Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 5.djvu/360

 328 THE GRANITE MONTHLY.

��THE ASCENDANTS OF JOSEPH STICKNEY.

��BY WALTER GIBSON.

THE longest printed list I know of, of one's ascendants for the seven gen- erations that precede him, is that of ex-Commissioner E. A. Rollins, in this magazine for December, i88i,in which one hundred and twenty-four of the two hundred and fifty-four were given, and twenty-four more antecedent ones. In the accompanying chart, one hundred and seventy-four of Mr. Stickney's two hundred and fifty-four are given (ill-founded guesses excluded), and over one hundred more antecedent ones can be named. One hundred and sixty- seven of the one hundred and ninety of English origin are given. Those whose ascendants are all of English descent, must, to match this list, be able to name two hundred and twenty-lhree out of the two hundred and fifty-four.

" Every man " says Emerson, " is a quotation from all his ancestors." Her- bert Spencer holds, that the intelligence and character of individuals and of races depend much more on the experiences of their ancestors than on their indi- vidual experiences. I invite the most acute minds to study the facts gathered here, and to compare them with similar ancestral facts concerning other indi- viduals.

The average longevity of the two of the first generation was fifty-five years and six months ; of the four of the second, sixty-five years and ten months ; of the eight of the third, seventy-one years and nine months ; of eleven of the fourth, sixty-eight years and nine months ; of twelve of the fifth, fifty- nine years and two months ; of twenty-seven of the sixth, seventy years and five mouths ; of twenty-six of the seventh, seventy-one years ; of the ninety whose ages are known, sixty-eight years and five months. Fourteen died be- fore fifty years of age — numbers i, 5, 21, 25, 30, 47, 58, 60, 82, Z^, 99, 123, 124, 227. Their average age was thirty-nine years and eight months. The av- erage age of forty-seyen of their fifty-five descendants in this list (several names being many times repeated) was sixty-eight years and nine months — that is four months greater than the average of the whole ninety — a surprising result. Thirty-two of the ninety whose ages are known, lived to be over eighty — num- bers 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 15, 17, 55, 81, 84, 93, 105, 106, 108, III, 113, 115, 117, 119, 120, 121, 167, 183, 211, 219, 220, 222, 235, 239, 245, 249, 250, and probably, 43 and 168, who certainly lived to be over seventy-nine. Their average age was eighty-four years. The average age of their descendants can vary but little from that of those of the fourteen short lived. Numbers 123 and I 73 are the only ones known to have died unnatural deaths, unless num- bers I and 82 who died in child-birth, were victims of surgical malpractice. If a careful record of all the sicknesses of each, and their causes, had been kept, how valuable would be the facts, as they would enable us to determine the effect of physiological saintliness upon descendants ! According to Dr. Bou- ton, number 21 died at forty-eight, on account of drinking to excess, yet his daughter lived to be over eighty-eight, and his grand daughter eighty-four, two of the very oldest in the list.

Only two are known to have drunk to excess, and both died under fifty years of age. None are known to have been insane, or to have died of consump- tion, or to have been divorced. None are known to have committed crimes, except those named. Because number 253 was charged with perjury makes it by no means certain that it was fairly proved. Number 247 did not lose so- cial position, and if there were extenuating circumstances, he is not here to

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