Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2009 > October > 13 > Entry
Finding a fresh name for the First Families
What shall we call them? First families? Pioneer descendants? Generation 6?
Responses flooded in. We heard from relatives of Pflugers, Hornsbys and dozens of other familiar dynasties. We also discovered surnames previously unheralded in local histories or left unrecorded on area maps.
We carefully squirreled away that information for further research in genealogical archives and documentary collections, as well as for future interviews. We tracked the geographical and chronological range, while following up with an array of questions. In short, years of rewarding reporting and writing await us.
Yet almost immediately, the term “First Families” spoiled the fun. Like the “Fortunate 500,” this publication’s annual list of our most social citizens, the name rankled readers. It appeared we were attempting to establish an artificial hierarchy, almost an aristocracy in the manner of Europe, the Deep South and the East Coast.
That doesn’t fly in egalitarian Austin. As with our Out & About list of active Austinities, we are only trying to report and describe a phenomenon, not judge it, or lend anyone a sense of social hegemony.
So your help is once again requested. If our criteria is familial rootedness in Central Texas — not power, wealth or influence — what do you call those from all backgrounds whose ancestors settled here, let’s say prior to the Civil War?
Historians often use 25 years to mark generational shifts. So antebellum families have endured here at least six generations. Others go back even further.
Let the naming begin.
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By Jason Stoddard
October 14, 2009 6:55 PM | Link to this
Source Files. :-)