This came to me on another Name list and I felt I should pass it on. Cherie Beware of fraudulent lineages! For some time professional genealogists and serious researchers have been aware of the forgeries and frauds committed by Gustave Anjou (1863-1942). The sad fact is that Anjou was not a genealogist, but a forger of genealogical records that have been passed on for years to unwary clients and then through researchers who believed or wanted to believe the information. They in turn republished the material and the cycle continues. Anjou produced these "genealogies" for wealthy clients at a price of around $9,000 and the client, needless to say, always received what they wanted. Robert C. Anderson, director of the Great Migration Study Project included these features of a typical Anjou pedigree in his article, "We Wuz Robbed!" which appears in volume 19K: 1-2 1991 of the Genealogical Journal of the Utah Genealogical Association: 1: "A dazzling range of connections between dozens of immigrants to New England, for example, connections far beyond what may be seen in pedigrees produced by anyone else. 2. Many wild geographical leaps, outside the normal range of migration patterns. 3. An overwhelming number of citations to documents which actually exist, and actually what Anjou says they include, and 4. Here and there an invented document, without citation, which appears to support the many connections noted above. The article includes a list of 109 "genealogies" found in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, most catalogued under Gustave Anjou, H. Anjou or M. Anjou. In 1927, Anjou published a catalogue of 192 "genealogies," leaving many unaccounted for. If you or anyone you know, is researching any of these lines, you may have serious problems. Not only will these "genealogies" steer you into error, but genealogies that were published later and used this material for their source will be suspect. For more information, go to or send a SASE to us at The Odom Library and request a copy of the article and list of names. With thanks to The Live Oak, The Bi-Monthly newsletter of the East Bay Genealogical Society, PO Box 20417, Oakland, CA 94620-0417.