20 May Genealogist for Hire and the excitement and joy of discovering your ancestors! May 21, 2022
Contents
OBSERVATIONS ON ABORTION FROM THE 1700’S
With the recent controversy surrounding Roe vs. Wade, I thought I would see what our ancestors debated in earlier newspaper articles (remember, back then, “s” was written as “f”) in regard to abortion. Instead, I found the article above that argued that requiring a marriage license with a 30-day parish residency requirement would result in more abortions.
I also found an article that earlier in the story mentions “the people west of Hudson’s Bay” (that also says the same custom in Formosa, which is present-day Taiwan). The article discusses their traditions related to induced abortion, but I was frankly more surprised by their positions for urination. Those Inuit or Eskimo ladies were a tough breed!
I recently read another article called “My Great-Grandpa Killed My Great-Grandma Giving Her An Abortion On Their Kitchen Table”. I am not endorsing any opinion, just sharing history, but if you would like to read the article, here’s the link:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/great-grandma-killed-illegal-abortion_n_62754440e4b046ad0d7ba081
CONTINUING THE STORY OF MY 29TH GREAT GRANDMOTHER ALMODIS FAMED FOR HER MARRIAGE CAREER
** In the last newsletter, I had a story about my ancestor Hugh V “The Fair” of Lusignan, who married my 29th Great Grandmother Almodis in about 1038. They had my 28th Great Grandfather Hugh VI, known as “The Devilish”. They later divorced due to consanguinity (close cousins). Almodis then married, with Hugh V’s assistance, Count Pons of Toulouse in 1040. They had my 28th Great Grandfather William IV, The Count of Toulouse, making Pons my 28th Great Grandfather.
Almodis was still Pons’ wife in April 1053 when she was abducted by Count Ramon Berenguer I of Barcelona. He kidnapped her from Narbonne with the aid of a fleet sent north by his ally, the Muslim emir of Tortosa. They married immediately (despite the fact both of her previous husbands were still alive), and they appeared with their twin sons in a charter the next year. Pope Victor II excommunicated Almodis and Ramon for this illegal marriage until 1056. One of those twin sons was Count Ramon Berenguer II of Barcelona, my 28th Great Grandfather, so Almodis was my 29th Great Grandmother, with each of her husbands.
Pons and Ramon’s descendants brought Almodis’ family back together when Pons Great-Great Granddaughter Petronella of Aragon married Ramon’s Great Grandson, Count Ramon IV Berenguer of Barcelona. They produced my ancestor and 25th Great Grandfather, Count Alfonso II of Aragon (1152-1196). Alfonso’s descendants included his Great-Great Grandson King Edward I “Longshanks” of England (pictured at left).
Hugh’s line did not come into play for another 19 generations when Hugh’s 24th Great Grandson, James Colville, married Pons and Ramon’s 17th Great Granddaughter, Ann Vance. They produced my ancestor, and 6th Great Grandmother Mary Colville who married Thomas Marquis about 1733 in Pennsylvania.
FASCINATING VIDEOS FROM THE PAST!
** I recently came across this link that contains on YouTube fascinating video clips of our ancestors from the 1800s. You can listen to clips with:
• Former slaves sharing their tales
• Civil War veterans sharing their stories
• Witnesses to Lincoln’s assassination telling their story
• 1890s train robbers
• 1860s Pony Express riders
• A survivor’s recounting an 1868 Indian Battle
• 1891 interview with the founder of basketball, Dr. James Naismith (on the right)
• An assistant to Nikola Tesla from the 1880s
• The founder of IBM explained the 1876 invention of the telephone
• And many more!
DO WE PURSUE OUR ANCESTORS TO MAKE US FEEL SUPERIOR?
In its May 9, 2022, issue, The New Yorker published an article on genealogy by Maya Jasanoff. Jasanoff’s article was titled “Ancestor Worship in the magazine’s print edition.” The online edition’s title is “Our Obsession with Ancestry has Some Twisted Roots.”
(https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/05/09/our-obsession-with-ancestry-has-some-twisted-roots-maud-newton-ancestor-trouble.
The blurb under the title says, “From origin stories to blood-purity statutes, we have long enlisted genealogy to serve our purposes.” The article focuses on the less-than-savory uses to which genealogy has been put over time.
The article mentions the Church of Latter-Day Saints Genealogical Archives built into a mountain in Utah. The picture above and to the left is the outside of the facility.
Here is the edited response from the board of the Association of Professional Genealogists:
We want to thank you for highlighting genealogy and its popularity in the United States and worldwide. We cannot argue with Ms. Jasanoff’s historical synopsis of the history of genealogy and its oft-exercised role as a reinforcement of superiority and power. However, today, we offer a more optimistic viewpoint regarding genealogy’s present and future state.
Although some people use genealogy to promote established and desired status levels, today’s genealogists strive to do the opposite: we seek to bring everyday people’s real struggles and joys to light. Genealogists, both professionals and hobbyists provide a voice for the voiceless, those both living and departed.
Few of us have royal or influential ancestors and those who do also have countless others who were largely forgotten by history. We descend from enslaved people, farmers, mill workers, soldiers, overworked mothers, and struggling immigrants. Their unglamorous lives are where the most potent stories lie: in the daily strife of individuals who overcame adversity to create stable and productive lives and pass whatever nuggets of success they squirreled away towards future generations. The beauty of genealogy is that it allows us to learn about the bigger picture of history by focusing on individuals and their lives.
Professional genealogists reconstruct social histories of communities long-neglected by history books – from Calabrian immigrants in Utica, New York, to Chinese laborers working on the Transcontinental Railroad, to Native Americans forcibly removed to Oklahoma. We use crowdsourcing techniques to gather information about the lives of enslaved people whose names are barely recorded in historical records. We help adoptees learn about their health and personal history. We help the descendants of Holocaust victims and survivors learn the fates of their families and reclaim citizenships forcefully taken from them. We assist in the repatriation of remains of soldiers killed in action for them to receive a military burial. Genealogy gives solace to families who have endured untold trauma.
Family stories are sloppy, and themes of racism, inequality, and superiority run through them just as they do through our cultural history. Our discipline is inherently imperfect, as all disciplines are, but there is a good reason that it is popular. Our experiences working with countless clients know that the quest for ancestral identity is rarely rooted in a yearning for superiority. Commonly, it is a bid for a deeper understanding of the struggles and sacrifices made by the people who came before us, no matter who they were. From those people, we have inherited something far more important than whatever money or power they may have held.
My take- I endorse their perspective. It is sometimes interesting for a client to find out that you qualify as a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution or as a member of the Mayflower Society, etc. Or, as I mention above some royal connection, a client or I could be one of 5 million people in line for a throne somewhere in Europe.
Today, many people put effort into getting their picture taken with a celebrity or have some connection to fame. I believe it’s along these same lines that people are interested if they can find out that they are biologically or through ancient acquaintances connected to George Washington, Daniel Boone, Pocahontas, Frederick Douglass, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, or a U.S. President. There is nothing wrong with either pursuit, and most people come into a search expecting to find out that, for the most part, their ancestors were of hearty stock and gave blood, sweat, and tears to build this country, chase their dreams, and create a better future for themselves and their families. That is typically what we discover.
YOUR ANCESTORS ARE WAITING FOR YOU TO DISCOVER THEM!
Reach out to Dancestors and let us research, discover, and preserve your family history. No one is getting any younger, and stories disappear from memory every year and eventually from our potential ability to find them. So do not hesitate, and let’s get started with a call to me @ 214-914-3598.
