By Deb Boelkes
Most of us have at least one ancestor in our family tree we are proud to claim as kin. Then there are those in our lineage we choose to ignore, hoping no one will discover we’re related to them. Some of us know little to nothing about our bloodlines. Some of us maintain copious ancestral records. Certainly, we each have countless forebearers who will forever remain a mystery.
My mother was born into the clan Calhoun—a surname revered by Southerners for over two centuries. Her parents first met when my Texas-born grandfather asked my very proper British-born grandmother, then just a teen-ager, to dance with him at a USO party when he was a “Doughboy” on leave in England, headed to the European battlefront in the midst of the first World War.
As the story goes, when my grandfather first met my grandmother’s prim and proper parents following the dance, he introduced himself as hailing from a family of Texas “cattle rustlers”—much to everyone’s chagrin. Thereafter, whenever the Texas cattle rustler sent love letters from the warfront to his beloved British girlfriend, her father intercepted and burned the letters in the fireplace, in attempts to forever keep the young lovers apart.
My grandmother’s father was completely aghast when, six years after the war had ended, the former Doughboy raised enough money to surprisingly return to England unannounced to ask for his beloved’s hand in marriage. Clearly the former Doughboy had inherited his Texas family’s “rustler” gene.
Sadly, my grandfather died long before I was born so I never had the opportunity to learn about his cattle rustling heritage. At least I’ve been able to confirm his pedigree online. Thanks to FamilySearch.com, I learned that my grandfather Calhoun’s great-great-grandfather was one of the earliest settlers of Texas to secure one of the first land grants from Mexico to build a homestead and raise cattle. Rustling cattle became the family business for the next four generations.
Deeper dives into Family Search have led me to discover that previous generations of this family line originally settled in Jamestown, in then-British Colonial America, upon their arrival from Cottenham, England in the mid-seventeenth century. I’m guessing my cattle-rustling grandfather wasn’t even aware of his English ancestry or he might have used this factoid to win over his future in-laws while courting their daughter.
Thanks also to Family Search, I was able to become a member of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution—which requires proof that at least one of your ancestors fought on behalf of the Patriot side during the American War for Independence. I’m also now a pending member of the National Society of Colonial Dames XVII Century (aka Colonial Dames)—which requires proof that you are a direct descendant of an American colonist who lived in one of the thirteen colonies prior to 1701.
Recently, while attending a Colonial Dames social event, another member shared that she had just qualified for membership in a lineage-based organization called the National Society Magna Charta Dames and Barons. Qualification for membership in this organization is based upon one’s lineal descent from one or more of the twenty-five Barons selected in 1215 to be Sureties for the proper observance of the statutes of constitutional liberty known as Magna Charta, from John, King of England.
Even with both of my grandmothers being British, before I learned about the Magna Charta society, I had never even attempted to research my ancestors who proceeded those who lived in America. Turns out, using FamilySearch.org, it didn’t take much effort at all for me to connect the dots from my cattle-rustling grandfather virtually all the way back to the beginning of human existence.
Amazingly, FamilySearch documentation showed that 64 generations before me, I had an ancestor named Joses ben Joseph, born in 06 AD. He was identified as a “half-brother of Jesus.” Joses ben Joseph’s parents were shown to be Mary bat Joachim (18 BC – 42 AD) and Joseph ben Heli of Nazareth (21 BC — 29 AD). They were documented to be the parents of eight children, one of whom was Jesus.
Discovering Joseph and Mary and the mention of Jesus in my pedigree was a “mic drop” moment for me. With that stunning news I terminated my ancestry research efforts, confident that if I continued to connect the correct dots back another 2400 years, my lineage would likely lead to Shem and Noah.
My husband surprisingly also found his own Family Search lineage research results led back to Mary bat Joachim and Joseph ben Heli of Nazareth. Had I not seen all this documented within FamilySearch.com, I never would have believed it. Even now I find it hard to believe.
If you haven’t conducted your own genealogical research in FamilySearch.org or Ancestry.com, I highly recommend you give it a try. Whether your research qualifies you for membership in any genealogical society is somewhat irrelevant. It’s simply interesting to learn from whence you came.
Whatever you may find—whether it’s next to nothing or your connections lead all the way back to the beginning of humanity—never judge yourself or feel unworthy (or more than worthy) based on your ancestry. Simply be grateful for each of your ancestors, for without every one of them you wouldn’t be here today. The fact that you are here, in this place and time, is truly a miracle.
Whatever you make of your life from this day forward is completely up to you. Regardless of the pedigree you’ve inherited, what matters is the kind of person you choose to be and what you choose to do for the benefit of others. It’s all those acts of kindness, love, sympathy, caring, and helping those in need that matter.
Whatever you do and however you do it, in your own special way, may you leave a pedigree that your progeny will feel blessed to inherit.