Family Trees: A History of Genealogy in America

by François Weil

The quest for roots has been an enduring American preoccupation. Over the centuries, generations have sketched coats of arms, embroidered family trees, established local genealogical societies, and carefully filled in the blanks in their bibles, all in pursuit of self-knowledge and status through kinship ties. This long and varied history of Americans’ search for identity illuminates the story of America itself, according to François Weil, as fixations with social standing, racial purity, and national belonging gave way in the twentieth century to an embrace of diverse ethnicity and heritage.

Seeking out one’s ancestors was a genteel pursuit in the colonial era, when an aristocratic pedigree secured a place in the British Atlantic empire. Genealogy developed into a middle-class diversion in the young republic. But over the next century, knowledge of one’s family background came to represent a quasi-scientific defense of elite “Anglo-Saxons” in a nation transformed by immigration and the emancipation of slaves. By the mid-twentieth century, when a new enthusiasm for cultural diversity took hold, the practice of tracing one’s family tree had become thoroughly democratized and commercialized.

Today, Ancestry.com attracts over two million members with census records and ship manifests, while popular television shows depict celebrities exploring archives and submitting to DNA testing to learn the stories of their forebears. Further advances in genetics promise new insights as Americans continue their restless pursuit of past and place in an ever-changing world.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Kimberly Schlarman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Considering the popularity of genealogy, I’m kind of surprised there aren’t more historiographies on genealogy. Weil’s book is a broad statement of the facts of the history of genealogy in America but there’s little synthesis of the information he presents. American interest in genealogy is supposed to be different from Europe and other parts of the world but there is no explanation as to how we’re different and there is very little discussion on why Americans in particular are fascinated by their ancestry. It’s easy to guess why we’re interested in family history but an in-depth discussion, examination, and comparison could have been interesting. Still, it’s a decent introduction to the subject.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Needed more examples (it's fine to say X person was working on a family tree, but I need excerpts from a letter describing it, or a picture, or if you say they used different kinds of sources than a generation before, be more specific), but mildly interesting. Barely.

[Annika · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a general survey of the various motivations of genealogists from the seventeenth century to the present, including attaining social status through alleged elite ancestors, curiosity, the enjoyment of a nerdy scholarly hobby, eugenics, and a search for personal identity and meaning. I was surprised by his account of some early genealogists who were as concerned with standards of evidence and sources as many genealogists today, though of course many did shoddy work or even completely fabricated their research (which of course still happens today as well!). I don't know why I was surprised--perhaps some ingrained, embarrassing positivism that people back then couldn't possibly have been as rigorous in their methodology as modern researchers.

Genealogists will find much that feel familiar in the correspondence of early genealogists and antiquarians discussing their research and their love of musty old records and doing look-ups for each other in their various locales. There is also much about the seamier side of genealogy's history that all of us genealogists should grapple with, including its connection with eugenics in the early twentieth century. While I had always found the concept of the DAR kind of creepy, I didn't know just how explicitly the early DAR was about its nativism and racism.

The book is largely descriptive rather than argumentative. Weil certainly proves that there has been a succession of different dominant purposes for genealogical research and therefore implicitly shows his thesis that "family trees have always said more about the genealogists than about their ancestors," but he never goes beyond this point to the "so what" of the argument. Then again, he is breaking new ground with this book, since the history of genealogy and the realm of genealogical research itself has received little attention and often open scorn from historians, so focusing on a descriptive survey makes sense. However, his claim in the introduction that American forms of genealogy are unique is never proven or even really discussed in the book. To make such a claim, one would expect a discussion of the motivations of genealogists in other countries, but no such discussion ever occurs.

[Biblio Files (takingadayoff) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although genealogy in America today seems to be about finding where your family came from and how they got here and if you're lucky, maybe there will be a notorious criminal or a celebrity in the lineage somewhere. But in the pre-Roots era, my impression was that it was all about proving your connection to the Mayflower or to royalty. So I was pleased to find that Francois Weil had written a book precisely about how American genealogy has progressed through the years. And as I found out, it was worse than I thought.

Weil describes how genealogy until well into the 20th century was riddled with inaccuracies and downright lies. There were plenty of phony genealogists who would provide a suitable bloodline to those with cash, and even the few genealogists with real training and credentials were not above finding links to respected statesmen or to royalty or whoever the client wanted. Things got a little better as the 20th century progressed, and if you were around in 1977, you know that the Roots miniseries, based on Alex Haley's bestselling book, turned Americans into amateur genealogists overnight.

I thought that Weil was too easy on Haley and his attempt to pass off fiction as fact. Haley, when confronted with overwhelming evidence that showed his book was not based on fact, admitted as much, but that it was a myth for his people. Weil seems to buy into that, writing "All these...criticisms were true but missed the book's point...Flawed as it was from the point of view of professional historians and genealogists, marred by plagiarism, half-truths, and outright inventions, Roots inspired its readers." Surely if it is necessary to lie to inspire, something is wrong? In any case, Family Trees is a readable and enlightening account of a country's obsession with its roots.

[Anson Cassel Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite its current popularity, genealogy seems never before to have generated its own history; and this short book, well researched and decently written, proves a good introduction. Nevertheless, there are few surprises: colonial Americans employing genealogy to bolster social status, the late nineteenth century using it as a handmaiden of scientific racism, and the late twentieth turning it into a search for one’s identity.

Most interesting to me were the outliers: Americans with crackpot notions about inheriting British estates, parvenus looking for coats-of-arms to put on silverware and cuff links, Mormons investing serious dollops of time and money for religious reasons, and the internet’s apparent creation of interest simply because family trees could now be so easily investigated. (Like many of the more-or-less ornamental sides of life, it’s unwise to discount pure curiosity if it can be done on the cheap.)

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at America's fascination with genealogy through the years -- from the early days of attempts to prove royal or noble ancestry to today's interest in ethnic roots. Written by a French academic. It's a bit dry at times. Still, worth a look if you have an interest in genealogy.

[Debye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genealogy Geek! Really enjoyed this history. I haven’t come across some like this before. Needs an update from 2013 to the present. 😉

[Peter Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

A look at genealogy in America from the late 1600s to the age of Ancestry.com.

The big change in genealogy for America was the book and TV series "Roots."

[Kristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Note: Did Not Finish - Made it to Page 41

I had hoped for arguments and conclusions not just collections of historical quotes, mostly from people who no one has ever heard of and without adequate context to make them interesting or useful. The author made only the vaguest assertions that people wanted the respect that a coat of arms would bring so they mostly faked them - throughout all history. And that people generally wanted to know who their ancestors were because they either felt it was good to know that you could be better than or as good as they were. No psychological insights into WHY any of this mattered to them or what impact this had on society. Supremely boring when I hoped it would be interesting, exciting, and possibly even provocative.

[Ruth Charchian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ancestor worship and ancestor hunting is a universal interest for up to 73% of contemporary Americans. It is a multi-billion dollar commercial enterprise today for genealogists, historians, and average citizens across all social, racial, and cultural realms. But this is not a new phenomenon. The author explains the European obsession with searching for heraldry, status-based gentry, aristocracy, property claims or anything that might distinguish them as one of society's elite throughout the past 400 years. The obsession led to fraud and greed in false documentation, research, and claims over the many centuries.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers the history of genealogy from the Middle Ages. It was quite a surprise to read about how far people went to fraudulently produce pedigrees for the sake of nobility in ancient Europe and in the beginnings of America's colonization and early nationhood. The topic of DNA genealogy at the end was interesting, but it is still a new developing science for genealogy, so nothing is exact. Being a family historian is profitable, but it isn't an occupation that is meant to make anyone a fortune.

I read this for Family Historian's Craft at Brigham Young University, required as an introductory course to the Family History-Genealogy major.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good exploration of various topics in the history of genealogy in the U.S. Very academic in tone, so it might not be for everyone, but it provided a lot of interesting background from earlier Americans striving for fancy connections to black Americans who managed to orally pass down lore while enslaved that turned out to be impressively accurate when investigated generations later, to those of us just hoping to find our people, whatever their station. Fun factoid: there is a tradition of spinster aunts who keep track of the family history. Okay! 3.5 stars.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Written by a historian, therefore it is not going to be "wordy" or filled with prose and long winded unnecessary paragraphs. A badly needed introduction to the history of genealogy in America and to the story of the family history seekers. Coverage of a variety of topics and vast amounts of different sources, I'd say a good portion of the book is footnotes (I read the electronic version, which I always find difficult to manuever through footnotes, etc.) Enlightening but short and to the point, which I appreciated.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was nice to read a timeline of how genealogy has evolved over the centuries, and to read about how some of the societies got their start. While the facts were interesting, the way it was all presented was a bit dry, and I didn't find myself excited to pick it back up each evening. Took me quite a while to read for that reason.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting overview of genealogy as it evolved in the US, discussing the different currents of thought and practice as they ebbed and flowed. Some of it - for instance the focus on race after the civil war and the rise of the Mormon Church as a genealogical force - is utterly unique to the US, so it's a story that deserves to be told on both a genealogical and a historical level.

[Mhd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unusual collection of subtopics. Most of it was interesting, but as history more than genealogy research aid. On the other hand, serious researchers of colonial New England or African American genealogy may learn about some sources or techniques new to them. I did skip/skim sections outside my interests. I wish it had had some illustrations.

[AdultNonFiction Teton County Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lynn
929.20973 Weil, F
The search for our ancestors is not new. For over 200 years, why we search has evolved. Power and eliteness, heraldry, tragedies, among other reasons create a need for us to write it down. This book is interesting and well sourced in an extensive bibliography.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am glad I found this very informative book in the new book section at the library.
It provides a very comprehensive chronology of the history of genealogy in America.

[Mills College Library]

929.20973 W4222 2013

[ACRL]

Read by ACRL Member of the Week Beth Stahr. Learn more about Beth on the ACRL Insider blog.

[Mariah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, very interesting, but the feeling of obligation that comes with reading something for a class definitely impacted this for me.