Looking for feedback on a genealogy subject

My great-grandfather's brother, on my mother's side of the family, married a widow with two children. They never had biological children of their own, but I was told that great-grand-uncle Ernest raised and loved his two step-kids like they were his own. And he was as loved in return.

I recently came into contact with one of his (step)grandkids. She has offered me quite a bit of information on Ernest and family from back in Switzerland. That part is very much appreciated, but she has also offered me a stash of photos, going back into the early 1900s - possibly even farther back - of Ernest's parents and his siblings. In her words "they belong to you, as a blood relative, more than to us."

At first I was like "oh wow! cool!" then .... "mehhhh"....

In my interest as a researcher AND a blood relative, I'd love to have those tangible connections. But, I never met Ernest; he died when I was a kid. I can't be absolutely sure that I'd have a reliable source to whom I could pass those pictures. I think the people who had a family bond, if not a blood bond, should keep them, but who knows if those pictures would survive being passed down to future generations in that family. After all, in a couple of generations, he will end up likely being only known by his step-connection. I've seen enough family documentation trashed because the person wasn't blood kin.

I'm thinking to merely ask for scans of the pictures. I can take the jpegs to a photo place and have them printed on fresh stock paper, but am still tempted by the offer of the originals.

Any thoughts?

Recently, I have a similar issue, because I was given a huge pile of family photos, but I do not care about any but a few of them.
I am still trying to figure out who would want them before tossing them.

If she's a step-grandkid of your great-grandfather's brother, I'm guessing that she's a generation older than you and is therefore looking for someone who cares about these mementos. Why don't you ask for scans now, but suggest that she enjoy the originals for the rest of her life, and that they only pass to you in the role of archivist when he's no longer personally remembered by her family?

You'd enjoy them in your lifetime so that's a good reason to take them. As to who to pass them on to, it's difficult to say. I have some old family mementos and I'm also not sure who among my younger cousins is interested in this sort of thing. With photos you can be fairly certain they're not going to be grabbed for money, so label them well and leave them to whoever wants them?

I would accept the originals for myself, then scan the pictures and email them to her.

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If YOU are the "exception" to what I am saying, then why does my commentary bother you so much?
I don't hate your kids, I HATE YOU!

You might consider taking the originals and donating them to an archive later on in order to solve the "who will I pass this on to" problem. Speaking as one who works for such an archive, I see a LOT of stuff come in that someone clearly didn't take care of and donated to us as a way of throwing it out. When people come in and look at it later, at least a few are horrified that someone would even consider pitching something they think is so precious.

I don't know where you live or where Ernest lived, but I think it would be relatively easy to find a University/college/library/local history center that would be delighted to accept the originals.

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phoebe_e_brown
You might consider taking the originals and donating them to an archive later on in order to solve the "who will I pass this on to" problem. Speaking as one who works for such an archive, I see a LOT of stuff come in that someone clearly didn't take care of and donated to us as a way of throwing it out. When people come in and look at it later, at least a few are horrified that someone would even consider pitching something they think is so precious.

I don't know where you live or where Ernest lived, but I think it would be relatively easy to find a University/college/library/local history center that would be delighted to accept the originals.

Hey, I was just about to update the same thing! wink

I'm waiting on a reply from my step-cousin-something but, over the frowns of family, I'm thinking that is what I'll do. Told my folks that I can scan the pictures and print them off on new photostock for those who want physical copies, but I plan to donate the originals to a historical/genealogical society in the town where Ernest's brother (my great-grandfather) settled and died.

That facility has provided me with a lot of research material on the many surnames that comprise my family and there are probably a couple hundred descendants of the surname family which Ernest and Josef (great-grandpa) carried in that area.

One of my sisters, in particular, got frowny over it; she'd love to have the originals come to her family; but I simply have no assurance that the material wouldn't get tossed by one of her begets. And I have certainly seen that happen. When my grandfather died, my grandmother was prostrated (or at least she acted like it. Narcissistic biddy knew that this was her last chance to be the lead actress in a highly dramatic production. she really chewed the scenery) so two of her kids took over the disposal of Grandpa's belongings. I don't know why they had to do it then, my protests were met with an order to shut up and get out the wheelbarrow. Anyway, hundreds of pictures; some of them daguerreotypes; letters, documents .. all went into a fire. I wasn't even interested in family history back then (likely because my grandmother would have done nothing but get maudlin and whine over past family injustices she believed she suffered if I had asked) but it killed me to be burning those neat old pictures. I managed to save a number of small ones; a few I later identified and used in my tree. Boy, if I had a wayback machine ....