Can genealogy be dangerous?

Question

This is a question about finding out somethings you never wanted to know and how you cope once you truely find out. Some really weird things happened in the cold war.

Answer 1

Like internet: if you spend too much time, forgetting about the whole world - then it is dangerous...

Answer 2

I think anybody that goes back far enough are going to find some things that aren't pleasant.

However, many things that were probably embarassing to the family at the time can be viewed as amusing when a person looks back.  I was once going through a book on North Carolina records.  I saw where a man was caught stealing from the royal governor's beehive.  His wife, parents and family at the time were probably humiliated but I have a feeling his descendants see that and have a good laugh.

Answer 3

Dangerous? You mean can a person have a heart attack when receiving the bad news? Of course.

But, when it comes to genealogy, everything has happened: sons kill their fathers; guys marry their sister/half-sister, whatever you can imagine has happened.

If necessary, receive grief counseling.

Answer 4

It's true that you might find out something you would have preferred not knowing, but then again; it's part of your family's history, so are you sure you don't want to know the truth?

I have been prepared to find out bad things in my family, as there have been many quarrels and fall-outs, but what I was nearly faced with is having to tell someone they had a sibling they didn't know about. That is when ethics and morals really come into it.

You're doing this research, so essentially it's your fault if you find out something that hurts you, but to purposefully tell other people is a different kettle of fish altogether.

Answer 5

Just try reading H.P. Lovecraft's "Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and his Family" or "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" and your genealogy will look great, no matter what strange things you find--unless, of course, you really were descended from a monster.... :)

Answer 6

It can be upsetting. Incest, rape and adultery all bear fruit in the form of innocent children.

You may find great uncle Elmer died in an insane asylum, in prison, of syphilis, or (more recently) in a drug deal gone bad. If your white ancestors kept slaves, there is a reasonable chance you have Black cousins. I do.

It was one of the facts about slavery they left out of "Gone with the Wind", with all those happy slaves playing the banjo; if Missus wasn't in the mood and Master was, he'd summon one of the indoor maids and offer her a choice between s*x and a transfer to the field, hoeing cotton for 12 hours a day in the sun.

Answer 7

Sure. My mom was with me when I was in Biology II in H.S. helping me study. We were going over Punnet squares where they take two blood types and figure out which blood types their children will have. The one I was working on happened to be the same as my grandparents. She made me re-do it four times, and show her how they worked. That was the day she realized that her mother was not her mother. My grandpa had an affair with My grandma's sister. The result was my mom. My grandma had always been cruel to her, and now we understood why. I think learning your family tree can be fraught with many scary and unwanted facts. Don't open the can if you aren't prepared to find worms. Who knows how many babies of rape were passed off as the genuine article, or how many Jews were half Jewish, half n**i, or Caucasian babies that were half slave? I personally don't need to know who my great great grandma slept with that caused me to have eyes shaped the way mine are. But more power to ya if it matters in you eyes. I know who I am without needing to know who they were. At the same time, I love to read historical info on my ancestors because I am fascinated by the stories of people's lives!