How do we get our fellow genealogists to SHARE images, documents, stories and more?

Source: Leo Reynolds, http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/6873452617/sizes/l/

Creative Commons, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0), http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

We have been reading a lot about copyright infringement recently in our genealogy community and such infringement just needs to STOP!

As “theft” of genealogy content continues to make headlines (rightfully so, unfortunately), such news often deters “new” and “old” genealogists from sharing their research either via a web-based ancestry tree, via e-mail or even in person.

I was reminded of this when I re-read a saved blog post from last year, Kris Williams: The Genealogy Grinch (via Ancestry.com blog). 

Have you run into one of these in your family? 

I’ve been fortunate, that when I have reached out to complete strangers (albeit distant cousins) and vice versa, we’ve always been willing to share what we know – in fact, my family reports are available on my personal website.  I loved doing the research, I loved interacting with so many that helped me along the way, I loved sharing what I learned with my family and I now love sharing that same information with the world.  In my mind, I don’t have an “exclusive” right to any of this information.  The majority of what my report includes is public knowledge.  I didn’t create these reports for the world, I did create them for myself and my family and if someone else can make use of the information, my response is “go for it!”  

Though, please do make sure to retain my copyright notice and give attribution.  After all, that is both the polite and legal thing to do.

Historically, it was much more challenging to make copies of items held by others.  Everything cost "real money" (in addition to time), whether it was making color photocopies of images, putting documents in the mail at the post office, getting duplicates of photos, making copies of documents, etc.  So, in the past, it was more understandable that what may seem a simple request to the requester would require a lot of effort (and money) on the part of the requestee.

Nowadays, with smart phones, scanners, the internet and all our technological toys, cost and effort have been reduced dramatically.  Do you have a distant cousin, with all the technological toys at their fingertips, who literally in 5 minutes could get you some key image or document?  Yes, doesn’t?

Have you run into one of these in your family?

Nowadays, besides the aforementioned record, image, etc, grinch, I often hear tales of DNA grinches. Granted, when you are asking for something as personal as some DNA, one can understand a certain reticence. Additionally, when we are inundated with information about DNA use (and misuse) by the authorities, issues about medical privacy, and so much more, we do have to work harder to ensure those participating that their DNA information will only be used for genealogical purposes and that it is inviolate otherwise.  And, when you see a headline like this one from last week, Spread of DNA databases sparks ethical concerns, well, our job is cut out for us.

And, when I talk about a DNA grinch, it’s not the person who has some real concerns with how such will be used, it is with the person who has agreed to undergo such testing (often at the requestor’s cost) and then dilly dallies and often never does the DNA testing.  If you have concerns, don’t agree to do the DNA testing.  If you didn’t know you had concerns and then they arose, communicate with the requestor – maybe you can find an alternately appropriate subject or maybe you can offer to cover the cost?  Please don’t just drag your feet – please be upfront.

Have you run into one of these in your family?

Whether you have or have not personally “run into one of these in your family,”  what suggestions might you offer for someone who is dealing with a genealogy grinch?

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Genealogy News and Issues by Charles S. "Chuck" Mason Jr., CG

At the same time that I was writing my article for August, I also wrote a letter that ended a sixty-five-year-old family disagreement. Although the focus of this article will be about my family, many of you may have a similar situation in your family. The disagreement took place in September 1942 between my grandfather and his older brother, my great uncle. It involved dividing possessions that belonged to the family when their oldest sister died suddenly. She had never married but stayed at home with their parents until they died a few years before she died. Because of their disagreement, my grandfather and his brother never spoke to each other again. Their younger sister acted as an intermediary, along with the attorney who was handling the settlement of the older sister’s estate.

My grandfather claimed that his brother took something that belonged to him and left behind the cream pitcher to the silver tea service that my great grandparents received as a gift for their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. My grandfather was willing to give his brother the pitcher when he received his property back. I know this exchange never took place since I now have that cream pitcher.

I did not know that my father's brother was still living when I was growing up. It was not until about six or seven years after my grandfather died that I found out his brother had been alive when my grandfather died and had died two years later.

When I began doing genealogy, I found some information about my great uncle. I questioned some of my mother’s siblings about their uncle, but no one seemed to know much about him. My mother claimed she did not know anything about him. I also talked to a son of my grandfather’s younger sister. He did not know much about his uncle either. However, he did know that his uncle’s son (my mother’s cousin) lived in a town about a mile and a half from where my grandfather lived.

About seven years ago my parents went to the local funeral home to preplan their funerals. The funeral home happened to be in the same town where my mother’s cousin lived. When my mother told the funeral director her maiden name, he asked if she was related to the man who was her cousin, and she curtly replied. "NO!" I asked her, “What do you mean NO? He is your cousin.” She said nothing and just stared directly at me and said nothing. I thought I would hear about it later, but she never said another word.

Part of me wanted to contact this cousin, but I was not sure if he would react like my mother. It was obvious that her father’s hard feelings were passed on to my mother. I had already talked to one of my mother’s cousins on her mother’s side of the family about my grandmother’s family. His reaction had been, “What do you want to know about them for? They're dead.” His wife did give me some information, but she did not know much. Because of his reaction, I hesitated to contact the cousin on my grandfather’s side of the family.

In April, the cousin’s wife died, and shortly after that I was talking to a couple of friends about my mother’s reaction at the funeral home. One of them asked if I had contacted him. That prompted me to finally write to her cousin. I did want to wait a little while after his wife died before making contact; so, I sent my letter in the middle of July. Two days later I came home to a message on my answering machine from the cousin. He did not know much about why his father and my grandfather did not speak, but he did say his father could be a very stubborn person, something that runs in the family. My grandfather could be the same way.

I had a trip planned to New Jersey the first week of August and made arrangements to meet my mother’s cousin. We spent about five and an a half hours together, sharing stories about both our families. The stories were filled with serendipity. My parents met roller-skating, and so did the cousin and his wife. His daughter works at the grocery store where one of my sisters shops. There were a number of other coincidences.

He sent my e-mail address to one of his nephews who has researched the family for twenty years. I learned that this nephew had contacted my grandfather before he died, but my grandfather did not want discuss anything about the family. He had information that I did not have, and I had information that he did not have. As a result of our mutual interest in our family history -- and our willingness to bury this ancient hatchet -- we will be sharing a lot of notes, records, pictures, and other information.

I hope that if you have a similar situation in your family, you will be inspired to contact the family members. The worst thing they can say is that they do not want to discuss the family. On the other hand, you may have new family members in your life and learn more information about your family.