Fixes gh-1606, dealing with ref docs on creation

Passing values at creation time and setting afterward now consistent
with each other. fixes #1606
added tests for gh-1606
refactor
update History
release 3.7.1
now working on 3.7.2
All benchmarks drop db when finished now

Before, several of them just "deleted" everything in the db. This way is
faster, simpler to code, and more robust.