There are big differences between recording a family's genealogy (names, places, dates) and telling family history (the context to the names, places, dates). What you're asking, is if in telling the family history you should include the less 'savory' aspects.
My answer as somebody who gathers these histories and who preserves the documents that allow for the histories to be written is yes, include it all. Make it clear to the reader that this is family lore, but the reality is that within every 'fable' there is a kernel of truth. Sonia ----- Original Message ----- From: "Leonard Silva" <lensi...@lenstudio.com> To: azores@googlegroups.com Sent: Monday, September 10, 2012 2:36:16 PM Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] Writing the family history 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 azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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." -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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."
