I agree mostly . . . . However, I always make note of those 'tall tales' just in case there was some glimmer of truth. That practice has yet to disappoint me. Here's one such senario that just occurred - and opened a whole new world in my Azorean research:
One family story I've been told my whole life is that 'one of the Caton/Caetano grandfathers in my Azorean immigrant ancestry was lost at sea.' It's been a 'tall tale' of the family for over 50 years - none of my aunts or uncles believed their father's telling of it. The story was that it was my great grandfather Willie Caton/Caetano, - But all we just knew for sure that he abandoned his children after his wife died in the 1918 Flu epidemic; I figured it was convenient for the family to tell the kids (my grandfather and his siblings) that their father was lost at sea, because no one produced documentation of this occuring...There was no reason to believe any truth. Then the state of Massachusetts Public Library system got a grant in 2009: Archives of small town newspapers are going online for anyone to see. There I combed through the old Provincetown Advocate newspaper archives for January 1918, and discovered that my family story was true - just not for William "Willie" Caton - It was his father, Capt. Manuel R. Caton, who was lost at sea with his crew while fishing for snapper off the Florida coast. The newsclipping even named the fishing vessels of Provincetown my Great Great Grandfather was known to have owned and or commanded: the famous Sea Fox, Philomena Manta, Addison Center, and Carrie F. Phillip. So you just never know about the family 'tall tales' . . . . buried little 'parts of truths' might be in there somewhere ;-) On Apr 18, 9:59 am, Cheri Mello <[email protected]> wrote: > I was asking my 75 year old dad some questions about a month or so ago. He > started explaining a story his grandfather told him. At the end though, he > said that back in those days (the 1930s and 1940s) a lot of story telling > went on. Although my dad believed the story to be true (mostly) he also > believes that it was probably somewhat embellished to amuse him and his > cousins. When you're a 6 or 10 or whatever year old kid, you're gullible > and believe everything you were told. Then these stories get passed down. > Just something to keep in mind when hearing the family stories. > > -- > Cheri Mello > Listowner, Azores-Gen > Researching: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, R. das Tainhas, > Achada --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
