Fact vs. Fiction? 

or Documentation?

Remember, when trying to create an accurate family tree, people may have given misinformation for a variety of reasons.

If you have done any research on your ancestors, it's likely you have already run across mistakes, not only in family histories but also in official documents.  It's understandable that human error occurs, such as a wrong date in a family Bible or on a tombstone.  But what about when a person purposely gives wrong information.  What could be their motivation?

Here are some of the reasons I have found:

Birth 

1.  A husband is listed on the birth record because the couple was married, but the child was fathered by another man.

2.  An unmarried woman gives birth to a child and later her parents claim the child as their child rather than as a grandchild.

3.  A stepchild is raised by a step parent, and although never legally adopted, the child uses the surname  

4.  An incestuous relationship occurred, a child is born, and the mother is sworn to secrecy.  

Incorrect Age

1.  A person reports himself as older in order to engage in an activity that requires a specific age.  This could be joining the military, marrying, voting, driving, smoking, drinking alcohol etc.  We know there is still a market for fake identifications.

2.  A person wants to appear younger for vanity purposes.  I knew a woman who lied about her age for years.  When she became eligible for Social Security benefits, she had a very hard time proving her age, since all her documents showed a later date of birth.

3.  Many documents rely on the statement of the people themselves when recording their ages, without verification.  This is true of census reports and other documents.  Or when a person dies, the person giving the information for the death certificate may or may not have correct information.  The same incorrect information for birth or death might also be engraved on a tombstone.  

Information to Obtain Benefits

1.  Military pension applications - Some soldiers and/or their widows wanted to obtain a regular government benefit for their service.  Some people lied about their service.  

2.  Land Grants - in the past, free land has been offered by the governement  with certain stipulations.  Early grants were made, even before the Revolutionary War, if people made certain promises.  In many cases they were required to settle on the land, grow a crop, or other requirements.  Later land grants were offered in lieu of pay for military service.  And later still, there were grants to people who could prove their Native American heritage.

Use of an Alternate Name

1.  As mentioned above, a person may assume the name of a step parent

2.  A person may be trying to hide themselves from people, the law or past activities

Remarrying without a Divorce

1.  Occasionally a person may erroneously believe that they are a widow or widower.  They may have been given misinformation, or simply believe after several years their spouse died.

2.  Sometimes when people remarried they said they were widowed because they were deserted and couldn't locate their spouse to get a divorce.

You may be able to think of other examples, so try to collect as many sources as possible to find the truth when you create your family tree.

 

      When Do Family Stories become Fact?

Does the constant retelling of  family stories make them more believable?

There is an old fable about some blind men coming upon an elephant and trying to learn what the elephant was like by touching different parts of his body. Each blind man felt a different part of the elephant's body, and then described the elephant based on their experiences. Each description differed from the others. 

This fable illustrates we claim truth based on our limited and subjective experiences. 

We all have bits and pieces of our family history stored in our brains.  Some are experiences we had as children within our families; some are family stories told by parents and relatives or information printed as family history.

Before the Internet made documents available online, it was difficult to find documentation of events or people without making trips to court houses or visiting cemeteries. People relied on the memories of relatives to piece together their family history.

One common problem is the names we call our relatives.  When my mother, my daughter and I were all alive, we were all grandmothers.  I called my mother Mom, but my children called her Grandma.  When I became a grandmother my grandchildren called me Grandma but they also called my Mom Grandma.  When I was young, I only had 2 living grandmothers, but although I had living great aunts, I only called them Aunts as my parents did.

In one family story, a grandson had reported many years ago that his grandfather served in the Revolutionary War.  It was assumed that this was his grandfather, when in fact, it was his great grandfather. 

Confusion exists in family stories when two people, such as a father and son, share a given name.   Other family stories get confused when reporting the family's heritage or ethnicity.  There seems to have been a fad in the early 20th century with people claiming Native American ancestry.  My father said his grandfather told him that they were one quarter Indian.  Research and now DNA has shown that that is not true.  We know the recent flap about Elizabeth Warren and her family's story that she had Native American heritage, and it ended up being incorrect.

There is also confusion when remembering that someone talked about the "old country" where the ancestors lived.  Later we may wonder whether that Irish or Italian ancestor was on the mother or father's side.

There are also the family cover-ups when someone brought shame on the family.  I've often heard "We just don't talk about that."  This was particularly true when woman had a child without being married to the father.  In many cases, the grandparents of the child claimed the child as their own.  Quite often the family perpetuated the story.  I have seen obituaries naming grandchildren as children, rather than grandchildren, of the deceased.   Some children were taken into families and assumed that name without being legally adopted.

I was just researching about a person who people have claimed to be a full-blooded Indian or half Indian.  The information has been "out there" for at least 25 years, but never documented. in 1995 a person said "I have obtained a copy of The Descendants of Nicholas Cain 1736-1986 by Wayne R Cain, now deceased and Shirley J Evans. On page 168 of the Cain book it states (the person in question) is an Algonquin Indian, either Half or full blood."

Twenty five years later, people now claim this book as "documentation".

I could go on and on about shattered myths and family stories, but they abound.  DNA has become the "lie detector" of genealogical research. DNA does a good job of deciding who was NOT your ancestor.

Some people want verification and documentation while others are happy with family stories.  People who want royalty or Native Americans in their ancestry may not be interested in accuracy.  Using a fake name is not illegal unless you are trying to defraud someone.  A volunteer at a research center told my husband, "As long as you are not trying to join the SAR (Sons of the American Revolution), you can claim to have a Revolutionary War ancestor."  We kind of chuckled at his remark, but it does speak to tolerance in allowing people to find some kind of pleasure in their family stories - true or false.  

 To Share or Not to Share?

On 3 Aug 2021, Ancestry updated their Terms of Service , and some folks are very upset about what this might mean.  In fact some are recommending that you no longer upload files AND that you delete your information.

Ancestry has always had a note in the Gallery Section (where your photos, images and stories are added) which says, "All content submissions are subject to the Content Submission Agreement, which you have previously accepted."

There is a link there as well as other places on the site with statements about the responsibilities of both you and of Ancestry. The agreement has statements such as "The decision to upload personal information to the Ancestry website is your responsibility. Once you upload, the uploaded data becomes accessible by all persons accessing Ancestry websites, at least to the degree that it will be searched for data matches. Ancestry's liability and obligation in connection with the publishing of any information by you is strictly limited by the Site Terms and Conditions.. . . In addition please be aware that You agree to provide true, accurate and complete information. If any information you provide is, in our sole judgment, false or misleading, we reserve the right to terminate your use of Ancestry and/or delete all content that you have submitted."

I'm sure we have all noticed that many people have "violated" this contract by posting incorrect information or snagging and reposting information as if it is their own on Ancestry and on other public and private genealogy sites.

There are always risks in putting ANY information on the Internet whether a site is private or public. We always lose control unless we own the site. I can tell you lots of stories with bad endings when I have shared information, but I will continue to share my genealogy since I don't want it to "die" with me. I also remind myself that I might have custody of information, but I don't OWN my ancestors' stories or photographs. I've been blessed to have custody of some older photos saved by my grandparents or my parents, but the owners are deceased. Most of the photos I "own" are people who are living, not my ancestors.

So, use your own best judgement about how, when and where you choose to share your photos, stories and information, but if you are worried about who "owns" your information, do not post it on the Internet at all.