Len ~ This is very personal, and each of us has to make that same decision regarding some of our ancestors. What I decided, was how do I want each of these ancestors remembered? Some of my memories are not from the passed generation. Where stories are being retold, with a possible twist in the telling. The Ancestor of yesterday, obviously being gone, is not able to refute the charges or tell their side of the story. And like any accident, if you have 3 witnesses, you have 3 different versions of the same accident plus the accounts of the two involved. That's 5 different accounts. What I have chosen to do, especially with a few of my flawed relatives, was to just make a few notes about their better qualities that I would want them to be remembered by. On the other hand, if there was criminal activity, I would include that story along with any source that provided those facts. It's your family history, and you can write about "your" interactions with the people as they affected you. Now if you want to write what others had to say, you can always use their words and their name as your source, but be sure you have their written permission first. AVA In a message dated 9/10/2012 1:52:43 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time (Me, [email protected] writes:
I have been researching my grandfather in the hopes of writing a history for the coming generations and to satisfy the curiosity of my family about their heritage. After some research, I find that the kindly old man that I knew as a child may not have been all that nice. Stories are starting to arise of abuse, excessive drinking, and estrangement of his children. My father was a product of his second marriage and cared a lot for his parents. Vovoo was an old man of 75 when I was born, and I only knew a sweet, kind old man who loved me. Now, I am finding that the children of his first marriage did not hold him in such high esteem. So, my question for the group is: If you were putting together a family history for the generations to come, how would you handle this? Most of the stories are hearsay as there is no one alive with direct knowledge, but there must be something to them. I am inclined to be very honest in relating family stories, but I wonder how some of you might handle this. Thanks for your input, Len -- 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_ (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." -- 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."
