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I thought I would pass this along as a “Public Service Announcement” of sorts.
I go through tons of publications and other media, know researchers who do as well, and I have a good outdoor garbage bag or two of photocopied genealogical informaton in my closet that still needs a good going through.
I do other things in my life as well, have a family and obligations, so it has taken a back seat anymore, thus it gets done when it gets done.
I have been recently contacted by folks, and have been reading here and there where people are taking publications and media a little too close to heart for my tastes. So I have to often clear up things for them in such a way as to let them know that just because it is in a book, or online, or in a magazine, or whatever…this does not always mean it is true.
I will give examples of what I have ran into, and why it is not the case, over the years to show what I mean.
Oral Histories ~
They are great to have, but often can be off, in a lesser or greater degree, from what was actually fact. However this stuff also gets online as well, which just really makes for a knotted ball of yarn for some, and becomes “fact” in the minds of others.
I have read where some Shawnee girl was found hiding in the bushes at the Battle Of Point Pleasant and adopted into a white family. This is so far fetched it is not funny. Nobody, including the Shawnee, ever took their families along with them into battle. But we’d be surprised by how many fall for this one and it is all over the internet now.
Pertaining to my ancestry and the Point Pleasant battle (where most of my ancestors attended), it is said that my ancestor took his wife, daughter of Cornstalk & my ancestress as well) to the battle with him and hid her in a cabin, or under the cabin, or in the closet. However there was no cabins in the area at that time…all woodlands. Still the story is online.
How these ancestors of mine met is way off as well. It is said my ancestor allowed the Shawnee to stay on his land, then he went and visited under his wife’s nose, then fell in love with Cornstalk’s daughter and married her. Only truth to that is that he married her. They actually met in Pennsylvania at a fort where he was stationed, or where he was sent to help out I should say because it is uncertain whether he was stationed there or not in the ture sense of the word.
Everything above can be found online and alot of people actually believe what is said over fact.
Books~
I won’t go into badmouthing anyone (other than Dr.Kennedy Ha Ha) on this one because I believe their intentions were good, or they have a screw loose. I won’t even list the books here because that would be doing it in a round-about way. But there are plenty books out there that are historically incorrect, are history mixed with fiction, or are just plain garbage.
People take books way too seriously as well without actually paying attention to what they are reading.
The best example I can give of this, without giving away the author’s name, or the title of the book. But falls into the “just plain garbage” bin but pushed as being fact, is that there were Shawnee women warriors who went to battle instead, or with, the men, and went totally naked/nude.
Now let’s look at this rationally…Nude women in battle and no records ever found by anyone at the battle, or battles, about this. Certainly if this were fact, someone, somewhere, would have written about it that was at one of these Hugh Hefner parties…ummm I mean at one of these battles with naked Shawnee fighting them.
On a personl note…
You have no idea how weird it is to fight with someone about who your own uncles are or aren’t. I was told I have no idea because it said otherwise in a book writtne about my ancestors. Trust me…I knew the ones that passed, and know the few that are still living. But because a book is out on my family, I know nothing.
Internet~
I have seen so many sites that are full of rubbish on my family alone, and I won’t even go into that, but you can find recent postings where I share a little about what I have found online about Melungeons and my “Ever SO LUCKY” attachments (on both my paternal and amternal side) to this fictitional garbage online. Still kills me how they use my ancestors land record as proof that he was a Melungeon…but anyway…
“Well So-and-So is a certified genealogist, and has a website, and is a professional because of this, and and and…So There!”
It is like writing a book. Most people do not realize that anyone can write a book about anything, true or not, and for a measley $400-$500 have it published. Pretty much the same thing goes for getting a genealogical certificate. Does this mean that you are an author or genealogist supreme? Of course not, but alot of people think it does. Same concepts apply to websites, pay a little, throw up whatever, and PRESTO…you are a star who knows it all. Congratulations.
Okay…so you have a book and it says this and that about your ancestry. Well half the battle is over. Now you have familys, family memebers,names, dates, locations, etc. Now all you have to do is make sure everything in the book is actually true. Same with website information. Family oral histories are something to just make note of in your research, not spread it around like it is gospel. Then once you find out the real story in research, then you can tell if the story you heard was ture or not, or how it became what it was when you heard it.
Be a leader, or jump on a bandwagon and become a follower. The choice is your’s. I prefer to find out for myself what the deals are. That way I know it is fact without speculation.
If it walks and quacks like a duck…
Steve-O
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