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General question about duplicate records

General question about duplicate records

Posted: 25 Sep 2014 6:00AM GMT
Classification: Query
I could really use some suggestions to my dilemma: when I first started using ancestry.com roughly 6-7 years ago I was a total amateur, but with a very enthusiastic spirit. With my enthusiasm, albeit newbie user-status, I began adding relatives to my tree into the hundreds and hundreds before I realized that I had so many duplicates of the same person, over and over again. What happened was, I was not aware that ancestry.com considered someone with only a new initial, perhaps, added to their name, to be a totally new person. There was (maybe still is this way?) no simple correction system in place with ancestry.com, when a duplicate of the same person was being added, simply because one record might have included a middle initial to their name, while another record did not, but the system was still popping them up with the green leaf as NEW people. So you can imagine what havoc it brought to my tree, before I was onto the huge mistake, w so many duplicates to the same people. Aggh! At this point, I really don't know if I should just START ALL OVER, delete everything except maybe my parents and my grandparents information. I have records all the way back to the 1700's, with both my Mom's side and my Dad's, so this would be a huge loss for me. But it is such a twisted mess that I am at a loss about what else to do! I could really use some sound advice and direction from some of you with much more experience than me. I thank-you in advance. Me sad. :(
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