Bad genealogy research appears to be popping its ugly head all around lately, in message boards, in conversations, online, and even in lectures.
I was contacted by a distant cousin asking if I knew anything about a Martin Van Buren Edens who had served in the Union army. I looked in my tree and did not find him, so I looked on Ancestry to see if there was a connection somehow, and there is an apparent connection to my family dating back to the very early 1800s.
According to the public trees on Ancestry and elsewhere, Martin Van Buren Edens was born around 1806 to John Edens and Polly Masters, and this is where the bad genealogy research only begins. Martin Van Buren Edens is the steadfast brick wall of that particular family line, just as Elijah Edens (abt 1809-1882). Most family trees state that John Edens and Polly Masters are the parents of Elijah Edens as well, but in both instances, Martin and Elijah, there is no documented proof and I have seen no argument with indirect evidence that supports the theory of the relationship. In all of the trees online there is either no evidentiary citation or they reference other family trees as their “proof. ”So, back to Martin Van Buren Edens. Every one of the public trees and online trees lists his birth as being between 1806 and 1810, some in Virginia, and some in West Virginia. Wait, what? West Virginia in 1806? Bad genealogy research number one; West Virginia was not a state until 20 June 1863.Anyway, the place of birth aside, his date of death is either not listed or is stated as 1830; but then he gets married in 1860, 30 years after he died. I would assume charges of abuse of a corpse should be levied against spouse, but then he begins to have offspring from 1861 through 1868, and fought for the Union in the 13th Regiment, West Virginia Infantry during the War of Northern Aggression (yup, that is the Southerner in me coming out).
So, 30 years after he died he got married. About 54 years after he is born is joins the army to fight. Bad genealogy research at its finest, but there is another glaring error that these folks have not even considered. Granted, it could be an odd chance of extreme coincidences, but it is highly unlikely.
His name. Martin Van Buren Edens.
If Martin Van Buren Edens was born in 1806, or in 1810 as some of the trees indicate, why was he named after a President of the United States that did not serve until 1837? Hell, he was not really in the national public eye until about 1829 when he became Secretary of State, or in 1833 when he became vice president.
So now we have a man, named after a president who did not serve until seven years after Mr. Edens died. More bad genealogy research.
What amazed me is simply looking at the records of his service in the Union army, they state he mustered in on 6 October 1862 in Point Pleasant, Virginia and he was 28 years old[1]. This means he was born about 1834.
I am not sure these folks are getting their information that M. V. B. Edens was born between 1806 and 1810, oh wait, yes I do. From other folks who have the wrong information.
One of the trees I looked at had five sources listed. All five of them were other Ancestry family trees.
But wait, there were several of the trees that had One World Tree as a source. I clicked on the link to view the source and it comes up blank. No really, absolutely nothing. No image, no index, no information whatsoever.
So, bad genealogy research has been rampant with this individual, and it continues to grow. Out of all the trees I looked at there was only one that listed his date of birth as around 1840, but there is no documentation or citation as to where that information came from.
So this post may seem like a bitch session, and in actuality it is. Bad genealogy research only continues to create problems and this is a prime example of such.
Oh, and if my distant cousin is reading this, to answer your question, he probably died in 1868 or 1869. His wife remarried in 1870[2] and the 1870 census shows Aurilla and Llewellyn being two years old[3]. I was not able to find any death record or burial place, sorry.
[1] “Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of West Virginia,” digital images, Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/image/268296266 : accessed 10 April 2016), ,” entry for Company Muster-in Roll for Martin V. B. Edens, Company A, 13th Virginia Infantry; citing NARA microfilm publication Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of West Virginia, M508, roll 205.
[2]State of West Virginia, West Virginia Marriages: Putnam County 1848-1968, entry for Marriage License of Samuel Whittington and M. J. Edens, married 29 April 1870 by J. H. Ellis, minister; database and images, West Virginia Division of Culture and History (http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_view.aspx?Id=11476680&Type=Marriage : accessed 10 April 2016)
[3]1870 U. S. Federal Census, Putnam County, West Virginia, population schedule, Buffalo Township, p. 4, line 22, dwelling 25, family 25, entry for Samuel Whittington family; image, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : accessed 10 April 2016); citing 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.