The following article appeared in "Family Tree Online", the april/May 
issue, Vol. 4, No. 2, and can be reached at:

    http://www.teleport.com/~binder/8fraud.htm

    This points up an earlier reference of mine on taking what one finds on 
the Internet, or elsewhere, as the Gospel truth, just because someone has put 
it out for publication.  There are so many unscrupulous people in the world 
that it just boggles the mind.  My point in all this is to DO YOUR OWN 
RESEARCH, regardless of what someone has given you about genealogy.  
    This means that we all must use what information someone has given us 
about a possible ancestor as a reference or starting point to prove the data 
for our ancestral lines.  This means writing to sources, visiting archives, 
county courthouses, genealogical libraries, etc., in effect doing the same 
"legwork" that others have done.  It also means citing our sources when we 
pass on information, or else stating that the data you are passing on is 
unproven.  Please read the following and hope that none of your ancestors got 
mixed up in this fellows sites!  

"Beware of fraudulent lineages! 

For some time professional genealogists and serious researchers have been 
aware of the forgeries and frauds committed by Gustave Anjou (1863-1942). 

The sad fact is that Anjou was not a genealogist, but a forger of 
genealogical records that have been passed on for years to unwary clients and 
then through researchers who believed or wanted to believe the information. 
They in turn republished the material and the cycle continues. 

Anjou produced these "genealogies" for wealthy clients at a price of around 
$9,000 and the client, needless to say, always received what they wanted. 

Robert C. Anderson, director of the Great Migration Study Project included 
these features of a typical Anjou pedigree in his article, "We Wuz Robbed!" 
which appears in volume 19K: 1-2 1991 of the Genealogical Journal of the Utah 
Genealogical Association:

1: "A dazzling range of connections between dozens of immigrants to New 
England, for example, connections far beyond what may be seen in pedigrees 
produced by anyone else. 
2. Many wild geographical leaps, outside the normal range of migration 
patterns.
3. An overwhelming number of citations to documents which actually exist, and 
actually what Anjou says they include, and
4. Here and there an invented document, without citation, which appears to 
support the many connections noted above. 

The article includes a list of 109 "genealogies" found in the Family History 
Library in Salt Lake City, most catalogued under Gustave Anjou, H. Anjou or 
M. Anjou. 

In 1927, Anjou published a catalogue of 192 "genealogies," leaving many 
unaccounted for. 

If you or anyone you know, is researching any of these lines, you may have 
serious problems. 

Not only will these "genealogies" steer you into error, but genealogies that 
were published later and used this material for their source will be suspect. 
For more information, go to or send a SASE to us at The Odom Library and 
request a copy of the article and list of names.

With thanks to The Live Oak, The Bi-Monthly newsletter of the East Bay 
Genealogical Society, PO Box 20417, Oakland, CA 94620-0417."

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