Child possibly links to three Wikitree father profiles

Question

There are three Hezekiah Kilbourn(e)s on Wikitree, all of which are probably the same person, the father of Elisha Kilbourn, (Kilbourn-327). I want to link Elisha to one of the Hezekiahs to create a parent-child relationship, and possibly add additional information I have located. (I am not the profile manager of any of these Kilbourns, but I am a direct descendent).

From my research, Hezekiah "Kilburn" was born on 24 Jun 1700 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut to George "Kilburn" and wife Abigail. ( "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F74P-HNT : 3 December 2014), Hezekiah Kilburn, 24 Jun 1700; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown. )

On Wikitree:
Kilbourn-103 is the earliest potential match but has few details other than a birth date of 24 Jul 1700 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut. (Has no father, mother, siblings, spouse or children, and no sources listed.) "Kilbourn" here lacks the trailing 'e' of the next two profiles, and uses July 24, 1700 in Wethersfield, rather than June 24, 1700.

Kilbourne-192 was born 14 Jul, 1700 in Wethersfield, Hartford, CT., son of George Kilbourne and Abigail Atwood, spouse of Elizabeth (Allyn) Kilbourne, married December 19, 1722 in Wethersfield, Hartford, CT. No children are listed.  (Note the birthdate is the 14th of July, 1700, rather than the 24th of June, 1700.)

Kilbourne-279 was born 24 Jun, 1700 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut. This best matches my information. It has Hezekiah married to Elizabeth (Allyn) Kilbourne (as does Kilbourne-192). My own sources say much the same about the marriage, except I found Elizabeth's last name spelled "Allen" rather than "Allyn".

Should I link Elisha to Kilbourn-103 since it is earliest likely Hezekiah profile, or avoid creating the link since the birth date is slightly wrong and there are so few corroborating facts?

Kilbourn-192 is the most complete and well-researched, but has a probable typo, making Hezekiah's birth date July 14, 1700 instead of June 24, 1700 in Wethersfield. I have no other issues with this profile.

Kilbourne-279 matches the birthdates and other information I have found, but isn't quite as complete as Kilbourn-192. Should I link to it, since it perfectly matches my information?  

Should I completely avoid linking Elisha to any of them until someday when it possibly gets straightened out? (A merge has been proposed for the last two, but hasn't been done.) I don't believe Kilbourn-103 has been proposed as a duplicate.

What's the best way to approach this?

Comments

Unfortunately the LDS has lost track of the microfilm, though you might be able to guess the source.

Were there siblings?  Get the whole family.  At this period, because data is so scarce, you need all the context you can find.

Other sources are cited, but not quoted - History of Wethersfield, Family Memorial.  We need to know what they say.

If the Doty line is good, Elizabeth should be in a Mayflower silver book.

The different dates are just the product of Chinese Whispers.  But the LDS date isn't necessarily the right one.  In fact we don't even know what exactly it's supposed to be the date of.

The different spellings are mostly the result of descendants sticking with their own spelling.

Kilburn is a north London suburb, but there seem to be indications that spellings had already diverged in England before the immigrant's time.

Don't do any merges yet.

First, settle the LNABs.  There may be no right answer, but a decision is unavoidable.

The final ID is the first one created with the right LNAB.  If there isn't one with the right LNAB, make one.  Then merge the others into the final profile.

Note this is not influenced by the data on the profiles.  Fix that after merging.

Doesn't matter where you attach Elisha.

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Thank you for such a thoughtful comment. I am still on what seems to be a steep learning curve -- and after helping with an event for transcribing sources, trying to read faded, illegible handwriting on source documents, I realize how easily errors creep in.

Anyway, I really appreciate your comment, since you mentioned other considerations that hadn't even crossed my mind. It's reassuring to have any discussion that helps me add to my knowledge base.

I don't quite know how to settle the last name at birth (LNAB) question, especially since I don't have first-hand access to primary sources, but maybe I am "stirring the pot" and some better information and ideas will result. I'll probably hold off on linking to any of these profiles for now, until I've had time to give it more thought and research.

Answer 1

I've been sourcing my Connecticut Kilbournes, to connect Kilburn-111 to his ancestors.

The biography for Elisha noted that he had moved to Massachusetts to pursue his career -- tanning.  I've sourced him in the 1800 Census for Sandisfield, Berkshire, Massachusetts.  The image has been uploaded.  Jonathan Kilbourn is listed as residing near bye. 

I believe your merge is appropriate but I'll keep digging.