Everyone thought about his ancestors at least once. Norman Rockwell was inspired by learning his family history and created an ideal family tree of American family.
From the very beginning we can see the main ancestors — a courageous pirate and an obedient princess in the white veil. As an American artist, Rockwell loved the idea of having the “all-American” boy descend from a pirate and his stolen Spanish princess. Their son, sir Thomas Troubridge, was a chip off the old block: he wore a tricorne and mustache, was strict and hot-tempered like his father. But he took after his petite mother in looks mostly, because his skin was white and soft, and he smiled warmly. Mother wanted Thomas not to grow up spoiled, so she gave him a good education.
Thomas became a trader and visited a lot of counties. He fell in love with a redheaded daughter of a wealthy German aristocrat, Elisabeth. They married and settled down in England. They could not have children many years, so the birth of their son Harry was a great event in their life. Harry was not like his parents at all. He took after his maternal grandfather Dan in looks, and after his grandfather’s death his grandmother often called him Dan instead of Harry. Elisabeth and Thomas died in the terrible storm when Harry was five years old, so his maternal grandparents took care of him. They moved to the USA and continued Thomas’ business. They opened a fabric shop.
Harry loved fashion and created beautiful dresses for aristocrats. In his shop he met his future wife as a customer. They fell in love at first sight and got married two month later. Emily’s parents were not really happy about their marriage and even wanted her to divorce Harry. They thought that making dresses is not a work for a man, but they were nearly broke and needed money, so they could do nothing but agree. Emily was truly happy with Harry. She was his model and wore different hats, dresses and gowns every day. But she took after her parents in personality, Emily’s modesty and simplicity didn’t let her be selfish and arrogant. Though when she gave birth to her son Michael, she became very permissive and the boy grew up a bit spoiled, because Emily allowed him everything that Harry forbade.
Michael wanted to become a minister and wear a suit and a top hat. Well, he was an ambitious and hot-tempered man just like his pirate-ancestor. When he grew up, he became one of the most honored people in Virginia. He married a Frenchwoman that he met occasionally in his office, and after a year they had twin boys John and Bill. They looked alike, but they were not alike, they were completely different — calm and noisy, clever and naive. They were young adults when they stopped their education because of the Civil war. John was a Southerner, because he stayed in Virginia with his elderly parents, and Bill became a Northerner, because he moved to Pennsylvania. The twins had to fight against each other. During the most violent fight in the town of Gettysburg they suddenly saw each other and realized that they must murder each other. They could not talk a lot, so they quickly exchanged their gray and blue hats and promised to escape from the battle together and reunite with their parents. At that time they both had fiancées, they decided to find them and run away that night. After their short conversation the brothers never saw each other, because they could not tell other people about their family on the other side. Bill’s children kept John’s hat as an heirloom, John’s son kept Bill’s hat as a symbol of their brotherhood. The family split.
John’s son Connor took after Bill in character while Bill’s son George took after John in personality. Connor was fond of adventures, liked geography and history, he learned a lot about Native Americans and wrote a lot of research articles about their life among Europeans. Connor
was tall, nearly 7 feet, he had a huge beard and moustache, didn’t like fashion and thought he was a frontiersman. He left the town and married Coco, an Indian woman from the tribe he had described in his works. They settled down in New Mexico and bought a farm. Oscar was an only child in their family. His mother Coco died when he was born, so Oscar lived with his father Connor and some horses in the stable. They were ranchers, and the whole farm was Oscar’s inheritance. Oscar married a neighbor’s daughter Rose. She was well educated by her mother, but she decided to be a home maker and raise their son Peter.
Back to another grandfather…Bill’s son became an heir to a large family fortune. He had a lot of money, but he didn’t like parties and was glad to sell his family business. He found his happiness in puritan faith. In the local religious association he met a woman he wanted to live the rest of his life. Lily was patient and strict — ideal wife for George. Their elder daughter took care of their second child — Nick. He was naughty and energetic, loud and self-confident. Nick didn’t want to live like his father and dreamed about Alaska and becoming a rich prospector. When he was twenty, his dream came true. Nick was like the Great Gatsby, he married a flapper, a charming girl Daisy. But maybe she was not enough for him, so he usually spent his nights with show girls, who did everything he wanted for some dollars. Daisy knew Nick was spoiled by his money, power and glory, so she decided to divorce him. Their little daughter Susan was only five years old.
After twenty years, when Susan and Peter graduated from the university, they met on their colleague’s birthday party and fell in love. Susan was easy-going and smart person, Peter was hard-working and placid. They were happy to know that they were going to have a baby. Once Susan found an old novel about pirates and decided to name her son like the main character — a brave pirate Jack.
This is a long story. Many different people and historical events influenced the family tree. Norman Rockwell left us only images of these generations, so everyone can use his imagination and think about their fate. Or maybe try to find out who were his ancestors.
