Omaha daily bee., 1908-10-25
BIGGEST FAMILY ON RECORD
Kentucky Man who Has Already Had
One thousand six Hundre
Descendants.


In these days of declining families Il is
quite reassuring to read in the same col
umn Of a newspaper of one woman VINO ~
IA years has contributed twenty TO the
population, and OF another who boasts
as many descendants as there are days in
the leap year.
But one need not search long among
family records without discovering many
that were still more remarkable. 1t is
only a few months since We read Of a
woman at Antwerp who actually gave
birth to six sons last ~year-three making
their entrance together into the world in
January, and three others following in
December. Perhaps more interesting still
was the achievement Of a bakers wife in
Paris, who added twenty-one members to
her family at seven births and in as many
years.
There have, however, been many parents
who would have considered twl nty-one quite
a small family. There was, for instance,
that Scottish weaver, OF whom the Har-
leian MSS tells US, whu had no fewer
than sixty-two children by one wife, all of
whom were born alive, and of whom forty
six sons and four daughters (half a hun
bred in alb lived to be p and upward.
Thomas Greenhill, the duke OF Norfolk's
surgeon, was the thirty-ninth child Of one
father and mother. There was a French
lawyer, according to Boyle. who had forty
five olive branches, and Mrs. Agnes Mel
bourne, who died in 174S at the age of 105,
left thirty children to wear mourning for
her.
In very recent years, too, Mrs. Mary
Jonas of Chester was the mother of thirty
three children; an old man who applied
to the Oulton Guardians for out relief had
thirty children to call him father, and one
Anthony Clark quite shocked His Honor
Judge Edge at the Clarkenwell count
court by pleading guilty to thirty-two sons
and daughters.
Even the record of this woman who
boasts 366 descendants has been collapsed
more than once. When Mrs. Honeywood
of Charing, in Kent, died in 1920, It was
said that her descendants comprised six.
teen children, lii grandchildren, 22S great
grandchildren and eight great-great grand.
children, making the creditable total OF
3G7 persons who owed their existence IA
her. But a much more wonderful old
woman was Lady Temple of stow, who
actually lived to pat her Tooth descendant
on the head.
Even this does not constitute a record,
for in the Annual Register Of 1I7e we
read: mot many years there died In
the neighborhood Of Festiniog, in Ma
rionetshire, Wales, an honest Welsh
farmer, who was 105 years Of age. BY
his first wife he had thirty children, by
his second ten, by his third four. His
youngest son was 81 years younger than
his Oldest, and 500 persons descended
from his body attended his funeral"
If we come down to recent times we
also find records which are calculated
to make one marvel. Only a few years
ago, for example. there was buried in
Hutton Buahel church yard, near Scar
borough. Mrs. Ursula Lightfoot, a farm
ers' widow. who left no fewer than 16S
descendants to mourn her loss. These
included six daughters and three sons
seventy-nine grandchildren. seventy-thre,
great-grandchildren and two great-great
grandchildren.
TIL late Dowager Duchess OF Abereon
1t may be remembered. lived to nurse NOR,
than 200 Of her descendants, and Mr.. viii
liam Meaking of High wycombe, befor,
he died at the age Of 81, could count hi
descendants up to nearly the same mum
Der.
Beyond all question the most prolific fam
lily Ol ACCbIu ~ llldb VI a Alail aAlS WCDh
who settled a century or 50 ago in Ken
lucky. His eldest son was father Of nine
teen children, and before he was 50 say
three later generations totaling 425 mem
bers, of whom two were great-grandchil
| dren. Webb's second son also has NOR
than 400 descendants, while his daughter
Polly, beginning with ten children, lived I
! see her two hundred and thirtieth dc
{ scendant and to raise the family of Webb
ST., above the 1000 mark.
Another daughter. Sally by name, rank
fourth in order of contribution to the Ger
r sus, with POS descendants. Then follows tn
e eldest child, Lefty, with a total of %
9 while Webb's youngest son, according
= the latest family enumeration. had eleve
children, s~eventy-six grandchildren an
eighty Of the two succeeding carnations.
r Detroit News-Tribune.