The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-10-23
Frederic Haskin's Letter
The Ancestor Industry.


Boston. Mas, Oct. so.-After
every war there II . gain In the
popular interest in ancestors ana
family trees. Genealogists h.re in
the greatest forest Of family trees.
in America, object to the idea that
there is . revival in geneaiogy now
e,ing on. because they say that .
revival implies . lull In the in
terest, and there has been no luli.
Any way you put it, this IL . big
year for ancestor hunting. Boys
who fought in France ma other
boys with the same surname or
some odd given name that ran In
the families. The usual remark
after an introduction would be:
"Bliggins?" Oh, yes. Are you
descended from, the Hiram Big
ginses Of Vermont"
And oftener than not the other
fellow would have to say that he
didn't know.
The Americans seem less ready
with the family past than the
French or English. But the detec-
tive instinct. which every true
American has, or thinks he has,
was soon aroused and put ION the
trail Of the missing ancestors.
some soldiers wrote home at once
to trace connections. and others
declared that when they got back
they were certainly going to find
out what ancestors hung on their
family trees.
As . result Of this enthusiasm,
and of the Mayflower celebrations,
TT is expected that this year will
pfove to be a record-breaking year
for routing out hidden records and
bringing to light long lost great
grandfathers.
Interest in genealogy is meas
ured with mathematical precision
by the New England Historical
Genealogical society at its head
quarters here. This society has
the best genealogical library in the
country. Stocked with many valu-
able old, manuscripts and rare
books. this library is court Of last
resort to which people hupting fam
lily records come from ali over the
country, and even from abroad.
! A Library Of the eDad.
Because its library is SO widely
and steadily used, the society con.
siders it a reliable place to take
statistics on genealogy. Every
person who visits the room is re.
quired to register at each visit, and
every half hour count is taken
Of the readers. These records are
kept year after year. They prove
what is known IN a general way
) that ever since about 1S45, wher
Americans began to acquire wealth
popular interest in genealOgy ha.
been growing steadily.
At first the popular demand fol
ancestors was restricted to the
very wealthy, but gradually les,
affluent families went hunting fol
themselves. The genealogical so
ciety mentioned has a record O
some 400 family historians, of whom
about so are professionals, and thu
rest are amateurs interested mainly
IN the history of their own families
OF course this is not complete
list of the persons who devote
their time to genealogy, and Their,
are many more who are interested
4 in 1t as hobby or side-line.
The big fact which the averag,
| %4
garding his family past is that b,
had an ancestor on the Mayfiower
! Interest in the Mayflower passen
gers is stronger than ever this yea
because Of the celebration, 40 tina
perhaps few words regarding tn
Mayflowerites will not be amis
here.
So many people are putting il
claims to join the Society Of May
> flower Descendants that the secre
tary, George Ernest Bowman, i
> kept busy sorting the sheep from
the goats,
Mr.. Bowman is recognized as on
of the most reliable authorities o.
> Mayfower history. He is the onl
person who has ever tried to com
!, pile the records of all the May
= flower passengers, and he know
. the famous lines so well that n
! false claimant slips past his eagl
! eye into the congregation of latte
day Pilgrims.
i = Pilgrims Were Few. I
There were 104 passengers G.
. the famous ship, Mr.. Bowma
p says, and descent can be trace
r from 40 OF them, or really from 2
distinct families, as the other 2
persons were related by birth b
marriage to the %. Thus, in tn