El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-03-16

w To a rapidly increasing num-
Der Of people there is no more
fascinating amusement for leisure time
than tie compilation Of q family pedi-
gree, and the amateur genealOgists
who devote their spare hours to this
pursuit are Becoming more numerous
each year in every part OF the country.
Almost every large city now has its
local genealogical society, with a mem
hership composed largely OF those who
have taken up tie subject as a hobby
and who yet desire to do accurate
and truthful genealogical research
work Each Of these persons has
probably tried to trace at least one
line OF family descent and is thorough
ly. convinced Of the historical value OF
genealOgy as n st-dy.
What Pedigree Mems.
Authorities differ as to the deriva-
ton and original meaning of the word
pedigree" which has come to be
popularity accepted as the record OF a
descent from one generation to anOth-
CT. The word as we now use II is said
to have come from pied de grue,'
cranes foot. This derivation makes 1t
as a word picture the claws dividing
IN a birds foot being suggested Dy
the different branches issuing from the
parent stem of a pedigree IN the form
in which IL IS most frequently ar
ranged. When speaking Of stems and
branches one naturally thinks OF
trees and from this comes the eX-
preston family tree"
Pedigrees may be traced in two
ways, either forward or backward
Formerly only the forward system was
used and that is now referred TO as
ascendant genealOgy- To this sys-
TEN are due the greatest number OF
mistakes in family records as well as
the difficulties OF making connections
which made genealogy seem so impos-
sible to the beginner. Descendant
geneal0gy. which is now in general use,
gives more help TO che amateur and
makes comparatively easy the estaD-
lishment OF records which would have
been utterly impossible under the old
Clan GenenIOEy.
Ascendant genealogy. which IS also
known as elan geneslogy. begins
with the immigrant ancestor who may
lie any number Of generations back,
although in America, ten generations
is as high as most pedsgrees are given
The names OF this ancestor. or founder
OF the family, forms the central stem
or trunk of the tree from which his
children, grandchildren and later de-
scendants are added as branches, tWigs
and leaves. But with the pauclry OF
colonial records. IL IS well nigh i'm
possible To- secure the names OF the
children even Of some Of the first an
descendants. Consequently, even the
family trees which seem best filled out
viii be found mOrtifylnE TO the feel
fngs Of some branch of the family by
falling to record its connection In
clan genealOgy, the daughters OF the
family are generally ignored, since
they marry and become members Of
some other family This fact also
makes ascendant genealOgy incOm-
plete-
Descendant genealogy starts with the
present and traces the pedigree back,
generation by generation, to the lmml-
grant ancestor. Beginning with the
individual interested, It registers his
parents his aunts and uncles. his
grandparents and his great grandpar-
ents, II he can give them BY start
ing with the persons most closely re-
lated, descendant genealogy goes
backward with a degree OF accuracy
impossible with the other method
This may be accomplished In a num-
Der Of ways according TO the circum-
stances OF the ancestor hunter and
the difficulties encountered.
A Vacation Pedigree Hunt.
A visit TO the place where the earll-
est known member OF the family came
from Is generally productive OF in
formation that is a valuable start, at
least in the tracing Of a pedigree Many
people now take genealogical automo-
bile trips through long settled towns
in rural communities A woman who
desired TO find the connecting links
between her father and an older branch
OF the Brown family last summer
toured Ulster county in New York
state After going TO a number OF
places with few results, she came to
a village from which a captain in the
Civil war was reported to have come
The man had been dead for years
and no one seemed to remember much
about him, until an old lady came into
the pOstoffice Of which her daughter
was the mistress. With the garrulOus
curiosity Of old age. she was eager to
know what the strangers desired Up
on being informed. she at once remem-
oered that two cousins OF Captain
Brown lived IN the adjoining county
some sixteen miles away Taking her
with them, thus giving the old lady
the first automobile ride OF her life,
the ancestry huntress and her brother
soon covered the distance and received
a warm welcome from their distant
kinswOmen, who had at one time been
neighbOrs Of the old lady who had
guided them. The newly found kins-
folk quickly produced evidence that
their grandfathers had been brothers
and suggested the names OF some 9TH
er members of the family living at
Wilkes-Barre resulted in the discovery
of some more kinspeOple who were
both hospitable and cOngenial and who
were also as eager to continue the
genealogical pursuit as the lady who
started IT. A number of trips into
New Jersey and different parts of
complete pedigree that carried all
OF the branches Of the family back to
the immigrant ancestor.
Traces Back to Royalty.
This gratifying result of the sum
mer vacation so interested the origin
atOr OF the quest that she has spent
much Of the winter in an effort TO
trace the line accurately to a royal
ancestor in England nearly two cen
turtles farther back Thanks TO the
excellent aids to such research now to
be found in the genealogical depart
ment OF the public libraries, she Is
making good progress. She expects
to devote next summer to the forma-
ton Of a pedigree OF her mothers fam
lily. As she was of German descent,
most OF the information she expects to
secure will be found among those cOun-
ties OF Pennsylvania which were set
tied by the Germans and With the help
of a German genealogist. with whom,
she has been placed in correspondence I
she expects to be able to carry back
this pedigree at least two hundred
years.
It is. of course. impossible for all
amateurs to take such trips as this. I
but one who Is really anxious to iii
out his pedigree can do so by other
means Sometimes writing TO the
church parish, to which the earliest
known ancestor belOnged,t will bring
conoa results from names uDOn the old