Pet Peeve

What's my pet peeve when dancing with the ancestors? Well, I'm glad you asked. Okay, you didn't, but . . .

. . . my pet peeve is: lack of accuracy or, as I put it, linking to ancestors that really aren't yours just because you're too freaking lazy to actual do some research to prove/disprove your ancestry!

Okay, now that I've put it out there for all (well, the few that might happen across this blog, which apparently isn't very many on a daily, heck, weekly, heck, monthly, heck, yearly basis) to see, let me expand upon my thoughtful thoughts.

Not every McGregor is descended from Rob Roy McGregor. Yes, it's nice to have a famous ancestor out there, but . . . not every McGregor is descended from Rob Roy McGregor.

I've done extensive work on my McGregor line, as have other people. My ancestor is the Old Scot Preacher, Reverend William McGregor who was born circa 1735 in Scotland. At some point, he immigrated to the New World and settled in North Carolina. He did not, as many have put out there - another inaccuracy that irritates the heck out of me - die in 1804. If he did, well, he was either a) resurrected or b) a zombie. Why? Well, there is documentation of him, and his son William Jr., being messengers at the Collins River Baptist Church in . . .1807.

So, if William was dead, then how in the heck could he be a messenger at a Baptist Church? Oh, that's right, it's not possible.

The problem: there were three William McGregors that settled in VA/NC around the same time. My ancestor settled in NC and was the pastor of the Mouth of the Uwharrie Baptist Church in Montgomery County, North Carolina. He had at least, from what I and other researchers have determined, two wives, and a number of children, including my other direct ancestor William McGregor Jr., and his twin brothers Ezekial and Willis McGregor.

As far as I, and other researchers have been able to determine, nobody knows the name of William's father, only that he came to America to preach.

So, yes, it's frustrating to me find information out there saying William's father is this/that McGregor, only to do a bit more research and find out that this/that McGregor really isn't William's father!

So, when putting your tree out for all the world to see, take a wee bit more time to prove/disprove your ancestors. Not only will you have a better tree, but you'll make the journey for other researchers dancing with the ancestors a bit easier.