Did you know that when you find document transcription errors on sites like Ancestry and Family Search you can easily request corrections?

I want to urge you to follow the steps below to make corrections for document transcription errors. Why? Because doing this will make the document searchable for someone else researching the same family. This is especially important for ancestors who haven’t had a lot of descendants already researching them yet.

Correcting Transcription Errors at Ancestry

Above is an example of an entire family whose last name has been transcribed as Peg?Es. Since I’ve been researching the entire Pegues clan in this county, I know exactly how that last name should be spelled and it most definitely isn’t Peg?Es.

To edit this mistake:

• Click on the last name. 
• Change it to the correct spelling in the name field.
• Click on the drop down and choose the reason for the change. 
• The most common reason is “transcription error,” but you can also fix a name that the enumerator wrote incorrectly and choose “Incorrect in image.” 
• Click save.

Once you click save, it will ask if you want to apply the change to the entire family. In my example, I will click yes. But if it’s only one person in the family listing with the error, you can choose “skip it” instead.

This is what it looks like once it’s corrected:

Now this Pegues family will show up in search results for anyone who is searching for thiem by name.

Correcting Transcription Errors at Family Search

At Family Search, you need to be on the record page (not on the image page) to make edits to the document.

As you can see above, Clayton has incorrectly been enumerated as Clatus. I know Clayton is correct based on numerous other records.

• Click the edit button at the top.
• It will first ask you what in the record you wish to correct. Choose the name option.
• Change the name(s) in the fields.
• Now you must highlight the name(s) on the image by clicking each highlight button (first and last name are highlighted separately).

• Choose the reason for the change.
• Add notes if you have more information about the change.
• Click save. 

This works for other fields too, not just names. At Ancestry click on other data entries on the line to edit them. At Family Search, when you click the edit button, choose the other available data entries available for editing.

That’s it! It was easy wasn’t it? Now this document entry is ready for descendants to easily find when searching for their ancestors. Thank you for your contribution to the world of genealogy!