Yeah, I know. That's a lot of small print. It's pretty clear if you zoom in on it. You don't need to if you don't want to. The only interesting part is the larger pull quote. But the headline was correct, on December 24, 1985 the last descendant of Abraham Lincoln died.
It's kind of weird when you think about it. Nearly a quarter of the human race alive right now is descended from Charlemagne. In 2003 it came out that 16M people alive had descended from Genghis Khan. I'm sure there's some overlap, but soon you'll be able to point to just a handful of major historical figures and say we all descended directly from them.
And then you get Lincoln. Beckwith was his great-grandson. One of the most influential people in our history, and his line got wiped out in just a few generations. Gone. To think nothing of Alexander the Great, whose only child had been murdered.
Not that I'm comparing myself to the aforementioned people, but my line ends with me. Probably for the best, all things considered. My mom's line has a few other chances. I have three brothers on that side. They have yet to reproduce (probably also for the best), but they have their whole lives (I hope) before them. My dad's line is going to be in good hands, I think. I have a brother and sister on that side, and my brother has already introduced the next generation.
Such is life, and life is such.
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