A Random Combination

The Jones/Monroe genes and the Ewen/Morton genes came together May 8, 1948. My older brother arrived one year later, and in another 18 months the 23 chromosomes of Dad (the Y-chromosome group) and the 23 chromosomes of Mom (fifty-fifty chance of Ewen group) united. Of all the people who ever lived, this combination of genes is uniquely mine. Just imagine, at the very beginning of life there is a random combination of these chromosomes (genes) at the biochemical level. Unless you are an identical twin (like my wife), this random combination is unique among the human race. My brother seemed to get more of the Jones side, (blue eyes and light brown hair), and I seemed to get more of the Ewen side, (brown eyes and black hair). I did seem to get being left-handed from the Jones/Monroe side, since my Dad is also left-handed. This event, the random combination of genetic material, would certainly provide a way for the human race to present itself "new" each time life begins. New combinations, new life, new opportunities, new beginnings...well new everything. We did not choose the combination of genes that make us, US. At birth we did not choose the color of our eyes or the color of our hair. We have had to make the best of what we got from this random beginning. The future is yet to come. Soon enough, the choices will be ours.

The picture to the right shows Mother and Dad on their wedding day May 8, 1948. The choices they made brought my brother and I to life. Thanks Mom and Dad, I came to like my random combination.

Clan Monroe

Unlike the Clan MacEwen (Ewen) that some have called a lost Clan, the Clan Munro has been front and center of the Scottish Clans. Hot tempered and combative, you learned to stay out of Mam maw's way when she had her dander up. In Gaelic the clan were called "Rothack" and are thought to have taken the name Munro from a place in Northern Ireland where they are thought to have originated. In time of clan warfare, they called the clan together by lighting a single tower on the highest point in their castle. Fighting seemed to be their middle name and warfare was their game. As early as 1369 Munro chiefs were being killed in battles. They became Protestants in the reformation, and remained so for the rest of our families history. Many Munroes became professional soldiers, fighting in Sweden where 27 of the Swedish officers had the name Munro. Fight, fight, fight, what a life. It certainly came in handy in the frontier of Virgina where my Monroe side first arrived. Mam maw use to say we were "kined" to President James Monroe (1758-1831)but I have not been able to establish this story yet. Any Munroes out there?

The picture to the right shows the tartan of the Munro Clan. The standard definition of a tartan is "a kind of wollen cloth woven in stripes of various colours crossing at right angles so as to form a regular pattern". The weave used is called the "twill". Here the threads cross first over two, then under two producing the effect of a diagonal rib on the weaver's loom. A love of bright colors has long been a characteristic of the Scottish Clans.

Ms Blue Racer and Family

The childhood story of my Mom and her encounter with a Blue Racer snake has been part of our family's legacy. [see blog titled "The Blue Racer"] Growing up in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky during the depression would be hard enough, little lone running into snakes every now and then. The picture to the right shows Mom around eight years of age with her family. This would have been around the time the Blue Racer knocked on the front screen door to their house. My Mom is the dark haired little girl to the right front row with the sweater. She has that determined look about her which housed a tough fighting spirit that only growing up in the hills could have produced. Granny and Granddad Ewen with their slue of kids. Starting from left to right: Granddad Ewen (b.1899), Granny Ewen (b.1899), she is holding Wanda Bernice Ewen (b. 1937), then John Clearnce Ewen (b.1922) [we called J.C.]. Back to the left is Sidney Brent Ewen (b.1924) who took his dad's name so we called him "Junior"...then Cordius Allene Ewen (b.1926), Eva Faye Ewen (b.1928),then little sister Edith Delorese Ewen (b.1934) and finally Mom, Myrna Jean Ewen (b.1930). Two additional little brothers are yet to come. Three older sisters had already died. What a crew this is. This would have been around the time Granddad would have written what I have called "Possum Hollar". Enough to keep you off the streets in Slade, KY, 1937.

Scottish Women

My Jones Y-chromosome seemed to have problems saying no to Scottish women. My Dad married a Ewen (MacEwen). Pap paw Jones, my grandfather, married a Monroe (Munro). My great grandfather, Edward Turner, married a Henderson. My great great great grandfather, Thomas Jones, married a Chisholm. (Chism) All this happened in Kentucky. What's the deal? Scottish women seemed to have their way, along the way.

I suspect that some had to do with the fact that the Welsh and Scots shared a common Celtic ancestry if you go far enough out the family tree. The "phenomes" [hormones that cause sexual attraction] must have been well tuned. The Welsh and Scots also shared a common social identity based upon the family unit. Called a Tribe in Wales, and a Clan in Scotland, this family orientation provided a common bond. The family as a culture would be readily understood and agreed upon. The Welsh and Scots also shared many of the same enemy all the way back to the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Danes, Normans, and finally the English. This certainly helped shape attitudes, prejudices, and cultural biases. Finally, I think it was the frontier that brought these two cultures together. They had to learn how to trust one another since their very survival depended upon covering one another backs so they didn't loose their scalps. Scottish women, who would have guessed.

The picture to the right shows the tartan of the MacEwen Clan. The first Scottish Clan Society formed 1725. Since that time the Clans have given their heritage to a few folks on this side of the great pond. The best book I have read on the subject is titled: "Highland Clans a & Tartans" by of course a Munro, R.W. Munro, Crescent Books, NY, 1977.

Generation to Generation

Generation to generation, what we are is past down to us. We don't have a choice to select our parents or our ancestors. We can only take what we get at the beginning of the union of the chromosomes and try to make the best of it, or the worst of it. It is a rare occurrence to have the opportunity to compare one generation to the next, from childhood to childhood. The last blog shows a picture of the sisters of Pap paw Jones taken around 1903. The picture to the right shows the mother of Pap paw about the same age of her daughters when taken a generation before,around 1885. Wow, I thought. Generation compared to the previous generation at about the same ages. Ellen Dorcas Henderson is shown with her older half-sister Betty. They do not touch. Both are sitting stiffly, hands crossed, and a passive look about them. [Taking pictures at this time must of been worse then by 1903.] They have the same dress, and expect for the ribbons, they share the same hair style and apparent attitude. In all pictures I have of Ellen, she keeps this same hair style. They do not smile, smiling was probably not allowed, but they do not frown. Their mouths are horizontal. Neutral I guess in their expression. What difference does a generation make? Pap paw's sisters seem to need one another at their posing. Ellen and her sister do not seem to touch. Maybe this had to do with Betty being a half-sister, but who will ever know. Generation to generation. I know love was passed down through Ellen, for I have felt it through Pap paw.

Pictures of Life

Life introduces itself to us through our childhood eyes. Light reflects off the objects around us giving a view of the world. The celling, the walls, the floor, the windows all invite their surfaces for us to explore. What we see becomes part of our life experiences. Childhood eyes...they see the first face to hug us, the first face to smile at us, or frown at us. The first blue shy, the first butterfly, the first spider and its web, the first moon and stars are seen.

The picture to the right shows two girls (Pap paw's sisters) who look uncertain about their posing. Both are dress to kill...hair curled, ribbons just right, and hours needed to get ready for this pose. The dresses are laced and pressed. The younger is tightly holding the hands of her older sister. The eyes seem to tell us uncertainty. What is this picture taking anyway? A picture of our life? I am not sure about this, but I trust you anyway. Childhood eyes are trusting. They take the pictures of life.

E.T. phone home

E.T. (Edward Turner) and Ellen Dorcas Henderson were married 20 December 1893 at Ellen's home in Estill Co., KY. Estill County was also north of the Kentucky River and sections bordered on the Kentucky and Red Rivers. E.T. was the baby of 11 children born to his father and mother W.C. Jones and Elizabeth Isabel Adams. [It again amazes me how one generation is the baby of the family and the next generation seems to be the eldest.] The farm land that E.T. grew up on was the land that Mam maw told me about during one of our coffee drinking episodes. She knew it was located at the mouth of Red River, and that it was in Madison County. How we ended up in Madison County is yet to come, for our family had been in Clark County since 1817. The picture to the right shows E.T. and Ellen sitting with their youngest child. Pap paw must be in the oven because it looks as though Nona is about a year or so old. Pap paw is not far behind. Ellen looks serious and must have been carrying the world on her shoulders. Her Henderson side lost almost everything after the Transylvania Company went belly up, and I could see why they might be mad at the world. There is a saddle on the porch so I guess they still road horses when this picture was taken. E.T., if you are on horseback, please call home.