When you are tracing a family tree...?

Question

When someone traces their family tree back, you often hear them telling these vivid stories about this relative or that relative and many of these people lived well before the genealogist's time.

How exactly do you know if these are not fabricated or that these are exact accounts about one's family? Is there some way to trace this sort of information through just simply having their name and dates they were said to have lived? Are there websites that provide this sort of information (if so, what are they?)

Some of these stories I often see are almost good enough to be made into a best-selling novel or motion picture.

Any answers would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Many of these stories are embellished over the years, that's what happens with oral history.

Others actually can be documented with a newspaper article or an "Early Settlers of XYZ County" type of book, or can be substantiated by the local county historical society.

My great-great grandfather supposedly used to "warn" his fellow townfolk when he saw Indians approaching.  My aunt actually found that story was documented in a small local book (in Norwegian, no less!) in the county in Minnesota where he lived - - and we learned even more about the story from that book.  We were extremely lucky to find any kind of documentation of such a story.

Working with census records and vital records, etc., is documentation that can be fascinating by itself...  But I truly enjoy hearing and writing down the oral stories about the people I research - - those stories give us more insight into what they were really like!

Answer 2

I may be called a "purist" by some, but here is my view... assuming you are doing quality research, and using good documents, you ALWAYS will have a record of some kind to back up your information.  That is how it works.  Yes.. that can include many incredible stories of your family, which are often truth.  History includes many of those things, and all those people are usually SOMEONE'S ancestor.

Are there also exaggerated or false stories? yes, that also is correct. This comes from genealogy which USED to be passed down,strictly by word of mouth.  If grandpa told your grandmother (her grandpa) that he killed Indians, he might have been telling a whopper, or it may be fact. People being human, they tend to accept stories of nobility, etc, because they want to believe it, true or not.

As for simply having names and dates.. that is simply a foundation, which is used to be sure that you DO have the right ancestors. In depth, you will then look for more sources (ie history books, family letters, military records), and the goodies come out, if there are any.

Records are far more available than you may think.

edit

see this question (posted mon. a.am.-

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Here is a fantastic item found, a published commentary on the man's accomplishments, along with person's who backed him up.. as he had been the target of gossip.

Answer 3

My family history is pretty boring with few stories, but a couple my uncle told me about his mother's side in Lawrence Kansas during the border wars were confirmed by other sources.

Many stories have a kernel of truth in them, but like most "legends"

they become more elaborate as time goes on.  So take them with a grain of salt and enjoy them.

Answer 4

Agree with the two top posters.  I've discovered quite a few...and some are true.  Other so incredible they are quite laughable!  However, you never know!  They often are so fanciful by the time they reach your ears, that it's difficult to extrapolate the truth.  Save them, in time your funny stories might indeed make a best-seller!

Answer 5

You don't know if they are true unless maybe it landed in the newspaper or someone wrote a book. You can try using a search engine and see what you find that way.

Most stories are handed down from generation to generation. Yes some get embellished (just like fish stories).