Just to show how family stories can go wrong, in my family, I have East Tennesseans who were sharply divided between Southern and Unionist loyalties. For many years, I was told that my gg-grandfather, one William Henry Jones, was a Tennessee Confederate soldier. After several years of searching, made harder by the common last and first names, I discovered he was a Tennessee Federal soldier in the 5th Tennessee Infantry, Co. C. Of course that opened up the door to a Union pension app and a wealth of long sought family information.

Even after coming up with the documents, some of my family members, denied the factual information and chose, some still do, to portray him as a Confederate soldier. He is not the only family member of mine, for whom, wildly romanticized, inaccurate and highly embellished family stories exist

Jim,
I have experienced the very same thing.
James.