Their genealogy was fraudulent
Here is the whole story...
How the fraudulent genealogy started: Despite the name of the club, not one member of The Back-Bach Genealogical Society was a genealogist. In fact, most of them had never even graduated from high school. The only reason they formed their little club was to create a fraudulent genealogy book about their own family, and then sell it, to make money. It's so strange...yet sadly, it's true.
But before they published their fraudulent genealogy book, they decided that they had to destroy as much proof of the actual genealogy of their own family that they could find, such as old family artifacts, books, and even historical documents. They wanted to make sure that, after they published their book, nobody could question their fraudulent genealogy, by bringing up proof of the actual genealogy.
They started their destruction program, around 1970, by cutting out a handwritten statement, made in 1762, from a page of their own family's historical Bible. That old Family Bible had been in their family for hundreds of years. The handwritten statement said that their family had originally come from Thuringia, Germany, which was true. But they cut out that statement, because, later on, their fraudulent genealogy would claim that their family came from Freudenberg, Germany.
Then they damaged the research of Dr. Wilgus Bach, who had documented and proven the family's actual genealogy, in the early 1900s, by conducting interviews with scores of elderly people, and locating numerous historical documents. They got hold of his original manuscript (the only copy), and they nearly destroyed it. They crossed out the names of the actual ancestors of their own family, and then they wrote in the names of people that they would later use, in their fraudulent genealogy book. They also used some "white-out," to simply eliminate some of the names, and some of the information. They even removed a large number of pages and just threw them away. And brazenly, they actually inserted a piece of paper into Dr. Bach's original manuscript that described their fraudulent genealogy; it even included the name and address of one of their members (Troy Lee Back).
Next, they went into countless libraries and historical societies, and they removed (stole) books and documents that proved the family's actual genealogy. If they were unable to get a particular book or document out of the building, they used an ink pen and crossed out the actual genealogy in those books and documents, and then they wrote in their fraudulent genealogy. The most common thing they did was cross out the name "Joseph Back" (the man who actually founded their family in southeastern Kentucky), and then they wrote in the name "Henry Back" (whose widow they falsely claim founded their family in southeastern Kentucky). That vandalism was so rampant, throughout the entire Kentucky Library System, that some librarians still talk about it, to this day.
Yet, the worst thing that they did was in The Maggard Cemetery, in Partridge, Kentucky. There, in the fall of 1988, a few members of that little club, including Troy Lee Back and Custer Back, actually pulled up the old gravestone, from the ground, of their own great, great, grandmother, Elizabeth Hoffman-Maggard Back (1755-1826), and threw it over the hill. Then, they replaced it with a fake gravestone that they had made, which described her sister-in-law, Elizabeth Hoffman Back. That woman was the widow of Henry Back (1740-1809), who was the brother of Elizabeth Hoffman-Maggard Back's husband Joseph Back (1745-1819); however, The Back-Bach Genealogical Society falsely claimed that Henry Back (1740-1809) was the son of Harman Back. They actually placed their new, fake gravestone on top of the remains of their own great, great grandmother. It was truly shocking. It was also illegal, and it violated several state laws.
In fact, Custer Back actually admitted that they were going to remove Elizabeth Hoffman-Maggard Back's gravestone, in an article that he wrote, in The Filson Club History Quarterly (Vol. 62, No. 4, Oct. 1988, p. 467-473). He wrote, "Action has been taken to replace the marker at Elizabeth's grave..."
After their new, fake gravestone was in place, members of The Back-Bach Genealogical Society actually claimed that it was "proof" that their fraudulent genealogy was correct. This was because they falsely claimed that Elizabeth Hoffman Back's husband, Henry Back (1740-1809), was a son of Harman Back. Sadly, that new, fake gravestone is still there, in The Maggard Cemetery, on top of the remains of Elizabeth Hoffman-Maggard Back.
Shortly after Troy and Custer threw Elizabeth Hoffman-Maggard Back's gravestone over the hill, it was retrieved by Wardie and Hazel (Bach) Craft, who took it back to their museum in Caney, Kentucky. (Elizabeth Hoffman-Maggard Back was Hazel's great, great, great, great grandmother.) Their museum was called "Memory Hill." Behind the museum was The Memory Hill Cemetery, and so they placed Elizabeth Hoffman-Maggard Back's gravestone back there. Troy and Custer found out about that, and they were furious. One day, when Wardie and Hazel were not home, Troy sent a stone mason over to The Memory Hill Cemetery, and had him carve the word, "INCORRECT," at the bottom of Elizabeth Hoffman-Maggard Back's gravestone.
Elizabeth Hoffman-Maggard Back's gravestone is probably still at The Memory Hill Cemetery. Click here to see a picture of that gravestone. Someone needs to take her gravestone back to The Maggard Cemetery and put it back where it belongs (over her remains)...and get rid of that fake gravestone for Elizabeth Hoffman Back.
Unfortunately, there is no way to know what other precious family artifacts, books, or documents the members of The Back-Bach Genealogical Society destroyed. But clearly, they eliminated a significant amount of their own family's actual genealogy, because there is not much left of it today. They did all of those terrible things, so that nothing would stand in their way of selling their fraudulent genealogy book, later on.
In 1994, they published their fraudulent genealogy in a big, orange book, which they sold for $85. Their book was titled, A Back Family History: The Story of a Major Branch of the Back/Bach Family. Their book falsely claimed that their Back (Bach) family from southeastern Kentucky descends from a man named Harman Back (aka Hermann Bach), who was born in 1708, in Freudenberg, Germany; he came to America in 1738, and he settled in Little Fork, Virginia, in 1739. It's true that Harman Back did exist, but he was not connected to the Back (Bach) family in southeastern Kentucky, in any way whatsoever.
Their big, orange book also falsely claimed that Harman Back had four sons, although they altered some of their dates of birth and death, to fit in with their lies: Harman Back Jr. (1737-1798); John Back (1738-1794); Henry Back (1740-1809); and Joseph Back (1756-1832). However, it has been conclusively proven by many Board-Certified genealogists, and the genealogy experts at DAR, that Harman Back only had one son, which was Harman Back Jr. (1737-1798).
But their big, orange book then used Harman Back's alleged son Henry Back (1740-1809), to connect Harman Back, with the Back (Bach) family in southeastern Kentucky. Here is how they did that...They falsely claimed that Harman Back's alleged son, Henry Back (1740-1809), had two sons: John Back (1774-1853) and Henry Back (1785-1871). Then, they falsely claimed that, after Henry Back (1740-1809) died, in Virginia, his elderly, 63-year-old widow, Elizabeth Hoffman Back, suddenly moved 500 miles away, to the very remote and extremely dangerous wilderness of southeastern Kentucky, for no apparent reason, with her children, including her two alleged sons, John Back (1774-1853) and Henry Back (1785-1871), and founded the Back (Bach) family there. But all of that was a blatant lie, and even worse, The Back-Bach Genealogical Society knew that it was a blatant lie.
Harman Back never had a son named Henry Back (who lived from 1740-1809, or who lived at any time). And Henry Back (1740-1809) never had a son named John Back (1774-1853), or a son named Henry Back (1785-1871). Now, there really was a man named Henry Back (1740-1809), but his father was not Harman Back. And Henry Back (1740-1809) did have sons named John and Henry, but they were born, and died, in different years. The sons of Henry Back (1740-1809), who were named John and Henry, were John Back (1776-unknown), and Henry Back (1783-1805). Their years of birth can be proven by the year that they first appeared in the Culpeper County Tax Lists (when they turned 21). The years of birth of John Back (1774-1853) and Henry Back (1785-1871) can be proven by their gravestones and other records. Furthermore, there is no proof that John Back (1776-unknown) ever went to Kentucky; he migrated to North Carolina, where he probably died. And there is no proof that Henry Back (1783-1805) ever went to Kentucky either; he apparently died in Virginia, in 1805, when he vanished from the Tax Lists. John Back (1774-1853) and John Back (1776-unknown) were two different men; and Henry Back (1785-1871) and Henry Back (1783-1805) were two different men. Click here for accurate information about Henry Back (1740-1809) and his actual children.
There was not one piece of evidence in that big, orange book to prove any of their claims about Harman Back, including that he had a son named Henry Back (1740-1809), or that Henry had two sons named John Back (1774-1853) and Henry Back (1785-1871). They just made it all up. Why anyone believed their outrageous claims is a mystery. They had no proof of any of it. No proof at all. (Because it wasn't true!)
They even had the nerve to include a list of people on the Acknowledgements Page of their book, implying that all of those people on that list supported their fraudulent genealogy. However, most of those people wanted nothing to do with them, and had never supported their fraudulent genealogy. Some of the people on that list had already died (so they couldn't protest their name being used like that), including Dr. Wilgus Bach, whose manuscript they had nearly destroyed! They even had the audacity to claim that their fraudulent genealogy was the same genealogy that Dr. Wilgus Bach had written about! But that was a blatant lie as well. Dr. Bach had never even mentioned anyone named Harman Back, in his manuscript!
The Back-Bach Genealogical Society also included the name of Dr. B.C. Holtsclaw, on that list of people on the Acknowledgements Page, because he had also died by then, and so he could not object to them using his name either. Dr. Holtsclaw had included information about their fraudulent genealogy, in his 1964 book, Ancestry and Descendants of the Nassau-Siegen Immigrants to Virginia 1714-1750, but he also wrote in his book that there was no proof of it, and that he most certainly did not support it. He also wrote that there were two separate Back (Bach) familes: the Harman Back family, from Freudenberg, who settled into Little Fork; and the Back (Bach) family, from Thuringia, who settled into southeastern Kentucky. Dr. Holtsclaw was absolutely correct about that. But yet, The Back-Bach Genealogical Society claimed that Dr. Holtsclaw supported their fraudulent genealogy, which was simply another blatant lie.
Shockingly, the members of The Back-Bach Genealogical Society knew full well that their fraudulent genealogy was a blatant lie. In fact, they had known the actual genealogy of their own family, for a long time, because it had been passed down, from generation to generation, for hundreds of years. It had also been openly discussed at the annual family reunions, which the members of The Back-Bach Genealogical Society had actually attended (as proven by numerous newspaper articles, in which their names were listed as attending). Those annual reunions had been held every fall, since 1933, on Miles Back's farm, in Quicksand, Kentucky, which was a small community in Breathitt County, near where the family had first settled, back in 1791. Nearly 1,000 people attended those reunions every year. People brought a "basket lunch," and they sat out on the lawn, talking and laughing with each other, and sharing stories and pictures. They also passed around the old Family Bible, which included notes about the family's genealogy. Everyone loved going to those reunions, because they were so much fun. The reunions were reported in the newspapers, and a summary of the family's genealogy was included in most of the articles, noting their connection to the famous musical composer Johann Sebastian Bach.
The members of The Back-Bach Genealogical Society were so blinded by their selfishness and greed, that they didn't even think about the damage they were causing to their own family, not only at the time they published their fraudulent genealogy book, but for generations to come.
They only thought that, by creating a fraudulent genealogy book, which falsely connected their family to Harman Back, then they would be able to qualify for membership in DAR (because Harman had provided supplies to the troops during The Revolutionary War), but even more important was the fact that they would make lots of money, by selling that fraudulent genealogy book, because of Harman's association with The Germanna Foundation (see below).
They didn't care that what they were doing was incredibly wrong, and that they were destroying their their own family's heritage and honor. All they thought about was themselves. What they did to their own family was truly appalling.
The Germanna Foundation: This genealogical organization was established, back in 1956, in order to research the ancestors, and the descendants, of a small group of German immigrants (including Harman Back), who had settled into northern Virginia, along the Rappahannock River, in the early 1700s. Those immigrants had lived in two small settlements: Germanna and Little Fork.
The Germanna Foundation's members are primarily descendants of that small group of German immigrants. The organization brings in a tremendous amount of money, selling genealogy books, and genealogy-related items. They also have an annual genealogy conference, and they sponsor trips to Germany. They have a very aggressive marketing program.
Around 1962, a man named Troy Lee Back, who had been born and raised in southeastern Kentucky, walked into The Germanna Foundation one day. He had worked as a coal miner, from the time he was a young man, until 1938, when he had become the safety director at his mine. In 1940, he was transferred to The Coal Mine Safety Board, in Washington, DC, where he was given a simple clerical job. He and his family then moved up to Arlington, Virginia. Because Troy had so much free time on his hands, he began researching the genealogy of his mother's family (the Brasher family), because he already knew the genealogy of his father's family (the Back family), since he had attended the annual Back (Bach) family reunions, ever since he was a child.
When Troy walked into The Germanna Foundation that day, he was hoping to find some information about the Brasher family. But instead, he discovered that one of the ancestors they were researching was a man named Harman Back. They had some information about Harman's ancestors, back in Freudenberg, Germany, but they had no information about his descendants, in America.
Because Harman's ancestors were from Freudenberg, Troy knew right away that he wasn't related to him, because he knew that his ancestors were from Thuringa, Germany. But when Troy saw how much money that The Germanna Foundation brought in, by selling genealogy, he decided to pretend that he was a descendant of Harman Back. Troy hoped that, somehow, he could make lots of money, by pretending to be a descendant of Harman Back. So he came up with a story, to connect his family to Harman Back. He used some actual facts, but then he twisted those facts, and made up the rest.
Troy knew that Joseph Back (1745-1819) had founded his Back (Bach) family in southeastern Kentucky. He also knew that Joseph had two brothers: John Back (1738-1794) and Henry Back (1740-1809), who had married two sisters, Margaret Hoffman and Elizabeth Hoffman. The fact that those two brothers had married those two sisters was actually well-known, among people who were involved with genealogy, in Virginia, including Dr. B.C. Holtsclaw, who was the historian at The Germanna Foundation. So that was the primary fact that Troy used, upon which he built his mountain of lies.
Troy found out that The Germanna Foundation had no confirmed knowledge of who the father was, of John Back (1738-1794) and his brother Henry Back (1740-1809). So Troy simply claimed that Harman Back was their father. Troy further claimed that, when Henry Back (1740-1809) died, his widow, Elizabeth Hoffman Back, moved all the way down to southeastern Kentucky, with all her children, and founded his Back (Bach) family there. Troy also told The Germanna Foundation that John Back (1774-1853), and his brother Henry Back (1785-1871), were the children of Henry Back (1740-1809), even though they were actually the children of Joseph Back (1745-1819). And since Troy descended from Henry Back (1785-1871), his stories seemed to fit together.
However, Dr. B.C. Holtsclaw was suspicious. He knew that the old Family Bible, which had belonged to the Back (Bach) family in southeastern Kentucky, for generations, contained a handwritten statement from 1762 that said, "We came from Thuringia." Dr. Holtsclaw had even seen that statement in the old Family Bible himself. He was also aware that Thuringia was nowhere near Freudenberg. Because of those facts, and because of some of the other odd things that Troy had said, Dr. Holtsclaw did not believe that Troy's stories about Harman Back's descedants were accurate.
In 1963, Dr. Holtsclaw was finishing up his impressive historical book, Ancestry and Descendants of the Nassau-Siegen Immigrants to Virginia, 1714-1750. Troy begged him to include his claims about Harman Back's descendants in his book. Dr. Holtsclaw finally agreed to do so, but he wrote in his book that he "had difficulties" with Troy's claims. He wrote that he believed there were two Back (Bach) familes: one was from Freudenberg, and the other one was from Thuringia. (That was true.) He also wrote that, "There is no proof that John and Henry Back were the sons of Harman Back of the Little Fork group."
However, because Troy was able to at least get something into Dr. Holtsclaw's book, that was actually the beginning of the fraudulent genealogy of the Back (Bach) family from southeastern Kentucky. But Troy knew that he had not fooled Dr. Holtsclaw. That's why Troy had to wait until Dr. Holtsclaw had died, before he could proceed with publishing his fraudulent genealogy book. If Troy had published it, before Dr. Holtsclaw had died, Dr. Holtsclaw would have most certainly come out strongly against the book, because there was no proof of Troy's genealogy in the book. (Dr. Holtsclaw died in 1986.)
So, Troy Back, and the other members of The Back-Bach Genealogical Society thought that, if they could connect their family to Harman Back, in a fraudulent genealogy book, that would connect them with The Germanna Foundation, which would mean that they would probably make a lot of money selling that book, because The Germanna Foundation made lots of money selling genealogy books. The Germanna Foundation might even sell it for them. (However, that never happened; when The Germanna Foundation saw how terrible their book was, and how there was no proof of the genealogy that it contained, they refused to get involved in selling it.)
Lexington, Kentucky
The Pine Mountain Grill
The Pine Mountain Grill
In 1994: When The Back-Bach Genealogical Society published their fraudulent genealogy book, in 1994, they came up with a devious plan to sell it. They knew that the people who lived in southeastern Kentucky would never buy the book, because they already knew about the actual genealogy of their own family.
So, The Back-Bach Genealogical Society started holding annual "secret family meetings," way up in Lexington, Kentucky, 90 miles away, to which they only invited members of the Back (Bach) family who had been born and raised, outside of southeastern Kentucky. They figured that those people probably would not have already heard about the actual genealogy of their family, and so they would buy their book.
The Back-Bach Genealogical Society held those annual "secret family meetings" for four years, from the fall of 1994, through the fall of 1997. They sold all 500 copies of their fraudulent genealogy book at those meetings, simply because the attendees didn't know the actual genealogy of their family.
The Pine Mountain Grill
The Pine Mountain Grill
The Pine Mountain Grill
They also sold a large number of memberships in their little club: $20 for a 1-year membership, and $100 for a lifetime membership. (A lifetime membership? Yes...you read that right!) They even collected money from anyone who wanted to join The Germanna Foundation, which they referred to as being their "sister organization." (How obvious is that!)
In 1998: In the spring of 1998, The Back-Bach Genealogical Society sent out "newsletters" to members of their family who lived in southeastern Kentucky, announcing that they were suddenly going to "be in charge of" the family reunions. They said that they were moving the reunions, from Miles Back's farm, in Quicksand (where they had been held for nearly 70 years), all the way down to the Pine Mountain Grill restaurant, in Whitesburg, 60 miles away. They also said they were charging people $25 to attend the reunion, and $20 to join The Back-Bach Genealogical Society. When family members in southeastern Kentucky received the "newsletters," they were outraged. And it's no wonder that they were.
Reedus Back
The Pine Mountain Grill
Reedus Back
Nobody had ever paid any money to go to their own family reunion before, and there was no reason to join any club! So, nobody from southeastern Kentucky went to that "new reunion" in Whitesburg that year, or to any of the subsequent "new reunions" in Whitesburg. The few people who went were from out-of-state.
New reunions: The attendees had to sit quietly, and listen, for well over two hours, while Reedus Back (the unscrupulous "president" of The Back-Bach Genealogical Society) loomed over them, from up at the podium, looking down at them, and lecturing them about Harman Back. He also continually solicited them for money, and he even had some of his friends come in and solicit them for money as well. And if anyone dared to ask about the actual genealogy of the family, Reedus and his cohorts mocked them, and laughed at them.
About fifty people attended that first "new reunion," but less and less people went, each year after that. By 2008, nobody showed up, and so the "new reunions" abruptly ended.
The real damage: But it was that big, orange, fraudulent genealogy book that caused the really serious damage to the family. It pitted the people who had bought the book, and somehow believed what was in it (even though there was absolutely no proof in the book for any of the claims that it made); against the people who already knew the actual genealogy of their own family, and those who had figured out that the fraudulent genealogy was fraudulent.
The Back-Bach Genealogical Society tore their own family apart, with their big, orange, fraudulent genealogy book. Most people just walked away from it all, because they were so disgusted by what The Back-Bach Genealogical Society had done. But there are still a few people around today, who blindly support that fraudulent genealogy; they are still known as the "Back-Bach people," which is definitely not a compliment.
The "Back-Bach people" still continue to cling to the fraudulent genealogy, because, either (1) they refuse to admit that they were duped, and they are too lazy to research the facts for themselves; (2) they are simply not very smart; or (3) they pretend they descend from Harman Back, or his alleged son Henry Back (1740-1809), so that they can become a member of DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution). Harman Back apparently "rendered aid" (provided supplies or ammunition) to the soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War; and the name of Henry Back (1740-1809) was seen on a list of soldiers. That means that both men are considered to be "Patriots," in DAR, which means that the actual descendants of these men qualify for membership in DAR.
The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR): While The Back-Bach Genealogical Society was preparing their fraudulent genealogy book, they started looking for credible organizations that they could "use," to promote it. They decided that they would send copies of their book to The Library of Congress, and to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City; and then later, they would claim that, because their book was in those two locations, that meant that the genealogy it contained was accurate! Of course, that was ludicrous, because all they did was mail the book to those places, but that was the manipulative manner in which they always operated.
Another prestigious organization that they decided to "use," to promote their fraudulent genealogy, was DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution).
This was because they had discovered that Harman Back, and Henry Back (1740-1809), were already listed as "Patriots" in DAR. And so, they simply submitted information to DAR, claiming that: (1) Henry Back (1740-1809) was a son of Harman Back; and (2) Henry Back (1740-1809) had sons named John Back (1774-1853) and Henry Back (1785-1871). Of course, both of those claims were false, and they had no evidence to support them, because they were false, however, DAR accepted their claims as being valid anyway.
That's because, back then (in the 1980s), DAR was not very strict about what information they accepted; they basically accepted whatever was submitted to them. However, nowadays, DAR requires a substantial amount of documented proof, when new information is submitted. Their standards are very strict now.
The Back-Bach Genealogical Society claimed that John Back (1774-1853) and his brother Henry Back (1785-1871) were sons of Henry Back (1740-1809), both in their fraudulent genealogy book, and in the information they submitted to DAR, because those two brothers were well-documented as living in southeastern Kentucky, and so they were the "key" to connecting Harman Back, to their Back (Bach) family, down in southeastern Kentucky.
John Back (1774-1853) had married Catherine Robertson, and they mainly lived in Breathitt County; and Henry Back (1785-1871) had married Susannah Maggard, and they mainly lived in Letcher County. Those two men were the "final links in the chain," of the fraudulent genealogy that was created by The Back-Bach Genealogical Society, in order to falsely connect Harman Back, who lived way up in Little Fork, Virginia, down to the Back (Bach) family in southeastern Kentucky.
For many years, that inaccurate information about Harman Back's alleged son Henry Back (1740-1809), and Henry's two alleged sons, John Back (1774-1853) and Henry Back (1785-1871), remained in DAR's database and was presented as being accurate. As a result, many people who actually descend from John Back (1774-1853) and Henry Back (1785-1871) were able to obtain membership in DAR, based upon that inaccurate information.
However, starting around 2003, when the accurate genealogy of the Back (Bach) family from southeastern Kentucky began to emerge again, through the publication of several well-researched books, written by very credible and educated people, who actually utilized The Genealogical Proof Standard, some of the "Back-Bach people" responded in anger, especially those who had obtained their DAR membership through either John Back (1774-1853) or his brother Henry Back (1785-1871). A few of the "Back-Bach people" even went berserk, because they realized that their DAR membership might be in jeopardy, and they didn't want to face that embarrassment.
