How to deal with a family history "treasure" hoarder

Years ago when I was a college student in Ohio, I was warned about "Adelbert".  Adelburt was a local character, known for throwing outrageous parties, and was a direct descendant of a major royal family through one of the lesser lines.  And  Adelbert loved to hold court.  He was, how do you say, a unforgettable.

Adelbert's house was filled to the gills with antiques, newtiques and just plane weird stuff.  But one things Adelbert had were pictures of his famous ancestor who reigned over a western European country for many a year.

Somehow I found myself a guest of Adelbert's through a neighbor of mine who knew someone who was in Adelbert's inner circle.  Lucky me.  Right?  Meh.

So I had the chance to visit with Adelbert and I said "This is an amazing collection you have of your ancestor, chit, chat, chit, chat..."  Adelbert told me all about his search for this ancestor's image, how he was related, and then said that "whenever a university gets a new book on (said ancestor) I take my Olfa cutter and cut the pictures out the books for my collection."

Evidently, my face went white as a sheet and I gave away my abject horror at Adelbert's wanton vandalizing behavior because he said: "Well, (said ancestor) is my blood and I should have their picture, after all they are my family."

Never mind what he was doing was criminal, and could land them in the pokey.  But had I known which library he was going to strike at next, and had I done nothing to stop it, on some level, that meant I was aiding him.  No. No. No.  I wanted nothing to do with this.  

Needless to say, I excused myself, and I left - never to socialize with Adelbert again.  He was a criminal, and I wanted nothing to do with him or his problem again*.

This is an extreme example, but it is an example of the types of "genealogical treasure hoarders" you can come across.  Usually, it is the person who borrows a family picture and never returns it.  Or its the person bidding against you at your grandfather's auction for the family photo album because, again, even though it is your grandfather, he was their third cousin, twice removed and its "(my) family, too."

The genealogical treasure hoarder doesn't want a copy of his grandmother's sister's second husband's grand niece by marriage.  They want the original.  And they are driven by a mania to get them so you, or anybody else can't see them.

So what is fueling this?  Mental health issues, plain and simple.  These folks have lost all sense of perspective.  I have a couple in my my family.  They'll call up and say "I have this picture Susan's that is marked 'Murgatroyd's Doe' - isn't he your ancestor?" And you'll say "not my family, but call your cousin Abbie - it's her family line."  Six months later you get a call from Abbie asking if you know where she can get a picture of Murgatroyd, and you find out that not only has she the person who called you, but that they claim none exists.

Classic hoarding behavior.

Tread lightly with these folks.

If they ask to borrow originals for copies, give them two copies - both a normal res *.jpg and a high res *.tif.   Because I can guarantee you that once they borrow the only known picture of your 4xgreat grandmother, you'll never see it again.

If they insist on seeing the original, do it in such a way that you retain control over you legacy.

The better way is to simply publish.  Outfits like BLURB and other family publishing companies do amazing things with books.  Then people like Adelbert can have their own copy, without resorting to cutting the faces out of the book for their own crazed purposes.


*But I did contact local libraries, advised them to keep an eye out.  Evidently, somewhere down the way he was caught and banned.