Letter to Lorain Berg, Susan Luks, and Rita Luks
From Steven L. Berg
30 May 2010

30 May 2010

Dear Dad, Rita, and Susan:

Yesterday I sent you an e-mail in which I said that I had evidence of Granma's pedigree dating back to 755. Attached are the relevant pages from William Richard Cutter's Genealogical and Family History of Western New York. (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1912).

Although Cutter liked to mention some of the high offices held by the Tracy family, he neglects to mention some of the more colorful and embarrassing examples involving the ancestors. Sir William Tracy (1460-1513) can serve as an example. His will was considered heretical. As a result, he was posthumously condemned by the Bishop of London's court and his body was ordered to be dug up and removed from hallowed ground. The chancellor who exhumed the body then burned Sir William's corpse at the stake and, as a result was fined £400. (Source: Ripley, Charles Stedman. The Ancestors of Lieutenant Thomas Tracy of Norwich, Connecticut. Boston: Alfred Mudge and Son Printers, 1895.)

Sir William's will is the subject of John Craig's "Wills and Religious Propaganda: The Testament of William Tracy" (The Journal of Ecclesiastical History 44. 1993. 44:415-431). I have not yet tracked down a copy of this article.

Charles Stedman Ripley also records that the Tracy family was also connected to Thomas a Becket, but in a less than positive light. William de Tracy ( d. c.1189) is one of the four knights who helped King Henry II rid the kingdom of the "low-born cleric" who treated the king with such "shameful contempt." One source I read reported that William de Tracy cast the first blow, but I want a more credible source for this information.

More later.

Sincerely,

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Steven L. Berg, PhD
steve@stevenlberg.info

This page was last updated on 22 July 2010.