www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Shame in the Family Tree

For those who took me perhaps a little too seriously...

I really am not ashamed to be the descendant of these people. I just thought it would make a fun joke to mention a few of my notorious ancestors and relatives.

Jason

Well, the entire reason part of my Irish ancestors immigrated to America was because my great-great-great-grandfather (a Catholic) wasn't paying his taxes. The priest came to talk with him about it and, apparently having an Irish temper, my grandfather took a pitchfork and stabbed the priest to death. Thusly immigrating to America (and eventually becoming Baptists!).

Alexis

Jason,

Be careful! Unless there is documentation to support such lineage you might be a victim of *Everyone is related to ...* syndrome. Long before on-line genealogy websites, there were snake oil salesman making profits from people with money who were more than willing to pay for a family tree with lots of *important* or *famous* people. Lineages were altered in slick ways to make *connections* to famous people and their descendents. If rich people thought they were only going to get farmers, peasants or laborers as ancestors, they would have put out of business a lot of family tree sculptors.

Take a deep breath and begin with one generation at a time and get excellent documentation. Separate *documented* ancestors from *alleged* ancestors supported with ninth degree lineages (his tree is based on her tree and her tree is based on their tree ...) Many family trees are houses of cards ready to fall when one false connection is pulled from underneath.

Ed
(descendent of Julius Caesar and Constantine the Great)

Dublin used to have a character called, of all things, "Pope" O'Mahony. He was dirt broke in Ireland, but moved to Boston where he became moderately well off by running a radio program - a phone-in - providing "information" on the exalted Irish ancestors of anyone who rang in. He made it all up as he went along, of course, but his patter was so good that he had no trouble finding sponsors!

Then there was the village seanachie in rural Ireland during the Roots craze. He had become a bit tired of American tourists, especially when they failed to grasp that talking is dry work and they were supposed to wet his whistle. So when the school-teacher from Hackensack was searching for her ancestry, he said, quite simply: "Ah, mum, you come from a distinguished line of military people and Church supporters. Your granny was a Reverend Mother in the Loretto Sisters, and your Granda was an officer in the Black and Tans!"

Fr. Serge

My question was not clear...??? I should have posted, "Can anyone guess the descedant?"


The "Someone" to whom I allude is Our Lord, Jesus Christ. The persons you mention are among the Lord's ancestors, and were infamously known for the described activity.

I'm related to Adam, so I guess everything boils down to being my fault!

Alexandr

Don't take this the wrong way Jason, but I wonder about the authenticity of the information on the website.
Another note, do the math.
4 grandparents
8 great grandparents
16 great great grandparents
32 great great great grandparents

Perhaps mathematically at some point we are all related.

Shame in the family tree? I long ago concluded that parts of my family have no shame.

Matt,

If you are suggesting that I am related to you....

I'm sorry. I don't eat Pyrohy.

Jason

JASON:

Every family has skeletons in its closet. It's more important what kind of man you are and how you live your life than any ancestors. That's why I have always tried to give a young person a break when he has come to me for his apprenticeship. Everyone deserves a chance to show what he is, not what his father, his brother, his uncle, or his ancestors are or were.

Don't be discouraged. In my family tree there have been people who have had all kinds of physical and mental problems--the whole gamut. But none of that has yet affected me--thanks be to God. I've also got few people in my extended family who practice the Faith, but I've insisted that this will be a major portion of my life and witness. It makes many uncomfotable enough that we see each other rarely. As my father, may he rest in peace, used to say, "The only thing that matters is that you come to the end of your life, face Christ, and say to Him taht you have never compromised His teaching." Sound and profound advice.

BOB

Us rednecks DO eat pierogi. We call it Mac-and-Cheese. But we do things differently; we fill the cheese instead of the other way around.

Ed

Bill Clinton committed incest?



Ouch!

Just kidding!

hawk

To borrow something from C. S. Lewis, we are all descended from Adam and Eve, which is shame enough for an Emperor, and pride enough for a beggar.

Fr. Serge

Years ago, I also discovered my family tree on the internet, through a link in the social security death record database. While my mother's "people" come from Poland, my father had always been very vague about our ethnic heritage, speaking of a mix of English, Irish, Danish, Norwegian and German. I could never get him to sort it out for me, and then discovered that the family line is very clear. I can trace my lineage on my father's side back to the early 1800s -- all in the hills of Eastern Tennessee. Wow. I am descendant from pure blood hillbillies.

There is an old Irish saw that stated: "For 300 pounds you can find out who your ancestors were, and for 300,000 pounds you can cover it up again.