Tone Deaf

I went down the rabbit hole that is Ancestry.com last night.  So much so that I went ahead and paid for a short membership to find everything I need.

Some of the things I found were...less than honorable.

Not surprisingly, having so many ancestors from Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama... some of my ancestors way, way back were slave owners. 

At least one did get a governmental pardon for fighting with the Confederacy during the Civil War.  Several of them belonged to the Sons of the Confederacy.  It's probable that some of them were members of the Klan. 

All of that makes my image of LeVar Burton in my previous post sort of tasteless.  But, honestly, I didn't even consider that my kin were part of the problem, given that the later generations have generally been part of the solution.  

I saw the WWII draft roster entry of my late grandfather.  He's listed as being 100 pounds.  I weigh double what he did... that's disturbing. 

I worked my way back, and on Mom's side, it takes about seven generations on her father's side before we have someone who wasn't born here in the US.  On Dad's side, my paternal great grandfather Julius was born in Hungary.   In both parents' maternal lines, I haven't made it out of the US yet.  I actually have the aforementioned first cousin to thank for much of my progress.  I didn't know the names of either set of Mom's grandparents, but his tree was helpful.  I feel bad - Mom had told me some of these things and I just blanked on them.


I believe this is Bessie.  Let's just assume it is.



Lots of very bread and butter names  - Eliza, Annie, Bessie. Tons of Marys and Marthas.   Lots of unusual names, too.  Baradell, Cosermena, Nemesis.  How badass would it be if your name was Nemesis?

So, I'm reconciling what to do about my Confederate, Slave-Owner distant relatives.  I think I should just keep being open-minded, take care of others, and do the right thing.  Of course, that is kind of a tepid set of promises.  I'll have to think it through.

I'll keep you posted.

ae

Comments

I see the family resemblance to Bessie. You would rock those glasses, too.

I'm definitely changing my middle name to Nemesis. Just so I can say...you know.
Christopher said…
If I had children I'd be seriously tempted to name a daughter Cosermena.
Yeah, Nemesis is a pretty cool name but when I was a kid I knew a guy with a boat named Nemesis. That was the boat's name. The guy's name was Rick, which isn't a particularly cool name.
Although the more I think about it it would be fun to introduce my child Nemesis and then say, "And here are her twin sisters, Scylla and Charybdis."