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Finding black sheep can cost sleep for family historians

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By SHARON TATE MOODY

Tribune correspondent

Published: May 17, 2009

The person who volunteers to become the family history scribe takes on a lot of responsibility. Legal and moral obligations go with telling the stories.

Let's hope you've found ancestors whose lives you can recount with pride. But if yours is a typical family, you also found a few scoundrels and evidence of deceit, mayhem and tomfoolery.

I found one great-grand aunt who the family insisted had married twice, had a child by each husband, and inherited much land from her first husband. My research proves beyond a doubt that she had two children, but she never married the father of either - and all the land she inherited was from her own father.

I found ancestors of Indian, African-American and white heritage, causing quite a ripple in familial support for my efforts. I was also able to refute the story that a great-great-grandpa missing from the 1840 census had died the previous year. I found him in 1840 very much alive - in jail awaiting trial for slitting his wife's throat.

Researchers are often perplexed by how to address revelations that bother some family members. More than a few have taken the easy route and simply omitted the information. The result is at worst an inaccurate - or at the least, incomplete - family history.

We should stick to the facts when we come across ancestors' foibles that led to arrest, and not become judgmental about decisions and actions that ran counter to the mores of the day. Whether an ancestor took heroic action in war or became a conscientious objector is simply a fact of history.

The National Genealogical Society has published Genealogical Standards and Guidelines that offer guidance in such situations. One bit of advice is to be "sensitive to the hurt that revelations of criminal, immoral, bizarre or irresponsible behavior may bring to family members."

There is, of course, a big difference between being sensitive and hiding or omitting the facts.

Instead, simply do not include in your history anyone still living.

For example, since my mother and six of her siblings are still alive, I ensure that all reports on my maternal line include details only through their parents (both of whom are deceased). My aunts or cousins are welcome to take the work and add their personal information at the end.

Your responsibility also extends to keeping your word to those who shared stories they didn't want repeated. Another standard from the National Genealogical Society is that you should "respect the restrictions on sharing information that arise from the rights of another as an author, originator or compiler; as a living private person; or as a party to a mutual agreement."

If you think telling a story about the black sheep in the family will be more than you can resist, you should never promise someone that you will keep it a secret if they tell you about it.

And the society reminds us that we should be engaged in a quest for the truth. As responsible researchers we should never put into writing anything we have not absolutely proven with documentation. No matter how colorful or authentic a family story sounds, it should not be printed without in-depth research.

Learn more about the standards set for by the national society by going to www.ngsgenealogy.org /cs/ngs_standards_and _guidelines.

Sharon Tate Moody is past president of the Association of Professional Genealogists. Send your genealogy questions and event announcements to her in care of Getaway, The Tampa Tribune, 200 S. Parker St., Tampa, FL 33606 or stmoody0720@ mac.com. She regret

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