What Do You Do ?

While searching for some information on my paternal side I stumbled across a gedcom that had been uploaded on Ancestry.A familiar name caught my eye that was my 2nd great grandfather so upon closer examination of the gedcom I discovered it covered a section of my paternal line all the way back to my 9th great grandfather.We're talking over 400 years and a trip to Scotland and England probably and years worth of research and not to mention a dollar amount and all the hours involved.If the information posted was accurate.

Who was this mystery person who had researched so much and how accurate was the research ? I don't know,I've yet to discover that.Like everything I take it with a grain of salt,I've learned over the last 10 years "don't believe everything you read on the internet".I do how ever have the person's email address but have yet to try and make contact.But I will make the attempt because this person apperently descends from my line also so a cousin X times removed no doubt.It should be interesting as I'm dying to know how all this research was conducted and whether or not the person actually traveled over seas to do that part of it.

Another interesting discovery was again concerning my paternal side with the Bach/Back line.In the 1950's a group of cousins got together and founded the Back/Bach Genealogical Society.They performed research and wrote a 2 volume book about what they discovered tracing the family all the way back to Germany into the 1500's.So for over 50 years the families have accepted this as truth.I stumbled across a site about another set of books concerning the Back/Bach line.The person who wrote these books claimed that the genealogical society that was formed in the 1950's was a sham concerning the accuracy of their published information.The 2nd set of books claimed that the "society" had even went so far as to remove original headstones and replace them with what he claimed was false information to substantiate what they had written.And the headstones that were removed from graves were found and now sit in a museum.

So what is to be gained by providing false information on genealogy ? Other than the obvious,"Yeah I was kin to Elvis where is my share ?" Of course none of this in either situation will stop my research,I'll continue and use their's as reference maybe.I've already discovered wrong names and dates thanks to my own research.

In my own amateurish way I don't understand any deviation from wanting to find facts and true facts concerning the family.