HEREDITY AND THE HALL OF FAME 447 



guished descendants in various male lines than any other American 

 who has ever lived. 



In Jameson's "Dictionary of United States History/' and Lippin- 

 cott's "Biographical Dictionary of the World" are included 13 Lees, 

 11 Adamses, 10 Lowells, 9 Dwights, 8 Trumbulls, 7 Livingstons, 7 

 Bayards, 6 Irvings, 6 Sewalls, 6 Prescotts, 5 Channings, 5 Edwardses, 

 5 Mathers, 5 Randolphs and 5 Winthrops, and over one hundred other 

 families in which from two to four noted Americans can be found 

 closely related to each other. This is without considering consanguinity 

 through mothers and daughters. 



When it comes to our greatest men, such, for instance, as are hon- 

 ored by tablets in the Hall of Fame upon the Hudson, more than half 

 show eminent relationships on the above basis. Whether all names 

 properly belonging in this most exclusive temple of the immortals have, 

 or have not, been included, makes little difference in the present argu- 

 ment. No one can fail to pay homage to the names that are there. 

 The 46 celebrities of the Hall of Fame have been selected only from 

 those Americans who have been deceased at least ten years. They have 

 been elected only after careful deliberation, the names of candidates 

 being voted on by a committee of a hundred, made up of citizens well 

 qualified to pass judgment on such matters. College presidents, his- 

 torians, editors, financiers, scientists and chief justices form the com- 

 mittee. The next election will take place in 1915. 



Now if the family history of these 46 preeminent Americans be 

 carefully looked into, they show an extraordinary amount of blood re- 

 lationships with other men not quite so celebrated it is true, but still 

 men in every sense entitled to the term "eminent," and men whose 

 lives and achievements have added to the luster of their country. Pro- 

 fessor Jameson's "Dictionary of United States History" with Lip- 

 pincott's "Biographical Dictionary of the World" together contain 

 separate sketches for only about 3,500 Americans. There must have 

 lived at least 35,000,000 adult persons from the first settlement of the 

 country to the present generation. 



It is very difficult to get any conception of vast numbers of people 

 or of figures in the millions. A considerable stretch of the imagination 

 is necessary. Think of a line of men 35,000,000 feet long. Such a line 

 of 35,000,000 men and women, standing one behind the other in single 

 file, would stretch from the Capitol at Washington to San Francisco, 

 and then bend up to Alaska. In such a line of fame, George Washing- 

 ton, by common consent, as the Father of his Country, stands number 

 one and Abraham Lincoln stands number two. All those within the 

 " 3,500 group " would be standing well within one mile of the dome of 

 the Capitol, while the 46 elect of the Hall of Fame would be within the 

 rotunda itself. This means that all those in the " 3,500 group " are as 

 one in 10,000 of the entire population. 



