Vol I File 1: The Paternal Ancestry of Homer Beers James

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Vol I File 1: The Paternal Ancestry of Homer Beers James

Revision Date: November 28, 1995

Revision Date: May 30, 1996

The Genealogy of Homer Beers James

Volume One of Three Volumes

Ancient and Early Medieval European Ancestors

The Paternal Ancestry of Homer Beers James

(Contains Family Genealogies Which Eventually Descend to the Negus Family, finally through Jennie Negus to Charlie Negus James and then to Homer Beers James and His Descendants)



Compiled and Written by

Homer Beers James



Published by

JANDA Consultants

1636 Jamestown Place

Pittsburgh, PA 15235

1993







Copyright (c) Homer Beers James 1996

Introduction

The initial source that triggered my efforts was a small, privately printed, pamphlet on the Negus family. I obtained a copy through my cousin, Barbara Gervang, living in Novato, California. This document was written by Rev. Ira E. Nolte, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. "The Negus Family Ancestry Through Terrell - Wing - Coppock Lines." It is undated, but it was published circa 1950. It lists ancestral lines back to King Egbert of England, 802 A.D., extending downward to King Edward I, the last royal ancestor of England. The many names of the Middle Ages includes Plantaganet, De Clare, Fitz Alan, Marney, Muscegros, Beauchamp, Bassett, Bohun, Quincy, Berkeley, Lygon, and many others. The line progresses to the early pioneers who came to America in the 17th Century, where the Negus name first appears. As originally written, this book did not include my ancestral line beyond Shaidlock Negus, Sr. However, the author, Rev. Ira E. Nolte, as an after thought, added Shaidlock Negus, Jr., and his descendants, after he noted that there were a number of Neguses in Springdale, Iowa, not in the lines he was investigating. But even this did not include my line beyond me great grandfather, Albert Bracken Negus. The most recent information of Jameses and the last few generations of Neguses came from the personal papers of my grandfather, Walter James, and was substantiated by the records of several different Monthly Meetings of the Society of Friends in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Iowa, as well as the U. S. Census Records.

Later, in order to have a means to collect and correlate genealogical information, I obtained a copy of Brother's Keeper, an IBM-compatible computer program which facilitates the systematic compilation of genealogical records. This program has been used to collect over 4,000 names. The program has features that permit many different pedigree trees and ancestral charts. This was used to maintain control of the linkages between all the people involved.

From this point I started a serious study of available information in public libraries, university libraries, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Family History Library, and other sources, using the names of the various ancestors in the Negus records.

The genealogical information that follows has been compiled from the books and publications, listed in the attached bibliography. Most of information for the time period of Volume I., from 1000 B.C. to 1000 A.D. was derived from one primary source. It is the eight-volume set by Wurts, titled "Magna Charta", published in 1942, in particular, Volumes 1 thru 3. (These volumes contain many lineages that go back as far as hundreds of years B.C. These are obviously more questionable than later time periods because much of it is derived from legends, but are nevertheless included, because they are part of the published record.). With these leads, I then referred to many history books to fill out the details and confirm the lineages.

By March 1993 accumulated information was consolidated into a 225-page narrative document, using Microsoft Word for Windows, but due to a massive "crash" of the 210-megabyte computer hard drive, every bit of data was lost. The only record of this genealogy that survived was an earlier "hard copy" of about 75 pages of material as of January 21, 1993. Thus it was necessary to again research the documents all over a second time; this was a huge task, representing over 400 hours of time just on the word processor, all of which was lost, in addition to reentering all the material from the "hard copy." The only wisdom, as a result of my unfortunate experience, that I can pass on to the readers is that you should always back-up your essential data to a floppy disk or tape cassette. Sooner or later something will happen. The fact is that I had all the latest backup systems, but failed to use them over a period of six weeks. Learn from my mistake!

Later I arranged the paternal ancestral record into three volumes, with Volume One covering the period from ancient times up to about 1300. Volume Two covers the period from 1300 to 1630, when the migration to America began. Volume Three covers the American period up to present times. Volume Four is exclusively the maternal ancestry.

Homer Beers James

1636 Jamestown Place

Pittsburgh, PA 15235

March 22, 1993

Revised: May 10, 1996

Acknowledgments

Preparing this genealogy has been a very humbling experience. One is completely overwhelmed with the massive numbers and information that is available from diligent research. In the process of compiling this information I have had the pleasure of meeting many professional genealogists and librarians and other people pursuing their individual ancestral lines, too numerous to mention, who have provided assistance in gathering all of this voluminous data.

Table of Contents

Section I - Early Medieval Ancestors - Western and Eastern European

Part A. Early Anglo-Saxon and English Ancestors

Part B. Early Scottish Ancestors

Part C. Early Welsh Ancestors

Part D. Early Irish Ancestors

Part E. Early French Ancestors

Part F. Early Spanish Ancestors

Part G. Early Russian Ancestors

Part H. Ancestors from Bavaria

Part I. Early Swedish Ancestors

Part J. Early Roman Ancestors

Part K. Royal Ancestors From Bohemia, Poland, and Spain

Part L. Noble Ancestors From Flanders and Holland

Part M. Early German Ancestors

Part N. Vandal Ancestors

Part O. Early Hasbanian Ancestors

Part P. Early Ancestors From Rugij

Foreword

In the early days of civilization, the preservation of a pedigree was necessary to maintain all that was valuable in blood, station, and property. Without a pedigree a man was an outlaw; he had no clan, consequently no legal rights or standing. Genealogies were guarded with extreme jealousy and recorded with painful exactitude by the bards of each clan. On the public reception into the clan of a child at the age of fifteen, his family genealogy was proclaimed, and all challengers of it commanded to come forward.

Today we are not so deeply committed to our ancestors as in those ancient times, but the knowledge of where each of us derives our genetic heritage, the varied experiences of out forbearers, can enrich our overall understanding of where we came from and where we are in the great web of existence.

The following format has been employed for all the volumes:

Section I. Ancient and Medieval European Ancestors

Part A. Early English Royal Ancestors

1. Royal Saxon Line

Sources for West Saxon Kings list the following descent from Woden, the legendary leader of the Saxons:

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