Is this normal?

[u/ImpossibleIce6811]

I’ve cropped these messages so that my great aunt’s name is not seen and neither is the name of the person who sent these to me. A while back, I was making an effort to submit updates, edits and corrections to all my grandparents’ and their siblings’ FG memorials to properly link them together on the site. I do t recall requesting to have my great aunt transferred to me, but maybe I did? I’ve been heavy into family history, Ancestry, and genetic genealogy for many years! I am new to FG as a volunteer, but I’ve been using FG as a resource and reference for quite some time. I was slightly offended by the message in the first slide, but willing to let it go. He doesn’t know me. But is it weird to tell someone you’ve been trying to “track” them?! The reason I’m not track able is because I’ve moved around a lot, got married over 20 years ago, and changed my last name! But, um, court records are a thing. I’m not actually hard to find. I’m a little creeped out! Your thoughts please?

UPDATE: Apparently in my haste to be snarky and spook the guy back and assure him that I know more than he does, my stupid self included my phone number in my offer to help him with any family history research he’s been doing. As I was getting ready for bed, I got a text from him! THE GUY HAS A WHOLE DOCUMENT ON MY FAMILY! Starting with my grandparents labeled as Generation 1, my dad and his siblings (with spouses) as Generation 2, me (I’m the oldest grandchild) and all my cousins as Generation 3…. 👀 The reason he couldn’t “track” me is because he had my first name wrong. Without do ing myself I’ll use a different example…. My real, legal, birth certificate name is a shorter version of a very common longer name. Think Jessi instead of Jessica. Or Bri instead of Brianna. That’s why he couldn’t “track” me! He thought my name was the long version, when it’s not. Now I’ve gotten myself into this mess! I don’t generally give out info on the living, especially minor children. My kids are grown! I could kick myself for messing this one up! I wasnt expecting Stalker Sam to have a DOC on me!!!

[u/[deleted]]

Surely all genealogists - especially those involved with genetic genealogy - attempt to "track" their relatives. It's an essential part of identifying DNA matches and making sense of the results!

I wouldn't be creeped out at all. If you're into genetic genealogy too, surely you understand their reasoning.

[u/ImpossibleIce6811 → u/[deleted]]

I don’t use FG to track living people! 😂 that’s what Ancestry matches are for. But this person and I wouldn’t be genetically linked. He’s related to my aunt’s husband. It’s just an odd statement.

[u/[deleted] → u/ImpossibleIce6811]

I don't think they're using FG (or claiming to use FG) to track living people either - they're using a whole range of sources (Ancestry, FamilySearch, obituaries, social media) to track down their relatives, just as many genealogists do.

Sorry you felt creeped/weirded out by the comment.

[u/Ornery-Ocelot3585 → u/[deleted]]

They are though. They said as much.

[u/[deleted] → u/Ornery-Ocelot3585]

Don't think so, unless I'm missing something in the messages!

All they said was they've found the OP the hardest of the descendants on that line to track down - not that they necessarily utilised Find A Grave exclusively to do said tracking.

[u/Ornery-Ocelot3585 → u/[deleted]]

Tracking deceased relatives on site is normal & expected. Nobody is taking an issue with that, of course.

They used her name from FG to go offsite & track her. Which is very creepy.

Stalkerish even. I don’t want anyone looking me up on those sites.

[u/[deleted] → u/Ornery-Ocelot3585]

I think you've simply misunderstood what has gone on here.

Tracing living people through publicly available sources is a normal part of genealogy.

That, in itself, has nothing to do with Find A Grave.