A genealogical journal
We’ve seen this idea, now very common, that many Hispanos in the American Southwest have crypto-Jewish ancestry. The evidence for this exotic ancestry is weak. The story seems to be a relatively recent phenomenon, and there is some reason to believe it might have its roots in the 19th and 20th century Seventh Day Adventists….
Having just finished writing about tomatoes, I couldn’t find a place to sneak a quick bit about cantaloupes. Talking to Mom yesterday, she was reminiscing about how much Daddy liked salt on everything. And he didn’t much like sugar because when he was growing up he drowned in sweets from his German mother. That’s why…
Laura and I don’t like tomatoes. Is it genetic? Probably not. It does, however, puzzle Mom. Mom loves tomatoes. She told me yesterday that when she was pregnant with me she craved them. Her dad would buy them for her. She learned to eat them in sections, so they didn’t drip. I joked that maybe…
An article in The Atlantic caught my attention. We’re going ’round again with conversos and crypto-Jews, and once again the fantasy is just as stronger or stronger than the proved reality. In 1492 Ferdinand and Isabella ordered all Jews in Spain to convert to Catholicism or leave the kingdom. Those who converted became known as…
I was pleased and surprised tonight to check Feedly and discover an article by Stephen Plowman. Now there’s a familiar name. The article is Armorial Bearings of Gollop of Strode. Another familiar name. Like many Americans with ancestry in Colonial New England, I’m descended from Capt. John Gallop (c1593-1650), an early settler at Boston. His…