El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-03-07

M Americans are showing
more and more interest in the
business, recreation. diversion, or what
ever t is. Of climbing their family
trees Libraries, especially those IN
the older cities, report that there IS
more research into genealogical rec
Ords than into any other class of mt
erature The archives of government
national. state. county and municipal.
are being overhauled for their genoa
logical material
GeneaIogists insist that this increased
interest springs from a recognition,
however. belated, OF the social and SCI
entific value of their particular branch
Of learning. other students declare
that this increased activity in hunt
ing up ancestors is a result of the IN
I creased prosperity Of the people tnaI
affords so many persons a larger 1ree-
dom from the immediate problem OIL
getting bread and butter Much OF IT,
no doubt is caused by the growing so
[ ciaI importance of societies that re
! Quire certain ancestral connections IOr
[ admission. Some of it. but this is con-
, Quoted in an impersOnal way by per
sons not directly interested, IS to pc
credited to a growing interest IN the
science OF eugenics.
At any rate the genealogists are as
busy as bees, yellOwed documents are
being turned UP from their century-olo
catacombs. and whose hath money and
time and inclination is clamberlng up
his family tree.
seek Distinguished Ancestry.
In the quest for distinguished ances-
try. which has become so popular dur
ing the last quarter OF a century, the
fact is frequently lost sight Of that an
ancestor Of low habits or Of a weak
ened constitution may exert quite as
great an influence upon posterlty as
the most IlustrtOus one Inc mocern
genealOgist recognizes this and II IS
leading to the development OF a new
line Of social theories
The ancestor who Is most diStin-
guished in history has really no greater
influence upon his descendants than has
his pauper cousin who died IN the poor
house and the most dominant charac-
teristics of each may be looked for In
their descendants It is a scientific
fact that the parent has only one
fourth average influence upon his child
and the grandparent only one-siN-
tenth. The man whose ancestor was a
signer Of the declaration OF independ-
ence inherits only one-twO hundred
and fifty-siXth Of his patriotism A
Mayflower descendant has only one
sixty-three thousand five hundred and
thirty-sixths part Of Plymouth Rock
blood.
Suggests New GeneaIOgy.
Francis Gallons recommends the es-
tablishment Of a new genealOgy, in
the collections Of statistics OF large
and thriving families. in order TO show
respect to the parents Of noteworthy
children which such contribution OF val
richly deserves. This IS a phase o.
genealOgy which is beginning to COM
mand much attention and the pedigree
which can show a large descent Of rep
utable middle class citizens is begin
ming to be valued quite IS much as the
one going back by a single line to
titled nobility or royalty
In his treats on Marriage" Sir
William Leczie refers to ''pedigrees Of
character, which IL is not prudent to
neglect He argues that each contract
genealogical records OF the other to be
prepared in advance for the rafting
bones OF any family skeleton.
Until within the last so years Ameri-
cans gave little attention to genealOgy
beyond what was necessary for the
establishment OF property rights. and
even this was neglected TO remark
able degree. The nneages OF royal
persOnages and Of Biblical characters
were traced and recorded but the an
cestry Of plain untitled people Of mod
ern times, who made no claim 10
descent from heroes was not deemed
worth knowing The earliest appIca-
lions Of the principles OF genealOgy
were made by the law. so IL is TO that
science that we are indebted for the
meaning Of most OF the terms now in
use Modern genealogists have broad
ened the meanings of some OF these 10
q considerable degree and this fact
often leads TO misconceptions, since IL
is difficult TO distinguish in old rec
and that which has become commonly
accepted.
Ancestors May Be Male or Female.
The term ancestor in genealogy ap-
piles TO either male or female. But
legally the word ancestor may be used
differently The law defines an an
cestor as one from whom an heir in
hertts property OF IS one prior to an
other in the right to inherit property.
Such an ancestor may or may not be
herlt1ng property Is by law the heir OF
his ancestor and by descent the des-
cendant of his ancestor But IL the
position be reversed and the father IN
or his ancestor according to the law,
and by descent he is the ancestor OF
his descendant and the latter is an an
cestor Of his own ancestor
In the days when property rights
were vested solely in men, and when
women had little share in the distrt-
button of wealth, the law recognized
only the male issue and therefore in
terested itself only in the tracing OF
the male line of descent But the evo-
luton OF public opinion has modified
this condition so that the rights OF
property now. especially in the United
states are practically the same Tor
men and women. Therefore modern
genealOgy recognizes the Importance
of the female line OF descent and 1t
has been scientifically established that
AA4E AlNA Eua Adl AAlAAlEAANE o. LAAt ANAtAe~-I
ancestors upon pOsterity is fully equal
to that of the male In most Of the
prominent modern societies based upon
genealogical descent. the female line
has equal standing with the male. de-
spite the fact that IL does not perpetu-
ate the family name.
Lord BrOugham was one OF the first
prominent men in England TO recognize
the value Of female ancestry His /
father had been engaged to be married I
to a Miss Mary Whelpdale, the last OF
a purely Saxon race" who died shortly I
before the day fixed for the wedding.
Her sffianced bridegroom cOnsOled {
himself a little later by marrying the /
niece of Robertson. the historian Lord I
BrOugham declared his belief that II I
his mother had been Miss Whelpdale he I
would have remained in the state OF T
respectable mediocrity in which his /
fOrefathers had lived and died. He i
traced the power OF achievement which !
had raised him from an obscure Scot ]
fish advocate to be great tribune OF /
the English people. TO the energy hered- I
itary to the Scottish clans which had I
come to him from his mother.
Many Difficulties In the Quest.
The genealogist i'm quest OF American Z