lusby who was born 15 May 1844 in Scott County, Kentucky and died 1 May 1895 in Owen County, Kentucky. According to one of the rootsweb.com trees, Southern Roots, by Joel & Ruth, her father was George W. Lusby, his wife Mildred Raiser and America's grandfather Samuel C. Lusby, all dying in Owen County. This tree was last updated on 28 April 2011. While the information provided is limited, it contains very good clues for researching the family. There are three generations listed, along with her husband Bernard Cull.
The next tree found on rootsweb.com, Royal Empire of Qeada Zalikhel Kosanic Cozaks 248 Countries with Charmed Cousins is a real masterpiece. It was last updated 2 April 2012 by Eldon Sebastian Kozaks. There are no dates or places provided for America Ellen Lusby or her father George Washington Lusby, but there are for several generations after them. All of the birthdates are 8000BC and the places are in Mongkhol, England, and Rhineland. For some dates there appear to be a day and month, are these clues to the actual dates? There are six generations and her husband Bernard Cull. There would appear to be some fiction in this family tree, but why would someone go to so much bother to post it online? It made me laugh when I first looked at.
There are thirteen trees listing America Ellen Lusby and the two above are the most recent. The others are by: Judith Cull posted in 2006, two generations; Lynn and Bill Lusby two posted in 2001, four generations; Myron2 posted in 2010, four generations; Phillip Robbins posted six from 2008-2010, four generations; Maggie posted in 2007, one generation. Several of these appear to be reposts of the other contributors.
Have you found any similar trees in your research? We all know that there are some very poorly posted family trees, but for the most part I believe people innocently post what they think is true. Then there are those who just copy and paste what someone else has posted. For our Halloween trick or treat this clearly appears to be somewhat of a trick. Happy hunting in the season of spooky and kooky family history research. Let us know if you find anything weird!
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