TIP #155 - THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO AUNT LIZZIE SYNDROME Today's tip is courtesy of Bill Utterback who is the list owner of KYJACKSON-PURCHASE, and an extremely knowledgeable in researching techniques and history of Kentucky. He has graciously permitted me to reprint a tip which recently appeared on his list, and I have added some comments of my own at the end. "Almost every family has an elder matriarch or patriarch to whom we go for family information. In most cases, the elders of the family also can thrill us with their bits and pieces of other data, besides the facts about their peers which we need to know, and which they may be in a position to tell us. How many of us have been told that we had Native American blood in our veins, or that two, or three, or four brothers "came over from the old country" and founded the family in America, or some other family tradition? Many of you will be nodding your heads, as you recognize and remember these family traditions. The problem for genealogists relative to family tradition is twofold: in the first place, it is very easy to become so convinced that a family tradition "just as to be true because Aunt Lizzie said so", that we begin to try to shape genealogical fact to meet our need to prove Aunt Lizzie correct. And, in the second place, if Aunt Lizzie is still living, and if we should prove the family lore which she so lovingly related to us is false, there is the very real possibility that Aunt Lizzie - or others in the family - might feel that we have impugned her integrity or honesty. One of the most vivid examples of the misuse and misconstruing of family tradition can be seen in Alex Haley's work, "Roots". In that work, Haley attempted to take the family lore about his "ancestor", Toby - or Kunta Kinte, as he supposedly called himself - and prove it to be true. Over the years since the publication of "Roots", very detailed research has been done to backtrack Haley's own efforts and his own scholarship as he tried to prove that family tradition, and, almost without fail, every significant "fact" which he proffered to document his lineage has shown to be incorrect or false. It has had an unfortunate effect on those interested in pursuing African-American genealogy, since it stressed "oral tradition" over documented fact. So how do we avoid that same pitfall? The best approach - and the one that I have taken over the years - has been to try equally as hard to disprove a family tradition. For example, I have a Bailey line in my background, and perhaps a half dozen people over the years have told me that their grandmother, or great-aunt, or some elder family member, had told them that there was an extraordinary Choctaw Indian man in our ancestry by the name of John Armstrong(and the name "Armstrong" can be an Indian name), and that he had been, in the 1700's, educated at Oxford, and was, in all respects, one of the more privileged people of his time and background. I set out to prove or disprove that story, which came from different people (who did not know each other) at various times over a ten year period. There was, in fact, an ancestor named John Armstrong Bailey, who was my ggg-gf. That was an interesting development, when I discovered him. Going back into the 1700's, however, I found that John A. Bailey was, in fact, named for his great-grandfather, John Armstrong. Further research, over a long period of time, indicated that John Armstrong lived in England for a time, did attend Oxford, and, in America, he was well known among the Choctaw in Georgia, as he traded with them and was a good friend to them. So, we somehow, over 200 years, had gone from a man who was named John Armstrong, and who did attend Oxford, and who worked and helped the Choctaw nation, to a Choctaw Indian man who went to Oxford. Family traditions give us a hint of where to go and perhaps a pinch of information about what we may hope to find, but we always need to try to remember that just because Aunt Lizzie says it is so does not automatically confer sacredness on her statements. A wit once remarked that it is amazing how a sheet of paper will just lay there and let anyone write anything on it. The same can be true with spoken tradition. In the 19th century, storytelling was not just a pastime - it was really an art, and embellishment was a part of that art. As long as we keep all of that in mind, we'll do alright with how we handle those family stories." Now to Sandi's comments. What Bill has said is painfully true. I would like to cite some other examples that I have run into with first a comment about "Roots". Although much of the authenticity of Haley's works has been in dispute, it did accomplish something very important. It DID get a lot of people of African-American ancestry interested in finding out more about their roots! It gave many a sense of determination to find out more on their families and have inspired many Black youth to start talking to their elders and putting total an oral history of their family … whether 100% accurate is always in question, black or white! When I was deep into my research on our families, I was met with a family member, quite intelligent, quite well-known, quite learned, who was more than glad to share some of the most fascinating facts with me. I spent several hours with him, writing and taping fiendishly. I had no reason to doubt his accuracy as he was describing events involving his own personal life and those around him. However, just before "going to press" with a family book, another family member, quite closely related, asked to see a copy of this fabulous story. Well, needless to say, 99% of the material had to be pitched upon inspection, as the individual was simply volunteering information the way he hoped he would be recorded, not the way it actually happened! I was saddened but thankful to have found out before publishing! On the other side of the coin however. A dear lady in another state wrote me early in my researching days in my county trying to seek information about a relative here, "crazy Aunt so and so" who said that this relative was hung in the county. She was trying to prepare a family history book for her grandchildren and doubted the accuracy of her aunt's stories! My simple reply back to her was 'Would you like an 8 x 10 glossy of the hanging?" Her relative had indeed been hung here, the last legal hanging in the county. So, this time, Aunt Lizze (or whatever her name) was being accurate. Another tale in our family came down that one of our not so distant ancestors had something very important to do with the typewriter. Hmmm. After 30 some years of hit and miss researching on this great great uncle, lo and behold I find a book listed in the Library of Congress by him and find that he indeed did make a significant contribution. He invented the space bar on the typewriter and had even published a book about touch typewriting - that course so many of labored over in high school! So, we have to do as Bill suggested; work just as hard to disprove as to approve. Maybe we will never find the actual truth. In that instance, I am prone to include it in my writings but stress that this is ORAL tradition and that I am unable at this time to confirm it. Perhaps one of our children or grandchildren can finally find the absolute documentation that Greatgrandma Pocahontas was indeed of Cherokee heritage and not just named that because it was "in" to use the name. Or that Uncle Harry wasn't known as a great horseman and was kidnapped somewhere out west - but that he had been a horse thief and took off for parts unknown! Oral tradition and family tales make our family history live, if we remember as Bill says that story telling can be embellished over the years and grow from generation to generation. The noted author, Lynwood Montell has many books in print on folk tales, ghost stories and superstitions of this part of Kentucky and Tennessee. He has them methodically categorized as to location, age of teller, variations on a theme, etc. It is interesting to note that many of these stories grew out of the same source, but each family added their own "twist" to the tale. After a generation or so, each family swore that it happened to THEIR family, when in fact it was an oft-repeated story that had been heard so many times in front of the fireplace in their woodland cabins, that it became the gospel truth to them and became part of their history. So, if you are faced with Aunt Lizzie tales; go out and challenge them, investigate them, disprove them or prove them! That's one of the fun things of genealogy! Our pastor out in Arizona, George Whitehood, prefaced his little book on his family history with this statement: "This is a story of the way it might have been by someone who wasn't there." © Copyright 16 April 1998, All Rights Reserved, Bill Utterback and Sandi Gorin. Sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Sandi Gorin - 205 Clements Ave., Glasgow, KY 42141-3409 (502)651-9114 or sgorin@glasgow-ky.com A Proud Kentucky Colonel PUBLISHING: http://members.tripod.com/~GorinS/index.html KYRESEARCH: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Tips KYBIOS: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Bios BARREN CO OBITUARIES: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/ BarrenObits PRAYER&PRAISE: http://www.listbot.com/subscribe/prayerandpraise