I agree with you about wishful thinking. I had the same thing happen to me when an ancestor was supposed to be one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. It was even claimed in a few obituaries for a prominent family member probably to boost his class status. I found out later it was just family lore. In that same family line, there had been an ancestor who supposedly came over on the Mayflower as was documented by an LDS member also in his family. I haven't been able to prove that information either.
In my direct line, I also have an ancestor who was supposedly "knighted by William The Conqueror," but I've never been able to prove it. Since I'm unable to trace my direct line back to Scotland, because this is a major brick wall, I just put the information into my notes for the Boswell I'm stuck at. All of this information is contained in a note that I found, but it is so vague I can't do much with it. Without a name, I really have no one to attach this information to except as I noted above. However, this note was somewhat helpful in matching up other relations that turned out to be true. This small note is a quick and dirty version of someone trying to connect the relationships for about five generations. The information was apparently given by one family member, Emma Boswell Roberts, whose family still has that bible. However, that family will not let me see the bible because they claim it's too fragile. I'm wondering if this bible even exists. They did provide me with information from it, but this knighted stuff was not revealed in that information so I don't know where it originated from. Probably more wishful thinking. The notes are on the back of a utility bill with a date and address so I have a timeframe for when this was written and who could have written it. I have also turned some family lore into facts when they could be verified by newspaper articles. All other lore goes into To Do's and notes. I also agree with James that it shouldn't be buried only in To Do's because it will be forgotten. My To Do's have about one hundred entries or more and it's easy to get buried. It should be noted somewhere else too. Bill Boswell -----Original Message----- From: Jan Roberts [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2011 8:03 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [LegacyUG] Best way to record someone was a Knight (as in shining armor)? I'd be very wary of accepting, without some corroborating proof, what amounts to a family story unless it comes from someone actually involved. I grew up with the 'knowledge' that my family was related to Admiral Sir William Loring - a leading light in Australia's naval history. As I got involved in family research I even uncovered other, distantly related, family members who 'knew' the same thing. Then I uncovered some newspaper clippings from both Australia and New Zealand, including my grandfather's death notice, which claimed relationship to the Admiral. However, what I haven't uncovered is any possible connection to this man and his well documented family. A recent DNA study undertaken by a One-Name researcher HAS shown that there is a family link SOMEWHERE way back in time but neither he, nor any other researcher has been able to make that link between any known ancestors. The original family story must have been wishful thinking based on the shared surname. Yet it had spread far and wide within the family and was taken as gospel. It could easily have been written in a 'book' by an earlier family researcher, read by me and cited as gospel in my data. My point being that the report by my deceased (and in some cases still living) ancestors regarding our connection to the famous Admiral is far less valid as a source than SOME books on the library shelf - provided those books have documented their sources and those sources are also valid (i.e. a marriage register entry rather than 'Uncle Jim told me'.) Cheers Jan Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
