Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-03-22
How Family Trees Are Cultivated in
the Big Office.
RESERVOIR OF ANCESTRAL RICHES
OIdWar DiWsionSought by Ameri-
can Aristocrats.
THE YSTEM DESCRIBED

Mulai-AId-el-Aziz. Sultan of Morocco.
who is just now persona non grata with
Uncle Sam because of his cavalier treat
ment of United States Consul Gummere
over a matter of certain claim for
money reJoices In the possession of an an
cestral line that extends directly back to
the Prophet Mahomet, but Mulai is prob
ably not whit prouder of that than
certain American arfstocrats are of GER
tain novel appendages which may be called
pension office pedigrees.'
Average observers would hardly imagine
that the big red building In Judiciary
Square was in certain sense a hall Of
heraldry, but such is the case, and it is be-
heved in some quarters that more Amer
lean family trees have found root, trunk,
branch and foliage therein than a genoa
logical horticulturist could count even with
the assistance OF an eleventh census emu
meratOr.
Interesting facts in this connection were
stumbled on quite accidentally by repor-
ter for The Evening Star. with the assist
ance of a disingenuous young man. The
twain were on a street car, when keen
eyed. gray-curled woman got aboard.
shes going down to climb another limb
Of her genealogical tree" remarked the
young man, softly, Indicating the new pas
senger.
Her WHAT queried the reporter.
Her genealogical tree repeated his
companion. It's growing down at the pen
sion office.
Further mystifcation being entirely in
eXcJisable, the reporter demanded an ex-
PLANTATION
Disingenuons Explanation.
At this point the young man displayed
the disingenueus characteristic mentioned
by saying:
'Of course you will not publish anything
1 tell yeu, because the pension office is
having trouble enough in courteously ex-
tending it's privileges, and the records 1t
contains to those in search of personal In
formation and any wider knowledge of its
availability pedigree factory might
cause such an army to overrun it as to
completely stop transaction of legitimate
business
The old war division" he continued els
now, and has been for a long time past.
the resort of a whole lot OF people who
want to learn about their ancestors, direct
OF collateral. who were soldiers of the
revolution. and Of whole lot more of
other people who want to make still more
other folks believe that their ancestors
fought for independence in the early scrap
with the Britishers. The records of near
ly all revolutionary soldiers are on file in
one way or another in the old war division,
because pretty nearly every survivor and
the widows or children Of those who were
killed or who died from wounds or disease
contracted in the service, applied for a pen
sion.
Replete With Family History.
1.-The evidence filed in support of such
claims is necessarily replete with the
family history of the parties thereto.
Dates of marriages maiden names of
wives who they were children of, names of
the children of claimants and the dates of
their births and such records are stored
away in each case, and descendants real
and pretended, have been digging out their
riches ever since the find was located
What led to this discovery" inquired
the reporter.
ut was due TO the interest aroused in
American family history by the patriotic
societies, such as the Sons and the Daugh-
tiers and the Children and the other rela-
tiyes of the Revolution and the American
Revolution, answered the young man.
Some one caught on to the fact that the
cases in the old war division were chock
full of matter directly bearing upon the OBJ
1ects of such organizations, and once this
reservoir of richness became known there
began a prodigious amount of diving after
great-granddaddies. and using their re-
spected remains to fertnize new-planted
genealogical trees.
Two Kinds of Hunters.
"Of course" said the narrator, in con-
ciusion. "a very large number of the search
ers after such information are inspired by
the worthiest motives and have every prop
er right to ascertain facts about their pa
triotic forebears, but it is equally true that
pronounced proportion of those who i'm
pose upon the courtesy of the pension Of
hcials are simply using the records to boil
ster up new-made pedgrees which par
venues seem to think nowadays are q reoui-
site part of their recently acquired possess
sfons. and for them, when skiIifuIly pre-
pared. a pension Office pedigree is Just as
good. perhaps, as any other kind
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