Fraudulent Genealogy
by Lisa South, Certified Genealogist
There are many reasons that people create fraudulent
genealogies:
1. Family members that are trying to hide something
or trying to impress someone by making the family
history a little more impressive. These stories are then innocently
passed down by future generations of family members.
2. Amateur genealogists who have limited genealogical
or historical skills and accept others' work without any additional
research. Sometimes an amateur is anxious to connect to someone
"important" and forces a connection that really is not
there.
3. Professional genealogists who are not thorough
enough with their research or are not up-to-date "genealogically".
4. A professional crook who's trying to perpetrate
a scam. One of the best known in the genealogical world is Gustave
Anjou. He lived from 1863-1942 and contaminated as many as 2000
lines. Some of the others that have been identified are Charles
H. Browning, Orra E. Monnette, C.A. Hoppin, Frederick A. Virkus,
Horatio Gates Somerby and there are others.
How can you protect ourselves against fraud? First
you need to make sure that you do not add to the problem. Your research
should be thorough and well sourced. Use others' work as a guide,
but check the information in the original sources whenever you are
able and find out as much as possible about the author/submitter
and his/her genealogical background and research methods.