I have a few of those stories. Some I have found to be true, some partaily true and some are still out there waiting. My dad always said we were related to the Browning's of Browning firearms. As a kid/young adult it was "right dad, sure". Then I find out that John Moses Browning was my dad's grandmother Olives's older half-brother. How cool is that? There is a story that my Great Great Grandmother Mary Lucretia Cull ran away from her older brothers house at age 16 to make her way to California to find her dad. Family lore says some monkeys were turned loose in the middle of a dinner party, so Mary and her niece Ellen could make their getaway. No proof so far, but a version of the story is in more than one line down from her. One, that as far as I can tell did not come from family, is that she came west with a "party of young women" looking to make new lives for themselves. Since this was around 1860-62 that one sounds weird to me. Another says her husband Benjamin Franklyn Lockhart was a ships captain who sank his "ship, cargo and crew" to keep from being caught by the blockaders during the war off the Carolina coast. The ship was a "Blackbirder" or slave ship according to the story. Only the captain and first mate made it to shore. There are holes in this one as the only ship called the "Hungarian" I can find went between Ireland and Nova Scotia and carried immigrants. Second, Ben's dad and brother were ships captains not he, as far as I've found. Third, he was in California at the time in question. So? Who knows, not me...yet. I love looking for these stories, and they are in the family history w/notes that they are proven or not proven. Susan Boise, Idaho, USA -----Original Message----- From: gen-newbie-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:gen-newbie-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of marilyn E B Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2012 8:04 AM To: gen-newbie Subject: [GN] Family Lore and Genealogy If you have those stories that have been passed down through the years; do you take them as they are or do you validate the facts? I spent time yesterday looking for the answer to a friend's dilemma. Family said that a ggg grandmother was one surname and some online information gave another surname. She insisted she was right because that was what the family said. Actually they were both right and it all boiled down to how exact she wanted to be. The person in question was raised by her maternal grandparents and the only place this was found was on the 1860 census. A legal adoption was unlikely in that time period but every step needs to be documented as thoroughly as possible. In my own family I have made some members unhappy because I proved we are not direct descendants of a certain Civil War General. Hey, the man never had any biological children. Much less a son. Have fun with family lore and tell us about some that you have either validated or debunked. Marilyn -- "If you don't get outside every day, even for a minute, you have not appreciated what God has done. It makes you grateful for our surroundings, and it starts your day differently." Johnny Cash ******************** Gen-Newbie's website: http://www.rootsweb.com/~newbie/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GEN-NEWBIE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2012.0.1901 / Virus Database: 2109/4723 - Release Date: 01/04/12