I’m using RootsMagic 10.
The family I’m working on now has at least five individuals that are ancestors in multiple lines. In other words, one person is the ancestor on the paternal side, and is also an ancestor on the maternal side.
Question: Is there a way to move the source data (source citations) from one record of the person to the record where they appear again? (So as to avoid having to input the source data and notes multiple times)?
Sorry, having trouble finding the right language to find the answer in online help.
Thank you,
Judith
Your tree is suffering from pedigree collapse where relatives intermarry with other relatives. This is a common occurrence where communities are relatively isolated. In this case, you should enter each person only once and use linkages to get them in the right places. That way you only have to enter/maintain a person in one place and make entries only once.
It appears all you need to do is merge the two identical people. After the merge, look at the person and delete any duplicate facts or reconcile any differences.
Your situation is what makes genealogy so interesting. I have multiples of these, some going back many generations.
I totally agree with all of the suggestions about entering each person only once, even when they are ancestors in multiple lines. And I agree with the suggestions about merging such people if you have been entering them separately.
But as to the thrust of the original question about transferring sources from one person to another, the way to do that is by memorizing and pasting citations. You probably need to do that on a regular basis anyway. For example, a census source usually applies to multiple people. And even within a single person, a source might well apply to multiple facts. For example, a Find-a-Grave source often has both a birth date and a death date.
You cannot memorize all the citations from one person and paste them to another person in one fell swoop. You need to memorize and paste them one citation at a time. When you do the paste, you will be asked if you wish to Reuse the memorized citation or if you wish to Copy the memorized citation. Unless you plan to change the citation after you paste it to make it different from the memorized citation, you should chose the Reuse option.
Do a Backup and then create a new blank (scratchpad) database to work from.
dragNdrop the individual(s) who have the source data you want to replicate from your main master working database over to the (scratchpad)
The premise is you’re going to Edit these “copies” of individual(s) to match the desired person (in your main database) to which You want to transfer the source data. Then You subsequently dragNdrop them back and drop them directly ontop of a destination person in your master database and answer Yes when RM asks You if they are the same person (meaning “to be merged together”).
That would involve changing the name, removing some facts that don’t apply (birth/death/ETC) and editing anything else to normalize the info to “fit” the destination person. After each dragNdrop from the scratchpad to the master, edit the scratchpad person’s name to match the next destination person (in your master) and repeat the process as needed.
Thank you so much for responding, and for your suggestion. I’ve finally straightened things out!! Yes, I have a bit of this in my family tree, but this one is for a client–Family based in Montgomery County, New York.
Thank you so much for the details in this instruction–I appreciate it!
I felt so clueless with this question, and thank you for helping. I’m saving your response to my file! Best wishes to you!
Judith