Genealogy is the search for truth – finding out who your ancestors were and how they lived. Genealogists want to know it all – from names and dates to fill out the family tree, to why people migrated to new areas, and what they did when they got there. There are lessons to be learned in how ancestors faced adversity, and how they coped with the difficulties of life. However, in the process of learning about previous generations, we sometimes discover some unpleasant facts.
Uncovering the Family Skeleton or Criminal
In some families there are no secrets – grandfather operated a still, an uncle robbed a bank, and a great-grandaunt ran a bordello. But for other families, these are carefully guarded secrets that no one talks about, certainly not to anyone who might be writing a family history.
In such an atmosphere, the genealogist is lucky to find a relative willing to talk, but even with a cooperative interviewee, there will be plenty of holes in the story. Unless you have a collection of newspaper articles, or other documents that tell the whole story, the information will be incomplete. To find the whole truth, the searcher will have to do some digging.
Learning More about the Black Sheep
One place to start is Black Sheep Ancestors, home to all sorts of information about prison records, insane asylum records, court records, and biographies of famous outlaws and criminals. From pirates and buccaneers to murderers, robbers, and witches – this website is an excellent resource for black sheep ancestors in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. It also lists a number of international Pirates and Buccaneers, with links to information about each one. Visitors to the site are encouraged to submit new links for inclusion.
International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists
The International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists (IBSSG) is composed of genealogists who have discovered “black sheep” in their family lines. The purpose of the society is to help members research their black sheep ancestors, and to promote the inclusion of such people in the factual history of the family. The society runs an email list, but you don’t have to be a member of the society to participate in the list.
Membership is obtained by posting information about the black sheep ancestor to the IBSSG mailing list, with an explanation of why he or she qualifies. Acts of automatic qualification are:
- murder
- kidnapping
- armed robbery
- treason
- theft of any item of fame
- membership in a famous gang, well documented
- political assassin
- member of the FBI's Most Wanted List
- political expatriate
- extreme public embarrassment
- involvement in witchcraft trials
- bigamy (outside the Mormon faith, which condoned it at one time)
- persons expelled from normal society
- convicted felons (documented)
A person may not join the society by committing any of these acts – the criminal act must have been committed by an ancestor. The IBBSG also allows members who are not direct descendants, but fall under the “One Degree Rule" of the society. The One Degree Rule states that if a person lived in the same house as an ancestor, and the actions of that individual affected the family, those individuals can be used for membership qualification.
Those accepted for membership in the society may append the letters "IBSSG" after their names in all genealogy correspondence.
If There’s an Outlaw in the Family Tree
Some families take it in stride, but others don’t want to publicize the family scandal. Even today, with the lack of privacy some now take for granted, there are plenty of people who don’t want the world to know that their ancestors committed a criminal act. Here’s where tact and diplomacy come into play.
Genealogists who need the cooperation of their relatives, or who simply want to keep family reunions pleasant, will be careful what they tell, and to whom. Genealogists should never lie about their findings, but it’s not necessary to publish everything they’ve learned – perhaps there will be a time later to pass along those juicy stories.
For information about black sheep ancestors in Tennessee, see Tennessee State Penitentiary Records 1831-1870.
Katharine Garstka - Katharine Garstka specializes in genealogical research and in historical and genealogical writing.
Join the Conversation