Quirky Genealogy: A Different Sort of String Theory

Most people who get into genealogy, whether for fun or profit, do not fail to determine their own family history or family tree. Such tree has branches and a trunk. At the top of the tree, somewhere, the genealogist sees his own name. Going backwards through his parents, he or she sees his grandparents, then his great-grandparents, and so on. But what if the genealogist runs things a bit sideways?

For Example

As an example, suppose the researcher was interested not only in his grandfather but also in his grandfather's brother. This relation is called a great-uncle. It is common to be interested in one's great-uncle. But supposing the great-uncle's wife's sister comes into the picture? In the purest sense of the word, she is no part of the family tree. Yet, she exists and may even be interesting. Say she was one of the first suffragettes. Clearly the researcher-say it is you-you would not forget this connection would you?

What to Call It?

Since it isn't truly legitimate to call the path between you and the suffragette part of the family tree, you might wish to dignify it with a different name. Since it is a thin line, being only one person thick, you might wish to call it a string. Now string is not rigid. In fact, it can twist, turn, even double back on itself. So this genealogical string becomes all the more fascinating the more it twists and turns to wind up at some historical or significant person.

My Genealogical Strings to Date

In my researches stretched out for more than ten years, I have found two such strings. One leads from me to Clara Bow. Clara was a silent film actress, quite lovely, said to have "it." Now I don't desire to know what "it" may be, but she came to be called "the it girl." She is one of my genealogical strings.

Another I discovered more recently. Seeking a connection through my Ayres lineage, I found a twisted tortured string that even passed through a third marriage to a ne'er-do-well New York playboy, surnamed Hoffman. Now the second wife of this fellow was very wealthy and had ties to a family very strong socially and politically. Her maiden name was Alice Green. Now her sister was one Grace Green. Grace had a daughter by her husband named Eleanor "Bunny" Butler Alexander. Eleanor married a man of the same name as his father, Theodore Roosevelt.

In Conclusion and In Fun

In conclusion and in fun, after posting on a well-known genealogical email list, I received replies that two individuals had found a string each. One found a string leading to Queen Elizabeth of England. The other found a string connecting to a slightly less noble character-Fletcher Christian of the HMS Bounty. Being delighted by such discoveries I would suggest the family historian not abandon the search once he's found his entire lineage. Now he can begin collecting his own genealogical strings-the more the merrier! If enough of these strings are gathered, it is even possible to create a genealogical wig or toupee and improve one's genealogical appearance.

Resources:

Rootsweb
Ellis Island
The Library of Congress: American Memory