Yo Ancestors

Chapter 4 Yo Ancestors

The Welsh have a reputation for their waxing poetically and singing, though true to life they come from the stock of farmers and miners who often keep mean dogs. My surname, "George" is rooted in Greek meaning a farmer from somewhere. Surnames must be taken in balance because we are as much from our Mothers as from Fathers. When farming and mining skills fail, they become ministers, and in some instances, constables.

There is a story about a knight from the 14th century who killed a citizen. The citizen's killing by a knight was thought by some to be unjust and therefore he was brought to trial. The trial exonerated the knight of charges and he later became a constable.

Such was the story about a distant George who was allegedly the source of my Georges in Wales very long before Henry George married Mary Bevan in 1788 at age 29. Mary Bevan was the daughter of David Bevan and Catherine Morgan Bevan, farmers from Carmarthenshire, Kidwelly Wales.

One may conjecture about a woman getting married so late in life at that time in history-was she homely and dull, or ambitious and accomplished? Henry was 27 and dare we conjecture that he liked slightly older women, was subject to female domination, may himself been homely, incompetent, or enjoyed the role of supporting an ambitious, accomplished, and noble-purpose driven woman?

Mary Bevan had convinced her family to establish care for orphans. Knowing the George's of today, the women are physically strong and so are the men. I have a photograph of my Great Grandmother Addie Jane Clark George and can only imagine the likes of those before her.

[Photo of George Family 1898]

There were multiple initiatives at this time, toward Protestantism, Methodism, and Baptism, etc. There were many competing religious movements in a community of a few people. All of this happened after the Bible was translated from English to Welsh by William Morgan in 1588, though it was intended for church and not home use. A new book appeared that people could read, and it was popular.  Much later it is reported that there are thousands of errors in the Welsh translation that even include encouraging adultery.

I don't know if scholars have attributed these errors to its popularity. I have read that parishioners struggled through services because the Welsh translation was so poorly constructed they simply could not understand it. My account of this for lack of "and so forth" trivializes what was of high importance to kings, queens, and bards.  Translation went against the grain to outlaw Welsh from English laws and administration; perhaps like Americans outlawing Spanish in today's not so United Sates.

Prior to that some Welsh people clung to their pagan Celtic roots and Druidism; others may have followed the Pope or the Church of England such as they may have been influenced through contact with invaders and with others outside Wales; and some are said to have been a part of "the lost tribe."

"Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make the one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel." Ezek 37:19

"Yo ancestors derived their origin from Abraham, Heber, Shem and Noah who were Druids: as the Druid Temples (which are the Patriarchal Pillars and Oak Groves) over the whole Earth witness to this day." - William Blake

[Sketch of a Blake-like interpretation of God making Wales a chosen land]

Living in isolation is a condition about which I am keenly aware, though living nomadically is something about which I have more experience-wandering in wonderment.  Many of my relatives today have not left the small country town in Ohio from which I left at age 12.

Motivated by my Dad, only when they reached retirement age did some venture to Florida to live out their years in sunshine and warmth. Living in a small town where newcomers are few and the outflow is equal to or greater than the inflow leads to a stale existence. Even with modern communications and transportation, it takes means to move beyond as well as desire for exploration.

Henry from Talgarth Brecon, Wales, deliberate and gentle, apparently lacked adequate farming and mining skills and therefore set course for becoming a minister. Some in his family were quiet and humble. These qualities were faintly present in Henry; giving way to high confidence that he could say something right, lead his fellow man in a certain direction when given the dogma or script. While not openly admitting it, he needed guidance from a companion who could add substance to his zeal, and in Mary Bevan he found this, accompanied by qualities of physical and mental strength. I have read that Henry had mason skills that he used to build barn, house, and church foundations, fireplaces, and the like.

Their respective families may have looked at Henry and Mary with question "What to do?"

Was the answer to take a collection and send Mary and Henry away to America where they could become missionaries and establish a new community of Welshmen abroad? To be fair, historical documentation is more kind.

The Baptists took up a collection to initiate a new ministry in America, and Henry volunteered for this noble purpose. At what point in this man's life did he decide to adopt the popularity of becoming a Baptist. Knowing family history very well, we are just as likely to become a Methodist, Mennonite, or Quaker as being a Baptist. Then again, what about all of those Jewish-named Mothers in our past, for instance the Davids' and the Hellmans’? We might just as well be Democrats as Republicans, Commoners or Lords, though in Britain our highest rank was lowly knight and constable, perhaps.

Such would overlook Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister of Welsh origin. We have Georges and Lloyds in the family that could very well link to Sir Lloyd George. The Meat Shop in Talgarth is owned by Georges as jellies are made by Lloyds. I intend to visit them one day.

This story is not about my genealogy, though having Internet access to the Latter Day Saints Mormon Library provides tantalizing information as example of how all our lives are subject to enrichment by "and so forth." What we think we know may be increased, though with this is the corollary, what we don't know may be increased.  Or, in context, the more we know the more there is to know.

More significant is answering the question, are we the sum of our parts? To be certain we are riding through space and time on some imaginable bubble, changing shape and changing course, some with more luck and fortune than others.

Hedging

Directions form dimensions shaped by our senses:

Up, down

Right, left

We realize three and are clocked by a fourth:

Forward, backward.

Einstein, I ask you to where soulful energy goes?

Except by contrivance, going backward in time is impossible.

Beings, we are propelled forward though have discretion to deviate about a moving datum.

Star masses burst as we see their past indicating a direction toward new mass or implosion into the less detectable.

Do we dare fix value on enlightenment over emptiness?

Thought to be empty is filled with unseen energy and inescapable power.

Soulful energy is conserved, operative in all dimensions for which purpose is beyond measurement though not beyond unrelenting imagination for a world without end.

Partially defined by four dimensions, bounded by elastic bubbles, ill-explained by dynamics that are neither contracting or expanding, but by spirit for which human instruments are yet invented for such discovery.

Time controls, as we know it is the one dimension out of which we may run.

James A. George 2000

While walking through the National Arboretum in springtime, I discussed the notion of soulful life and energy with a good scientist friend, Dr. Richard Currie. The azaleas were in bloom and it just seemed right to ask, "If all energy is conserved, what happens to all the powerful stuff of the heart and mind that seems to exceed the sum of the parts?"

Richard is married to Jean Wisenbaugh, a college days' friend of Maureen and me. Richard is the energetic father of incredibly bright children, Jessica and Zachary. I observe that he maintains a certain degree of objectivity and independence even when his children could put him on overload.  We are all walking along looking at flowers. Richard replied matter of fact, "When the chemistry stops, it is all gone."

I stumbled on the trail and thought there is the end of my "Hedging." Then again, maybe this just confirms that science has yet to discover how to detect the presence of mind-filled energy that escapes to another level. The azaleas are in their last stand this season, yet they will return again next year so long as their chemistry is in tack. Perhaps in this blunt truth lies the answer.

Like all living things, we are endowed with cycles that have a beginning, middle, and an end. Yet, the hedge comes from the fact that we deposit seeds which may germinate to renew the cycle. For some of us, the seeds of life may not propagate as being born again, though our artifacts, another form of seedling, may fuel future minds and in that way keep on living.

These things are obvious and truisms, though I still wonder about the other dimensions between space and time, the crags to which ideas may spill, and so forth."

"Talgarth -- Talgarth is a small market town nestling between the hills of the Brecon Beacons and the Black Mountains. Find out more by clicking on the links below or tell us more about the town."