El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-03-09
~ SHINGTON. D. c.. March g.
" There is no denying that gen
v aaToofefe oDE +beF- ~oF-o,e

Y" ? SHINGTON. D. c., March g.
W. There is no denying that gen
eaIogists and their patrons
have a weakness for kings and such
like things Our Wanted cOnstitu-
tiOnal republicanism and Institutional
democracy does not prevent many a
good American from claiming a royal
ancestor. The genealOgists have taken
pains TO trace George WashingtOn's
family line back to Edward l. Of Eng
land and his wife Margaret the daugh-
ter Of Philip III, OF France. But as
these two 'flOurished" IN the 18th cen
fury the Father Of His Country may
not be justly censured for making war
on his cousin, George III other gene
alogists deny the kingly descent Of
Washington, but aver that his line
vensworth, Of the time Of Edward the
COnfessOr, and for this there is much
historical evidence Few Americans Of
prominence escape. and many Of no
prominence insist upon royal pedi-
gree. Then, too. royalty lays claim TO
being able to trace line Of descent
back TO Adam.
In reality it is not so great a dis
tinction as It sounds to be Of royal
descent. The names Of the Americans
who have proved their right to this
distinction now fill huge volumes and
each year genealogists are collecting
proofs and adding new names to these
lists. Most Of the Americans claim
ing royal ancestry are OF British ORR
gin, although this has no especial sig
nificance when II IS considered how
frequently IL happened that all the
mOnarchs Of Europe belonged TO one
large family. Henry VIII had six
wives who came from three countries, !
yet they and Henry hlmSeif were ali
descendants Of Edward III. and also
Of princess Joan Plantaganet. the fair
Maid OF Kent" who was married
first to William Montague, earl of sal
lSDurys second 10 the earl OF Kent and
third to Edward. the black prince, by
whom she had a son, king Richard III Z
Many Descendants OF William
There are more descendants OF VIII
liam the Conqueror claimed than for
any other monarch in the world, and /
in most cases a descendant Of this
king comes down a line OF 10 or 20 I
other royal persOnages, although some !
times the descent from monarch to |
plain untitled yeOman seems to have Z
been accomplished in two or three |
generations. There is practically no Z
limit to his descendants today and one ]
genealogist says this fact is accounted /
for by the statement that according
to the regular proportion OF increase ]
IN each generation since mis- time, the I
descendants OF William the COnquerOr ]
would now number more than twice I
the present population of the British Q
Isles. So, Of course, 1t is very easy to 1
see how many Of them came over to I
the United States.
Mr.. and Mrs. John Jacob Astor of 4
New York are among the best known !
Of his descendants in this country
They also claim Hugh Capet Of France,
for while Mrs. Astor is descended from /
the male line, Mr.. AstOr's descent IS I
from the wife Of the COnquerOr. The !
vikings Of Philadelphia, the Barclays /
OF New York and New Jersey, the
Whitneys the Beauchamps, the Stew
arts, the Rivers. the Wisters and the
Brooks are only a few of the best
known and most numerous American
families included in this great line OF
descent
Back to the Irish Kings.
There are many Irish-Gg Ierican citt-
zens who take great price in a line
Of descent carrying them straight back
to the old Irish kings who reigned
even before the time Of William the
COnQuerOr. Notwithstanding the time
which has elapsed since ireland had
government OF its own, there are
prominent families both in America
and ireland who possess authentic
genealogical records, going back for
centuries, which are clearer than
many Of the most boosted English rec
Ords. In a number OF instances, the
names OF families have been changed,
but the records Of the original names
are generally preserved. The Phelans,
the Whelans. the Falveys and the
O'Falveys may trace their descent
back through ~ generations TO Mac
MOCHA III, who retgned in ireland IN
the Stn century and go almost as far
back TO DOnal OF Amgach, the 18th
king OF Ireland.
Strange as it may seem, the real
0'Sullivans are descendants from
Louis VII Of France through Odo
O'COnnor. the last king Of Connaught
as are also the Burkes and several
other well known families whose
names seem to entitle them to irish
birth. In view of such possibilities
the French maid, mOdiste or mininer
who halls from Cork may not be so
wrong in her claims after all N
Evans Mostly OF Royal Line.
he oil cum eaa "a n
royal line tracing their descent from
Conan, king Of all Wales. who began
his reign in $40. From Meredidd, an
other king OF Wales, descend the
Lloyds, COpes, Hydes. Chases and Col /
ins. Many of the families bearing |
-hese names in America may claim de- !
scent from England or Scotland, but
careful quest is likely to prove that
he founder Of the house in any other
country was descendant of the early
King Of Wales.
The Scotch and French kings at one
line were closely allied Consequently
yenealOgists frequently find that
amily supposed to be Scotch is really ]
French If il is traced back to its royal /
ancestor. There is one family Of Car ,
)enters from a French royal line, al
.hough most of the Carpenters, like
he Meigs, BaXters and LtndSeys, are Y
descended from David 7. Of Scotland
The ClaibOurnes Of Virginia are de-
pendants OF Malcolm II. as are also
he Chaunceys, while the descendants ]
+ Robert Bruce are found under many S
lanes. G
So long as an ancestor IS royal. II ]
makes little difference in the eyes OF
many people what race he may have
prung from. The Randolphs. one OF Z
he prOudest families in Virginia, have
everal ancestors Of British royaily, y
ut they still fought hard to estaDlsh =
heir claim Of descent from Powhatan' v
years old, and after spending four C
ears OF hard study at Kings colleses II
Aberdeen. he came away with a nlluu .
-. q. l-LLLe.. Z