Advice on... sigh... housecleaning.

Question

Malott/Malotte/Mellott family of Hagerstown, MD, circa 1776.  Mellott-22 and Mellott-155, matched but not ready to merge.  I came across this in my research.  At first blush I thought "no brainer, this is a merge that just needs a little TLC."  I was WRONG.  Not only is this not TWO profiles that need to be merged, I feel pretty confident now that this is THREE different men altogether who have already been "merged" into one!  Yikes!

The problem:  I'm not intimately connected to this family.  I wish someone was who would do the housekeeping here.  I hate to mess with someone else's family to this extent unless I have full emotional buy-in, which I don't currently have.

Should I just leave things as they are until someone with Malott roots comes along and decides to fix things?  Or should I make some small attempt and maybe get it right, maybe not?  Advice from those of you who have been-there/done-that please.

Comments

Thanks ever'body.  All the suggestions have merit; a combination of things is probably in order.  If I hadn't picked up the orphaned profile of Sarah (Girty) Munger, daughter of Simon Girty, I wouldn't even have bothered.  But since she's his daughter, and Peter et. al. are his kin, I hate to see this profile languish given that they have a little more than the usual historical significance.  I'll contact the PMs and ask if they need any help. Certain members of the Mallotte family have done some sleuthing on these ancestors of theirs and have very interesting takes on it all, as well as a plethora of sources.  I wish I knew them welll enough to come aboard WT and lend a hand.  I may reach out.  

One thing seems certain:  Joseph Mallotte and Peter Mallotte were brothers who had children and grandchildren also named Joseph and Peter as well as other children and grandchildren who shared names.  Peter was an accidental bigamist as well (ouch!), thinking his wife Sarah was killed by Indians.  She apparently thought him dead as well.  To complicate matters, it now appears that Peter's brother Joseph might also have been with the unfortunate party, AND that the children taken captive were a mix of both men.  Trust me, it gets even more complicated.  "Theodore" is a common name in this family - following this trail is likely to produce something positive as well.

Again, thanks for the advice.  It's sounds good.

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Thank you for the response! Elizabeth Murray formerly Pope is my grandmother on my father's side. She lived at 615 Blandford St. Rockville, MD until she passed away in 2011.

I never met her husband, my grandfather, but know he was in the Army during WWII. His name was Joseph Murray as well, and believe his father's name was Aloysius Joseph Murray?

Most interested in Elizabeth's Mother and father. She told me that she never met her father, and her mom had to leave her at an orphanage in South Carolina.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Max M Murray, USCG Ret.

son of Joseph Raymond Murray - his mother Elizabeth Murray.

Answer 1

If it were me, and I wasn't ready to jump in, I would add a research note with as much explanation as I could muster.

Comments

Thank you for the response! Elizabeth Murray formerly Pope is my grandmother on my father's side. She lived at 615 Blandford St. Rockville, MD until she passed away in 2011.

I never met her husband, my grandfather, but know he was in the Army during WWII. His name was Joseph Murray as well, and believe his father's name was Aloysius Joseph Murray?

Most interested in Elizabeth's Mother and father. She told me that she never met her father, and her mom had to leave her at an orphanage in South Carolina.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Max M Murray, USCG Ret.

son of Joseph Raymond Murray - his mother Elizabeth Murray.

Answer 2

Gregory, it appears that the profile managers of the two profiles you named are still active.  Have you tried contacting them, explaining what particular housecleaning you have in mind, and providing your info and rationale?  It seems like an ideal scenario for some old-fashioned collaboration, and it would most likely be appropriate to do that even if you intended to make the edits yourself.

Comments

Thank you for the response! Elizabeth Murray formerly Pope is my grandmother on my father's side. She lived at 615 Blandford St. Rockville, MD until she passed away in 2011.

I never met her husband, my grandfather, but know he was in the Army during WWII. His name was Joseph Murray as well, and believe his father's name was Aloysius Joseph Murray?

Most interested in Elizabeth's Mother and father. She told me that she never met her father, and her mom had to leave her at an orphanage in South Carolina.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Max M Murray, USCG Ret.

son of Joseph Raymond Murray - his mother Elizabeth Murray.

Answer 3

Theodore Mallott/Mellott/whatever does appear to have had a son Joseph -- he's not named in Theodore's will but is named in Theodore's surviving wife Catherine's. Beyond that, I have no idea whether Joseph stayed in Maryland or moved elsewhere.

I agree with Dennis about contacting the profile managers for their input; I also agree with Jim about leaving research notes on the profiles, especially if you don't hear back from the PMs. There's no sources on either profile, so no way to judge which death date/place (if either) is correct.

Comments

Thank you for the response! Elizabeth Murray formerly Pope is my grandmother on my father's side. She lived at 615 Blandford St. Rockville, MD until she passed away in 2011.

I never met her husband, my grandfather, but know he was in the Army during WWII. His name was Joseph Murray as well, and believe his father's name was Aloysius Joseph Murray?

Most interested in Elizabeth's Mother and father. She told me that she never met her father, and her mom had to leave her at an orphanage in South Carolina.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Max M Murray, USCG Ret.

son of Joseph Raymond Murray - his mother Elizabeth Murray.

Answer 4

Thank you for the response! Elizabeth Murray formerly Pope is my grandmother on my father's side. She lived at 615 Blandford St. Rockville, MD until she passed away in 2011.

I never met her husband, my grandfather, but know he was in the Army during WWII. His name was Joseph Murray as well, and believe his father's name was Aloysius Joseph Murray?

Most interested in Elizabeth's Mother and father. She told me that she never met her father, and her mom had to leave her at an orphanage in South Carolina.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Max M Murray, USCG Ret.

son of Joseph Raymond Murray - his mother Elizabeth Murray.