Advice before editing this pre-1700 Moulton profile?

Question

I have information to contribute to the profile of James Moulton. This is what I can add:

• confirmation of marriage date to Dorothy Clements, , her death and his remarriage to Mary Reaman March 11, either 1713-1714.  His daughter Dorothy was brought up by John and Lydia

These are the sources I am using:

• Moulton Annals, written by Henry William Moulton in 1906.  Available online.

Should I contact one of the pre-1700 projects or know about any style guidelines before proceeding? Thank you!

Answer 1

Laura, nobody can possibly offer advice because you did not indicate either the information you want to contribute or the sources you have found for the information.

Looking at the linked profile, I see that it has been gathering dust here since 2011 and has only 1 "source" cited.  I used quotes for the so-called source because it is a family tree, which is completely unacceptable as a source for pre-1700 profiles.  It would be a very wonderful thing, indeed, if you have some valid sources for James Moulton's profile.

Comments

Thanks Gaile, being new to this particular template, the query seemed to launch itself prematurely.   I have found several other sources now, including  probate reecords that might be very helpful.

Answer 2

Since you are dealing with existing profiles that are minimally sourced, almost any sourced information you add would be an improvement.

The Moulton book you mention is a secondary source that probably has some excellent content, but that probably does not identify the records the author relied on. Ideally, information from that source would be backed up with citations to primary records, but the book may be your best starting point.  The United States Project doesn't have (and lacks the capacity to create) reliability ratings for every family genealogy book that has ever been published, but the page https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:United_States_Project_Reliable_Sources#Family_Genealogies has some advice on evaluating these sources. Also, note that WikiTree's Source Library pages, including https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Moulton_Annals and https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:A_history_of_the_Moulton_family (for another Moulton book), are helpful aids for citing books like these -- and for helping other people find the book.

 I see from your contributions history that you have information to add to profiles for this family, such as the unsourced profile https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Moulton-3136 that you adopted. Please proceed with adding the information you have. When citing sources, note that a citation like "New Hampshire, Death and Burial Records Index, 1654-1949 " is never sufficient. That title is not universally recognizable. It is probably a database you accessed on Ancestry, FamilySearch, or somewhere similar; when citing it, it is important to include publication details -- and please include a URL if it's an online source. Additionally, make sure your readers can tell what information you got from the source.