INFLUENCE OF THE INDIVIDUAL 233 



4. The ''Jukes" 



On the other hand, we have the striking cases of families 

 of defectives and criminals that can be traced back to a sin- 

 gle ancestor. The case of the ''Jukes" is well known. We 

 are first introduced to a man known in literature as Max, liv- 

 ing as a backwoodsman in New York State and a descendant 

 of the early Dutch settlers; a good-natured, lazy sot, with- 

 out doubt of defective mentality. He has two sons who 

 marry two of six sisters whose ancestry is uncertain but of 

 such a nature as to lead to the suspicion that they are not 

 full sisters. One of these sisters is known as "Ada Juke/' 

 also as "Margaret, the mother of criminals." She was in- 

 dolent and a harlot before marriage. Besides an illegitimate 

 son she had four legitimate children. The first, a son, was 

 indolent, licentious and syphilitic; he married a cousin and 

 had eight children all syphilitic from birth. Of the 7 daugh- 

 ters 5 were harlots and of the others one was an idiot and 

 one of good reputation. Their descendants show a pre- 

 ponderance of harlotry in the females and much consan- 

 guineous marriage. The second son was a farm laborer, was 

 industrious and saved enough to buy 14 acres of land. He 

 married a cousin and the product was 3 stillborn children, a 

 harlot, an insane daughter who committed suicide, an indus- 

 trious son, who, however, was licentious, and a pauper son. 

 The first daughter of "Ada" was an indolent harlot who 

 later married a lazy mulatto and produced 9 children, harlots 

 and paupers, who produced in turn a licentious progeny. 



Ada had an illegitimate son who was an industrious and 

 honest laborer and married a cousin. Two of the three sons 

 were licentious and criminalistic in tendency and the third, 

 while capable, drank and received out-door relief. All of 

 the three daughters were harlots or prostitutes and two 

 married criminals. The third generation shows the eruption 

 of criminality. Excepting the children of the third son, 



