How to sort out multiple William Burhans in New York State

Question

While working on the USBH 1880 Census project for Schoharie County, NY, I fell down a rabbit hole into a tangle of Burhans! There are 3 William Burhans in that one county - and that doesn't include the white William Burhans! I thought I'd found a connection between one of them https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Burhans-363 and Hellin Dimond https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Dimond-625, started looking at census records for different years and now I'm really confused.

I'd like to add these other census records as sources, but I'm not sure if they represent the same William, since ages and spellings vary so much.

Should I include them in any profile they might match, with a note explaining that they might not be the same person? List them as possible sources?  Create a William Burhans free space page???  

What's the best way to handle all this information?

Thanks so much!

p.s. This is why I don't create loads of profiles quickly!

Comments

Hi Jaki, I am creating profiles for the wife and children of William Burhans-363 in the hopes that it will help to sort things out.  Please feel free to edit my entries as you prefer.  I think it best to concentrate on one William at a time and add wives and children to differentiate them.

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Thanks, Patricia.  Are you assuming Burhans-363 is the one with a wife and children in Middleburgh?  He could be.  But that could also be Buchans-2. (Doesn't help that his name was incorrectly transcribed. If you look at the actual record, you can see that it says Burhans.)

But you're probably right.  And the cautionary notes are there, so if any new info surfaces, it can be sorted.

Good catch finding the marriage record!  It didn't turn up when I searched.

Answer 1

Hi Jaki, interesting rabbit hole you fell into...I  think the research note on the profile of William Burhans is perfect. I did add one category that the project uses and we would like you to use when you think a profile could use more sources and research:

[[Category:US Black Heritage Project, Needs Sources]]

I often have to tell myself to move on when I encounter these kinds of issues. You can always come back to it when you can put a fresh pair of eyes on it.

Comments

Thank you, Gina!