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Family Histories and Myths

         It's a shame we wait until our grandparents or great aunts and uncles are gone before we get to the age that brings on a desire to know our roots. So many of the legends, the stories, and the facts die with them. Then it's too late to sort out the bits and pieces that we've heard or substantiate the ones we remember.

         In some cases you can get three witnesses to make a legal claim. This helped when my grandmother needed proof of age. She never had a birth certificate, since she was born in 1905 at home in the country. Someone doing genealogical research found three older women who knew her mother and could attest in front of a notary public that she was born on a certain date in a definite place. That became a legal document not only for the family tree, but social security and insurance.

         Both sides of my family claim to have Cherokee Indian, at least 4 to 5 generations before me. But we can't prove it because birth certificates were not made for Indians in those days, and wedding licenses did not include the mother's name or other background. The old folks claiming these ties have passed away at least a decade or two ago.

         Then there are some stories that I heard that in my research I have disproved. The stories actually happened to relatives, but not the closer relatives in my state. They were my grandmother's cousins families in other states. Facts, prison records, and grave sites bear that out. It took some of the fun out of family story telling at gatherings. My relatives complained I burst their bubble with the truth. But some in-laws can still brag about their own bootleggers and bank robbers. Black sheep make life interesting, don't they?

         Then there was a tale of my own grandfather's grandfather who died in the Civil War. The real story was much more interesting than what some other genealogist printed in his book. I found the facts in the library of Congress for Civil War soldiers.It was a tragic story. I doubt his own family knew much of it. None of it was handed down.

         My advice to anyone, no matter how young you are, write down your grandparents' stories. They may not be interesting now, but some day they will be history. You will want to tell them to you children's children. You'll need to remember them and where to find the proof.