One of the first things every Genealogist will suggest you do, is talk to members of your family. The older the better, they will encourage you, on the premise that the old relatives will furnish you with the best information.

Hold on tight to Dorothy Toto, you are on your way to Oz.

Old folks are wonderful, but they are far from accurate. Their versions of events are almost always riddled with mistakes and many of them could be labeled as Revisionist Historians.

So, what do you as the new Genealogist do to overcome this problem?

You confirm everything that the elder has told you and then you see how accurate their version was to any official records you find. What these elders are often good for is finding out the family secrets that otherwise you would never find publicly. You just have to decide which of those secrets you want to make public.

Do not be surprised if something you are told, never happened!

Old memories get confused and sometimes embellished. Everyone wishes things a certain way and that's often how they are remembered. Living the life of Middy is not uncommon. Especially for someone who was trapped in a mundane routine with nothing exciting.

Or, you could just have a relative who is full of baloney up to their eyeballs. A person who makes up stories for the sheer enjoyment of watching people's reaction.Thus with a little sympathy and empathy you smile and say,

Grandma is not a Liar, she is just a Nut!