I’m sure most of my readers are already familiar with some of the challenges that come with using the FamilySearch shared tree. Recently, while researching Rachel Foster (née Browning), I located an 1831 will for her father, Jeremiah Browning. Because this will clearly identifies not only his sons but also his daughters—along with their spouses—I transcribed it so it could be attached to my RootsMagic file.
Wanting the will to also serve as a cited source on the FamilySearch tree, I began the process of attaching it to Rachel Foster’s profile. That’s when I discovered that Rachel had somehow been disconnected from her parents.
Although Rachel was no longer attached, other members of the Browning family were still present on FamilySearch, which led me to investigate the profile for Jeremiah Browning more closely. The profile L5R1-BQB showed a Jeremiah Browning with three wives: Lucy Mitchell, Drusilla Lewis, and Cassandra Farmer.
The Jeremiah Browning–Lucy Mitchell family included three children—Jeremiah, Harriet, and Nathaniel—born between 1789 and 1805, with life events tied to Kentucky.
The Jeremiah Browning–Drusilla Lewis family included an astounding seventeen children born between 1772 and 1832, most associated with Montgomery County, Maryland. Roughly half of these children had no sources attached to their profiles.
The Jeremiah Browning–Cassandra Farmer family included three sons born between 1765 and 1804, two of whom were named Lewis. While the will clearly names Cassandra as Rachel’s mother, this family group did not include Rachel or several of the other children identified in the will.
Because I had previously had this entire family correctly attached, my goal was to restore the family configuration so that the will could be attached as a source for each child—without incorrectly removing Jeremiah Browning as the father in the other family groups. At first, I considered creating a new Jeremiah Browning profile. However, after reviewing the change log for Jeremiah Browning (L5R1-BQB), I discovered that he had been merged with another man of the same name.
Instead of starting over, I chose to undo the merge. This restored a Jeremiah Browning [LXWZ-FRL] married to Cassandra Farmer with children that closely matched those named in the will. The restored family included a daughter Elizabeth married to Henry Kuhn; however, her profile listed her surname as Houtts. Because I already had Elizabeth connected correctly in RootsMagic, I left Elizabeth Houtts in place and also attached the existing profile for Elizabeth Browning Kuhn.
Once the family structure aligned with the evidence in the will, I added the image of the will to the Memories section for each individual and attached it as a source. I also added a note to Jeremiah Browning’s profile summarizing the will and explicitly listing the family members named in it.
What the Will Identifies
The will, dated 13 August 1830, with a codicil dated 2 November 1833, identifies the following family members:
- Wife: Cassandra
- Son: Lewis Browning
- Son: Joseph Browning
- Son: Jeremiah Browning
- Daughter: Elizabeth, wife of Henry Kuhn
- Daughter: Cassandra, wife of Seth Clark
- Daughter: Rachel, wife of Richard Foster
This experience is a strong reminder that even well-intentioned merges on a shared tree can obscure solid documentary evidence—and that wills remain one of the most powerful tools we have for restoring families accurately.