Ancestry has a new feature to go along with their shaky leaves. They now give you potential hints for Mothers and Fathers. If you have followed me for a while you know I am not a fan of the shaky leaf, so it goes to say that I am not a hyuge fan of the potential mother and father boxes either.

To me the give people the option to put a tree together without doing their due diligence and connecting the dots.

Above is my 3X – Great Grandmother Jane A. West. I am still not 100% sure of her 1889 death date so their is no way I can give credence to any potential mother or father’s ancestry has decided to recognize.

Now as I have branched out into doing genealogy research for others their is no way, I could in good conscience just click and add people to a tree. Also I have found researching for others is slow going as these are not names that I know like the back of my hand. I have 4 projects in process and I am getting to know some wonderful people in various places. Tennessee has a big one as has Ohio and Indiana.

In this tree I have hints and potential mother and fathers and so far I am not having luck which is why they are still green. Every hint should be evaluated on its own merit. While I was at GRIP last week, one of the instructors said not to be a source snob and to use everything as clues which I am a big proponent of but remember we need to source everything and employ the best genealogical proof standard.

So my final thoughts on shaky leaves and potential parent hints use them as clues and not fact.