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Insulting Email - What do i do? Problem with irate researcher - Is she correct? Am I a thief?

Insulting Email - What do i do? Problem with irate researcher - Is she correct? Am I a thief?

Posted: 8 Mar 2015 2:11AM GMT
Classification: Query
OK folks. I feel HORRIBLE and "Insulted" Please let me know if what I have been doing for over 40 years is wrong and I will delete everyone before the 1850 census and people without a written wills or other legal documents. If I have been stealing someone's work, I am truly sorry.

I just received an email from a person and I do not know how to reply. Or even if I should.
She accused me of using someone's research and published it as my own work. I do add dna matches to my tree with whom they say are their ancestors to show the connection and I guess I do copy info from people that they give me for my tree, but I do check census records and dates if possible. I have always given credit to whomever writes stories and for photos. I have ? on everything that I am not sure of. Anyway, below is email from lady. Last one is first. I thank everyone for their input.
xxxxxxxxxx
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email from:
xxxxxxxxxx
RE: Williams 6:54 AM (12 hours ago) to me
So in other words you really haven't researched the Williams family at all? I have been researching the Williams family exclusively for years now. I have seen some false information out there. I have blown holes in other's theories. I see you have COPIED what other people have had on their trees and published it as your work. How do I know? I'm the one that found the documents on Rachel Crumb's mother. How? By research! If you had taken the time to read my notes on Sam Williams being John's father then you would have seen that I have no proof this is the same John R. Williams married to Rachel. There were way more John R. Williams around in the same time frame.
If you had researched all the census as I have, then you would have seen the Williams men never said they were from the same place twice! Same as Rachel. How do you KNOW the John R. in that one Rapides census is in fact the same one married to Rachel? Everyone just ASSUMES and then outs it out there as fact.
I have created a spreadsheet of every Williams on every census that is available and I can tell you as a FACT there was more than one John R. Williams.
I was hoping you had taken the information and found the proof instead of stealing other people's work!
Shame on you!!!

________________________________________
Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2015 01:33:27 -0600
Subject: Re: Williams
From:
To:
Hello, I am not a descendant of Rachel Crumb. I have a dna match for my mother and she is one of their ancestors.
What info I have I got from them but I also checked the census records available.
Sorry I can’t help you,
Good Luck,

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On Fri, Mar 6, 2015 at 6:45 PM, XXX wrote:
Hi,
My name is xxxxxxxxx and I saw your post on rootsweb about Rachel Crumb. I see you didn't post any of your sources. Do I know you? If you are a descendant of John and Rachel, then apparently we are kin.
I saw where you had John's father listed as Samuel. Do you have verification of that? Also I have been trying for a long time to determine where John and Rachel really came from...also just how old John was.
I see where a lot of people have him being born 1770. I haven't been able to verify that at all! Some say they got it from a census of Rapides Parish. I also saw that census, but I also saw a slave schedule of John R. Williams in Rapides Parish..he was a free black man, even though he owned slaves.
I did a Y-DNA of our Williams line and they definitely were not black....they definitely were not Williams either!
I was just wondering if you had any verification of what you posted.
Thank you!

Re: Insulting Email - What do i do? Problem with irate researcher - Is she correct? Am I a thief?

Posted: 8 Mar 2015 2:32AM GMT
Classification: Query
I received another message from this person.. What should I do?
RE: Williams10:38 AM (9 hours ago)
L------ P-----
to me
You need to check the user rules and regulations. I am seriously thinking about reporting you for stealing and publishing my work.
++++++++++++++


Re: Insulting Email - What do i do? Problem with irate researcher - Is she correct? Am I a thief?

Posted: 8 Mar 2015 2:52AM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 8 Mar 2015 2:58AM GMT
Do nothing. Don't respond to any emails that you receive from this person. If you are contacted by the website, explain that you have given credit to the people who originally put this information on the various websites.

It is perfectly acceptable to use published sources. This of course does not mean your tree is correct but it doesn't mean you have "stolen" anything especially if you have given credit as you say.

What we have here is someone who thinks they "own" their ancestors and public records pertaining to those ancestors. No matter how hard some of these records were to find (say wills and such), they are public records and the person who found them does not own them.

I would try to get better verification though not to satisfy the email writer but to have the best tree that you can for yourself.

Re: Insulting Email - What do i do? Problem with irate researcher - Is she correct? Am I a thief?

Posted: 8 Mar 2015 2:57AM GMT
Classification: Query
Simply block the user from contacting you. The end :-)
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