Greetings,

I am researching the surname MAKER from LIfton, Stowford, Devon. I have come to a confusing fork in the road. I believe I know which way to go, but the other route seems to be published over and over and over again in numerous Ancestry.com trees. I know it is possible for a mistake to go viral; many just copy and paste data that seems to fit. I confess I did that too when I started researching family history over 15 years ago. Now I document with as many citations as I can, or at least note clearly when I am guessing.

My question is about the first born child (Elizabeth) in this family:


JOHN MAKER (b. 26 Jun 1782 in LIfton, Devon, England, d. 04 Dec 1859 in LIfton, Devon, England) AND
MARY PENGELLY (b. 18 Oct 1782 in LIfton, Devon, England, d. 20 Jun 1858 in LIfton, Devon, England)
married on 08 Apr 1804 in LIfton, Devon, England.

Children of John MAKER and Mary PENGELLY are:

Elizabeth MAKER, b. 26 Aug 1804, LIfton, Stowford Parish, Devon, England.
Hannah MAKER, b. 1807, LIfton, Devon, England
Jane MAKER, b. 1809, LIfton, Devon, England
Mary MAKER, b. 1812, LIfton, Devon, England.
John MAKER, b. Abt. 1815, LIfton, Devon, England
William MAKER, b. Abt. 1821, LIfton, Devon, England.
Grace MAKER, b. 1823, LIfton, Devon, England.
Thomas MAKER, b. Abt. 1826, LIfton, Devon, England.
James MAKER, b. 1828, LIfton, Devon, England.
Johanna MAKER, b. Abt. 1830, LIfton, Devon, England.

I know these facts about my g-g-grandmother is Elizabeth (nee MAKER) Goodman: She born between 1803 and 1804 in LIfton, Stowford, Devon and died 14 Jun 1882 in Gunnislake, Calstock, Cornwall. She married Samuel GOODMAN (b. abt. 1793 in Broadwoodwidger, Stowford Parish, Devon, England) on 09 Sep 1821 in LIfton, Stowford Parish, Devon, England. He died 19 Mar 1866 in Gunnislake, Calstock, Cornwall. I am certain of these dates and places and names.

I am not 100% certain that my g-g-grandmother's parents are John MAKER and Mary PENGELLY, however, I strongly believe this is the right family. Not only do the dates and places match up, I cannot locate any other matches even in the same generation in LIfton. Additionally, a very strong indicator for me has been the naming tradition in subsequent generations, and the first two children born by my g-g-grandparents are named John and Mary respectively.

However, a very healthy handful of self-published family trees on Ancestry.com have this Elizabeth MAKER married to a John Gloyne. None of these references are documented by any records, and all seem to repeat the same info that seems to be cut and paste research from the 'One World Tree' project. As online records grow larger and lareger, I really worry about errors going 'viral'. I know I posted some inquiries as long ago as 1997 that included erroneous assumptions, and my mistakes are still showing up in other people's online published trees!

Here is my question: Is there someone who can confirm records for one fork in the road, or the other?

Thank you!

Amy M. Goodman
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Researching BROAD, MAKER in LIfton, Stowford, Devon
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