Fraudulent Lineages a warning

[Boongie Pam]

Hiya,

Found this very interesting article:
http://personal.linkline.com/xymox/fraud/fraud223.htm

I'm working on my CARRUTHERS line and I know ancient lineages exist for this ancient family.  There is a great temptation when you have run out of records to look at Victorian lineages.

The article above I think gives a good warning, especially for Americans.  You get what you pay for.  If you wanted a seat on the Mayflower then Mr Anjou could oblige 

So for anyone new to FH research, be warned  Sometimes you can be stuck for years and other trees aren't the answer unless fully sourced and can be verified.

The Anjou lineages are on the IGI.  SO look around for posts here on RC about how, why and when to use the IGI reliably.

Pam
 

[RJ_Paton]

I agree with you 100% Pam,

http://www.familychronicle.com/Fraudulent.html

is another intersting article regarding Anjou (and others) and should be taken as a salutory lesson to be cautious when dealing with records and other trees.

As far as it goes "You get what you pay for." , Mr Anjou's services were reputed to be very expensive and made him moderately wealthy which just goes to show that even money can't buy accuracy.

So far records "credit" Mr Anjou with 103 lineages held on file at the IGI but as those articles show they are not the only ones and perhaps in a smaller way, as mentioned on a number of other threads here in Rootschat, many people who simply accept everything they are told or given, perpetuate some of these falsehoods

"Trust nothing and check everything" .... a tad cynical perhaps but that way I at least know the mistakes are all mine 

[trish251]

This sentence seems to be a good one to follow
If you as a writer or a poster to the internet simply accepts everything that is written and then republish it without proving the sources, you too are guilty of continuing the Hoax. It is your responsibility to prove everything you post for anyone else to view

http://personal.linkline.com/xymox/fraud/hoax.htm

Trish

[MarieC]

As soon as something becomes popular, fraudsters rush to take advantage of gullible people.  I'm sure genealogy is no different!

MarieC (who is trying to do her own research, and check everything!)

[adee7]

Pam,

Thanks very much for posting this fascinating article.

We have enough problems with brick walls and certainly
don't need to encounter those mentioned. 

My pile of certificates grows.

Kathleen

[bally]

HI boongie...if you're around, there's a lady in rootschat who is desparate to talk to you.  Hope to see you in the room soon..thanks..

Bally

[JAP]

Hello Pam,

It's not just fraudulent lineages that are the problem?

Unsourced material is surely as problematical, or at least a variation on the same theme?

Interesting that you should post along these lines just now.
 
Why?  Well, because I was thinking about this general problem the other day.
 
So I Googled.
 
There's quite an interesting article (not recent - but truth doesn't diminish solely due to the passage of time  )

How to Cite Sources by John Wylie
at
http://www.genealogy.com/19_wylie.html
 
The whole article is worth reading - it's not just 'whether to'  (surely a no-brainer) but also 'how to'.
 
A couple of salient points made by Lt Col Wylie are:
"  ...  Unless you tell others where you obtained your material, your work is only opinion and weak opinion at that.  ... Sources establish credibility. That is, if we fail to cite sources, our friends and relatives may be charitably interested, but others will consider our work a waste of time or, at best, a clue.  .. .  "
 
Good and succinct comments.

Another good comment which was posted by a respected RootsChatter reads as follows (I don't give the source in case of embarrassing the poster but will freely provide it):
{The etiquette of an online forum is to} "give solid and reliable replies, offer good information and get good information in return and so it goes. Unfortunately, if these standards aren't applied in an online forum, it is there for all to see and we end up leaving a legacy of unsourced information for future users of Rootschat to stumble upon."
We can all make mistakes - but we should all try to be very careful indeed.

Regards,
 
JAP

[MarieC]

Thanks for that, JAP.  Excellent article!  We should probably all print it out and have it beside us as we work...

MarieC

[JAP]

Hi Marie C,

There are probably lots of more up-to-date references on the "how to" (for instance, I have 'Evidence' by Elizabeth Shown Mills) but the principles of 'why" don't change one whit 

JAP