Family Tradition Searchable surname queries, genealogy news, articles, research tips and more. Family Traditions can be wonderful and valid and true. Even those that prove to be not quite true can be good clues, but we need to exercise caution.
Many family traditions are greatly exaggerated or completely fabricated.
My ancestor, Oliver Hartwell Cook, gave rise to two traditions that proved to be untrue. The family always said that he was named after an ancestor named Oliver Hartwell. His father was Ralph Cook and his grandfather was Elijah Cook. I traced them back to Putney, VT, and found a record of Elijah Cook's marriage to Laifa Hartwell. I also found records of the births of all of their children.