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How Honest Should You be?

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  • How Honest Should You be?

    Hello all. I have been diligently researching my family tree for months now with the intention of providing other family members and their children with a nice written family history. I have encountered something that I’m not sure I should share. It appears that on the 1880 Federal Census a direct ancestor of mine was classified as “Idiotic” / “Insane”. I don’t know historically what would qualify a person to be classified this way or who would do it, but it’s right there. Should I conceal this from the rest of the family, maybe redact it or something or should I let them all know? Thanks in advance for any help.

  • #2
    KBO

    Hello and welcome to FTF.

    Why do you feel that other members of your family must be protected from the truth and that you are the only one who can take it?

    I have some relatives described as Idiot, imbecile, insane etc. It wasn't always the truth, as one "imbecile from birth" appears 30 years later running a successful greengrocers business with his wife and many unidiotic children!

    OC

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    • #3
      Oh....I don't think I said i thought i was the only one who could take it.....I mean....gee....I guess I'm asking what level of sensitivity one must use before telling a lot of people something like this.

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      • #4
        KBO, 1880 is a very long time ago, so I would guess nobody would be shocked. Old descriptions can be quite brutal.

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        • #5
          Yes Jill, they can! Do you have any idea how one would get classified as an "Idiot" or "Insane" on the Federal census from that time?

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          • #6
            They could easily be researching themselves and find this information - it's public knowledge - why shouldn't they know if the rest of the world can look and see that X was noted as an imbecile.
            I think the best policy is always to be open and honest unless it is something you would not be expected to have a legitimate interest in - such as the relatives of in laws etc.
            Margaret

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            • #7
              KBO

              No, of course you didn't say you were the only one who could take it, but the inference was that the rest of your relatives couldn't!

              For a start, I wouldn't take just one census report as being gospel. As this is your direct ancestor, he/she couldn't have been completely idiotic and insane, otherwise they would never have married and produced children (one assumes!)

              If this were my relative, I would collect up ALL the available information and then present it without comment. If I were presenting it to my elderly uncle, wgho might be upset by this finding, I would say something like:

              The 1880 census shows her to be an idiot/insane but this is almost certainly wrong as she lived until she was 90 and died at home of flu. (Or whatever the appropriate findings are).

              Otherwise I really wouldn't worry too much about something which possibly happened 130 years ago.

              OC

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              • #8
                Good point Margaret, me and my sisters are direct descendants of this person, it is public knowledged.....buried, but public.....maybe they should know.

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                • #9
                  Oh, I forgot!

                  In 1871 and 81, a relative of mine is described as "imbecile from birth" and is in an institution. In 1891, she has been reclassified as deaf and dumb.

                  Idiocy, imbecility, insanity, were all subjective conditions in the 1800s and when reported on the census, might just be the spiteful remark of an ignorant enumerator. You need more than one report of this condition before you can even begin to take it seriously.

                  OC

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                  • #10
                    I think what OC says is very relevant in that in those days there was not the 'fine methodology' that we have today for diagnosing what someone suffered with. You only have to see some death certificates that say cause of death was 'visitation by God' to understand the limitations of medical science in years gone by.

                    Don't see some of the information you find as 'the truth' just a comment made at the time!
                    Margaret

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                    • #11
                      SoG suggests that three pieces of evidence should be collected to prove an event. They mean birth marriage and death of course, but it's a good rule to follow for any other "fact". So, what do other census reports say, what does the death cert say, where did the person die, did this person marry - idiots and imbeciles were not allowed to marry in the US, nor in England I shouldn't imagine.

                      OC

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                      • #12
                        Thanks OC and Margaret, I feel a little better. While my relative was able to father nine children, they all were not with him at the time of the census; I found them with other relatives. This leads me to believe something was probably wrong. Recently I casually mentioned to one of my sisters that another relative died of syphilis in the 1920s and BOY did she let me have it! The syphilis thing doesn't bother me as much as potential mental problems do.......

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                        • #13
                          Syphilis causes mental problems too!

                          Honestly, I think you are worrying too much. Even if he did have mental health problems, they are not necessarily hereditary and unless any of his children suffered from severe and properly diagnosed mental conditions, it's not worth worrying about. You can be both an idiot and insane, but you don't SUDDENLY become an idiot. Sounds like it could have been severe depression, for instance.

                          OC

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                          • #14
                            Thanks OC, I'm overthinking it. It's just that I imagine MY Ancestry.com commercial where I go "I found out my Great-great-grandfather was an Imbecile!".....oh and he had syphilis too...

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                            • #15
                              Another cause for being institutionalised in the past was Epilepsy, a condition now treated with tablets and well controlled but they too were labelled with insanity.
                              Recently it has been discovered that many pregnant women were also institutionalised as insane for being pregnant out of wedlock.

                              Dont forget that back in time people were burnt as witches for reasons that today we just can not believe they had been put through so take it with a pinch of salt if it looks as though it doesn't stack up.

                              Edna

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                              • #16
                                Hi, welcome to FTF

                                I would say that if your sister is that sensitive to historical information then she should not look at the tree, it is inevitable that somewhere along the line you will uncover some unpalatable facts.
                                A large proportion of the armed forces had syphilis at some point in their service career. As has already been said many common conditions today were wrongly classified. People went to prison or were hung for quite trivial things.
                                Just post world war 2 a nieghbour was locked up in the local mental hospital/insane asylum every month when she had her monthly cycle. If she happened to be there during a census, a future descendant could look at that & draw the wrong conclusion.
                                I'm doing a tree for a friend at the moment & I don't know if he's noticed that his gt Grandmother proudly states on the 1911 census that she is single with 7 children & there is no evidence of a husband in any other census either. Knowing my friend I think he'll find it hillarious when the penny drops.
                                Last edited by Vivienne; 09-06-11, 00:44.
                                Vivienne passed away July 2013

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                                • #17
                                  Thanks clematised! I'm thinking my relative wasn't epileptic or pregnant (he was a man.....with the syph....) but it's funny you mentioned the "out of wedlock" thing because I found that too! Vivienne, I kind of forced the syphilis thing on my sister, she didn't really care about the tree.....I like that phrase "when the penny drops" what does it mean?

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                                  • #18
                                    "when the penny drops" when he realises

                                    Edna

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                                    • #19
                                      KBO

                                      I may have misunderstood - is it the same relative who is insane AND has syphilis? If so, poor soul was in the final stages of his life and his wife deserves a medal for not having him put into an institution.

                                      In 1998 (I think it was) the fifth most common cause of death in the UK was Grand paralysis of the Insane (GPI) which is the term used here on a death certificate for syphilis, to spare the embarrassment of the relatives. AIDS wasn't even on the list.

                                      OC

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                                      • #20
                                        Oh I'm sorry, I was trying to be funny. The relative in 1880 did not have syphilis to my knowledge, it was a different relative in the 1920s. Whatever caused my great-great-grandfather's idiocy, it wasn't syphilis.

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