The genealogical value of treasured family stories...what do you think?

Question

Interesting topic.. It would be great to hear a variety of opinions, ideas, and experiences from others.

Of what genealogical value are family stories and written accounts?

Of course it depends on many things including but not limited to who wrote it, why, in what spirit, with how much diligence, their sources, etc.  it would be ideal to know all of these before deciding how much credence to lend the particular document or story.  To simply accept as fact because it says so and is signed by a respected person is perhaps a bit hasty if all of the facts surrounding it are not known.

Enlightening experience...

From my wife's side of the family i have two handed-down documents written by different people.  At face value, they are both well written factual first-hand accounts and memoirs, 17-25 pages typed.  They site places, events, dates, and descriptions of people and their exploits.

However...one of them might be "true", but one is most definitely a complete work of fiction. 

"Mimi, by Sunny" is written by a daughter for and mostly about her mother Lois who was known as Mimi.  The author Sunny was very creative and artsy.  As a gift late in life she created this fanciful recount of their life growing up and events that predated her own birth.  Loosely based on actual happenings, it could be easy for anyone outside of those in the immediate family to discern fact from fiction within.  

She speaks of Mimi's "shock of bright red hair", when in fact she never had red hair a day in her life (supposedly).  It was a story.  It was meant to bring back real memories of real good times and feelings...and also to make her smile with little inside jokes or teases on mom.  Maybe some have eluded us all and were only known to Sonny and Mimi :)

If someone doesn't physically write on the document stating it is known to be fictional, I wonder what future generations will think.  Will the unmarked document be held up and trump all rumors of its intent?  Will the fiction become "fact"?

Fun stuff...another layer to genealogy and family histories. 

Please share any odd cases you've had :)

Cheers!

Answer 1

Individual family stories are very important to genealogy. They are a tremendous resource for adding valuable context and often supporting existing sources. If the stories are, "suspect", it should be so noted in the biography. They are normally a real living part of family histories.

Comments

Agreed!  Thanks for posting George. 

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Answer 2

As you pointed out, family stories can vary widely in reliability!

My mother used to tell me about her cousin George, who was killed during Prohibition after he got involved in running rum.

Guess what?  George lived to be over 100.  :-)     However, he had a brother who was murdered in 1919 (nothing to do with Prohibition, though), and I've found a number of old newspaper stories about the case.  I never would have found them if I hadn't been looking for proof of this story about George.

So, my answer would be -- pay close attention to the family stories, but be prepared for them to lead you somewhere other than what you expect.

Comments

Great story na great story Nan, thank you for sharing!

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Answer 3

My father told me about an ancestor whose last name was MacGill who fought in the Scottish Navy for the UK during the American revolution. The unit was stationed in Canada for several years after the war ended. MacGill's commanding officer insulted MacGill's lady which resulted in an altercation. The officer fell and hit his head on a rock which caused his death. MacGill abruptly left Canada, dropped the Mac from his surname and settled in upstate, New York. My dad had a sportcoat made from wool with the MacGill tartan. Later, I did the same thing.

A few decades later, I was telling this story to a Sales Manager of a Canadian metal casting corporation at lunch, in Orillia, Simcoe, Ontario.  He in turn, told the story to a local woman he knew whose maiden name was Gill. Before he could finish, he finished the story for him. It turns out that she is my cousin and she sent me a lot of information about our common ancestor, his wife and their 9 sons and 6 daughters..

Another cousin researched the military record of our ancestor at Kew, England. The service record indicates that he enlisted in 1777 as Gill, not MacGill. Desertion was in 1787. He was in the Army, the 54th Regiment of Foot, not the Navy. He was not from Scotland, but from Norfolk, East Anglia, England.

Comments

Thank you Frank!

I have a branch with persistent rumors of American-Indian ancestry but nothing tangible.  Then a distant cousin of the same line claims her dna test says 0%.  Maybe it's malarkey, maybe someone was unknowingly adopted...  May never know :)

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Sorry, Frank, I can't help it. Someone is controlling my keyboard.

His name was MacGill but he called himself Lil, but everyone knew him as Nancy.

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LOL!!!

Answer 4

I think I started genealogy because of a story told to me at about the age of 14.

My father's family had money sitting in chancery because of a missing baptismal record in a  Birmingham church that burned down destroying the evidence.

Total myth, they were  typical working class with very little money, they lived in back to back houses, some died in the workhouse . They were  baptised in churches that kept good records within their unburned parish chest. I have found a brass founders of the same name who may have had some money but they weren't related.

Myth 2 . My great uncle was very short so in WW1 was  a motorcycle rider, he rode with  Prince Maurice of Battenburg in a sidecar. They were killed at the same time.

 Part fact, part fiction. He was in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps as a corporal and Prince Maurice was an officer in that corps. It was a motorcycle corps. My G Uncle was only 5ft 3in.  They are both commemorated on the Menin gate. Prince Maurice has a known grave, G Uncle doesn't.  Moreover Prince Maurice was killed on  the 27th October 1914 and G Uncle on the 28th October (and was inside a cottage when he was shot, not on a motorcycle.)  So some fact mixed in this story

Comments

Thanks Helen, those are great examples of family fact/fictions.  Appreciate you sharing.

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Answer 5

To say someone's story is "complete fiction," sets my teeth on edge. For me, that's tantamount to calling them a liar (which for me is a very serious offense).

My wife tells stories of events that happened in our family last week, last month, least year -- bless her heart, she doesn't intend to tell fabrications. They are the "facts" as she remembers them.

Since the rest of the family was usually involved, we all realize that she has mixed up and combined separate but similar events into one. But we can't correct her, because she gets completely offended. She thinks we're calling her a liar -- we're not. She just misremembers. They get all mixed up in her brain. Most of the time, its not important for the gist of the story, or her audience to correct her on various details. But if it ever gets written down, that'll be a different matter entirely.

Comments

Thanks Dennis, 

I probably could have worded it better than "complete fiction", and I'd never call you or your loved ones liars.  Thank you for seeing through awkward wording to the intended message.

I know exactly what you mean...I too have a wife, and a mother, who remember differently about events than I do.

Sunny's story from my example was not "complete" fiction; I described it better following that statement :)

Appreciate you sharing,

Cheers!

Up-voted

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Additional thought...some works ARE complete fiction, and the authors should not feel offended when that is stated :)