Family Legends – Fact or Fiction?
Why Those Wonderful Genealogical Family Stories May Not Be True
Oct 5, 2009
Most people enjoy hearing about the exciting things their ancestors did, and learning about life in the past. While genealogists tend to love those stories more than most, and often seek to verify them, they need to look understand how the stories came to exist.
Family Myths and Tall Tales
These days one of the more popular stories is that an ancestor was a “full-blooded Indian,” or Native American. Of course, plenty of people do have Native American ancestry, so the story could certainly be true. On the other hand, countless people have looked at an old black and white photo of a craggy-faced man from Georgia, and proclaimed him a Creek. A women living in Missouri with her hair pulled back and high cheekbones becomes an Osage. Quite often this sort of story, if unverified, was a bit of wishful thinking now that it’s popular to have Native American ancestry.
Another popular story starts with “three brothers from the old country came to America.” Once again, this could be true. Of course, there could easily have been a couple of sisters, or a fourth brother, or a cousin along with the three brothers, but somehow they don’t make quite as good a story. Family members often did emigrate together, but when researching a story like this one, be sure to look for additional siblings and relatives.
Then there’s the “stowaway” story. Great-grandfather didn’t come through Ellis Island like so many of his contemporaries – he stowed away on a Navy vessel, and by the time he was discovered, it was too late to turn back to put him ashore. This sort of tale is frustrating because those who heard the story were told it by a respected elder, but it usually stems from someone’s desire to entertain the grandchildren. Some people make up fairy tales at bedtime; others embellish their own life stories.
These types of stories are fun for the storyteller and the children, both. Enjoy them, re-tell them if you like, but don’t assume they’ll help you in your genealogy.
What They Didn’t Say
Sometimes what relatives don’t say is more interesting than what they do. Many genealogists have had the experience of meeting relatives who simply don’t want to talk about the past. Their reasons may, or may not be understandable to others, but they must be respected. Sometimes these relatives have good reasons to be close-lipped, and the only thing to do is move on. In other cases, living relatives really don’t know the story – their own parents and grandparents didn’t talk about certain things.
In the course of genealogical research, a person may find evidence of various kinds of bad behavior that none of the living family members know about. Finding court documents, or prison records such as those outlined in Tennessee Ancestors on the Wrong Side of the Law, may explain sudden moves to another state, or gaps in census records.
Whether the stories are good or bad, they all help to flesh out a family tree. Take the stories as clues, not facts, and enjoy the challenge of finding the truth.
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