A "family tree"---especially a public one---should reflect your conclusions. It doesn't sound like you have one on this problem yet. I would definitely recommend that you DO NOT "make up" a person "Jane" to any publicly viewable family tree. If you do, it will inevitably be copied everywhere, and will be a source of embarrassment to you years from now when the problem has been solved and seems (as they usually do after the fact) like an easy answer. Right now, based on your email, it appears that you have *the name* "Jane." A name is not a person. You have to focus your energies on identifying who the *person* that fathered these two boys was. Was Jean called Jane? Was Janet called Jane? Could Jean, Janet, and Jane all be one and the same? Are there existing relevant records that could shed some light on the situation: for example, probate records for the grandfather, baptismal or confirmation records for the possible mother(s), etc.? Have you fully evaluated the relevant records you already have: for example, who is he the "son" of in the 1881 census? I have also found that the Scottish tended to be quite liberal in their use of names. I have ancestor who was variously called Daniel and Donald. For every record, I have to prove that I am actually looking at the right *person*. Good luck! Michael Hait, CG(sm) [email protected] http://www.haitfamilyresearch.com Author of *Online State Resources for Genealogy* ebook More information at http://haitfamilyresearch.com/onlineStates.htm CG and Certified Genealogist are service marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board certificants after periodic competency evaluation, and the board name is registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office. -----Original Message----- From: M. A. Beldin via Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2015 4:28 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [TGF] Attaching illegitimate sons to ambiguous mother A cousin and I have a problem knowing how to add two boys to FamilySearch Family Tree and to our database management programs. The two boys were born to a mother named Jane when the only two girls in the Scottish family are Jean and Janet. I have seen one of the original birth records and it definitely shows Jane as the mother. I have not seen the other record in its original form but the extracted record shows Jane as well. The two girls are only 2 years apart and both could have been old enough to give birth to the boys who are 3 years apart. We are pretty sure the boys are in the right family because I have found him in the 1871 census as the grandson and the 1881 census as the son. I find him on the same passenger list as my gr grandfather. He lists his grandparents as his parents when he gets married. So we believe we have the surviving boy in the right family, our family. We are thinking of making a third person named Jane and adding the two boys to her as the birth records show and add her to the genealogy programs so as not to lose the boys. One of the boys lives to sire another child out of wedlock and that child gives birth to my friend's grandmother, so it is important that we keep track of these boys. We just can't figure out how to "name" the mother in the interim until we can figure out if she is Jean or Janet or someone else. I suggested the name "Jane?, Janet? or Jean?" so that it is apparent there is a question as to the actual mother that needs to be researched. What does one do in a case like this? Thanks Margie in Washington State ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message