Lies My Ancestors Told Me

As genealogists, we are often confronted by inconsistencies in the stories that our family passed down through the ages. More often than not, the details of family lore have been changed with each generation (much like a centuries-long game of "Telephone"), making for an entertaining tale but providing only a little bit of the truth. If you are lucky, you will be able to find deeper meaning from the stories - and maybe fill in blanks that folks weren't willing to divulge in the past.

Sometimes, though, the information passed down will be wrong - and not just wrong, completely wrong. One interesting example of this situation is the elaborate history of a minority group that has lived in the Appalachian Mountains of the US for many years. The Melungeons claimed that their ancestors were Portuguese or a special race of Native Americans. A DNA Project (2005) recently provided results that indicated that it is more likely that the Melungeons are descendants of African males and European females. It is also probable that the group created a mythology of its roots to overcome prejudices against them. And, to a certain degree, they appear to have been successful.

On the other hand, there are the equally intriguing stories of the possiblity that President Thomas Jefferson had black descendants. The Hemings family always maintained a connection to the author of the Declaration of Independence but it wasn't clear whether they were correct. Finally, in 1998, a Y-DNA Test showed that it is very likely they connect to the Jefferson line - if not to the former president himself.

Never forget that our ancestors had their reasons to keep secrets or create backstories. We may not always understand or sympathize, but their actions probably make sense if you consider the social mores of the world in which they lived (remember the adage "All first-borns came early and the rest came in nine months"?). One of the best things about genealogy research is that you can often share stories about how your family lived - including the trials and tribulations, along with the joys and successes. Often, you can even identify the "story tellers" who skewed the truth or carefully detailed the record of the family story.

If you haven't considered how folk lore and mythology can propogate across a few generations (and how you can capture it in an interview), you should read this great Genealogy Forum article. You might also want to check out the Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story. The lesson from his many anecdotes about people (you only thought you knew them!) is that every person who has ever lived is much more than a birth, death or marriage date...

Sometimes you will get lucky and there won't be a lot of lies in your family history... The older members of my family were actually relatively honest about the family scandals - it has helped me to explain why some branches separated from the rest of us over the years. Their honesty also provided me with a explanation for when I finally reconnected with long lost cousins. I hope you are equally fortunate. Happy hunting!