I read a fun paper last night. Fun because of the way it conceptualizes “genealogy”. For me, method and technique are always more interesting than mere facts. “Genealogies are not institutions or even families. Genealogies are components of rhetoric about families and, sometimes, about the institutions they lay claim to.” And, “In the case of genealogical claims to...
Here’s a fun one. Even in the world of fantasy genealogy, some claims stand out. Every so often we hear the claim George Washington, the first American president, was a male-line descendant of Odin. Of course it’s not true, and of course it’s a fascinating idea. It all goes back to 1879, when Albert Welles published The pedigree and history of the Washington family: derived from...
I’ve been compiling a list of Luce, Lewes, and Lewis coats of arms (and crests) in hopes we might find a clue to the origin of Henry Luce (c1640-1689), an early Massachusetts immigrant. Henry Luce has been speculated as a member of the Luce family at Horton in Gloucestershire. The Luce family of Horton is often said to be a branch of the Norman family de Lucy, although there is no evidence...
Henry Luce (c1640-bef Mar 1689). He was the progenitor of the most common surname on Martha’s Vineyard. He is often called a son of Israel Luce, but no proof exists. The theory was first put forward by Charles Banks in History of Martha’s Vineyard. “To my knowledge, as of November 2011 no proof has been found as to the birth place or ancestry of our Henry Luce I of...
There is a persistent idea among older generations that Wilford Woodruff Luce, Sr. (1838-1904) was a son of Wilford Woodruff (1807-1898), the 4th President of the LDS Church. Others of the same generation find it necessary to vehemently deny the story. This is almost certainly nothing more than a confusion of names, compounded by the fact Woodruff converted the Luces to Mormonism, and led them...