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Elon Musk's Troublemakers in His Tree

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During the WikiTree Challenge, our volunteer researchers worked collaboratively for one week on the family tree of business tycoon Elon Musk to find missing ancestors and interesting stories to share.

Curious about the name Elon, our researchers learned not only its meaning but also that our Elon was not the only one in his tree. Hebrew for “oak tree”, the billionaire business magnate shares his given name with both his great-grandfather, John Elon Haldeman, and his 3rd great grandfather, Elon Powers. John Elon, born in 1871 in Illinois was a teacher while Elon Powers, born in 1803, was a farmer from New York.

Teachers and farmers are common finds and those are nice but there are usually a few naughties who pop up as well and there was no exception in Elon’s family. Our researchers did not have to look too far into his branches to find ancestors who ranged from mischievous to unscrupulous.

First, Harold Fletcher, Elon’s great-grandfather on his mother’s side. Harold grew up in Toynton All Saints, Lincolnshire, England. His antics as a youth put him in the mischievous category. On April 6, 1900, The Stamford Mercury reported on a court case involving the young man who would have been 15 at the time. Harold, along with two other boys, Harry Bradshaw and George Alliss, were charged with loitering and smoking near the chapel during divine service on March 25th of that year. The boys were admonished and fined 4 shillings and 6 pennies.


Also falling under the category of mischievous, petty crimes is Elon’s fifth great-grandfather, Stephen Pope. Stephen was born about 1770 in Hampshire, England and in his later years was one of the many landlords of the Prince Regent pub in West Cowes. Whether while under his stewardship or not, it’s been noted that this building was used by a “rough class” and often featured in local newspapers for theft, drunkenness, child neglect and even selling beer to an underage child. Stephen’s crimes were much less severe. Though the law stated pubs could not be open past 9pm , Stephen on at least one occasion was caught keeping it open later and was fined 5 pounds.

Years later, he was once again accused of not respecting the law. This was not surprising as one article described him as a “decrepit old man who has appeared before the bench nearly a dozen times lately”. A Mr. John Hayward testified that he witnessed Stephen in Mr. Roper’s beer store after the 9 o’clock hour. Scandalous! Pope was able to explain the encounter, however, stating that he was merely standing in the doorway talking to the owner and not purchasing any alcohol. The Magistrates believed him.

For a more serious incident, we look to Elon’s ninth great-grandfather, Christian Haldimann. Born about 1625 in Steffisburg, Bern, Switzerland, Christian would later marry his second wife, Barbara Wyss there, on November 28, 1651. Barbara was an Anabaptist, a member of a radical movement of the Protestant Reformation. Anabaptists today are known as Mennonites, Amish and Baptists, among other things. As early as 1530 officials killed Anabaptist leaders, in an effort to purge Europe of what they considered to be a cult organization. Many of these leaders, known for their pacifism, often fled their homelands instead of staying and fighting for their beliefs.

These persecutions continued on into the 17th century and Elon’s ancestors were not left untouched. In July of 1673, Barbara was banned from Steffisburg for being an Anabaptist. After these accusations, constables went to the Haldimann home to arrest her. Outraged, Christian cried out loudly as he picked up a simple fork and waved it menacingly at the officers. For this action he received a prison sentence as well as a hefty fine of 200 pounds imposed by the bailiff of Thun. Read more about Elon's Mennonite Ancestors here.

Finally we go to Elon’s unscrupulous fourth great-grandfather, Isaac Barter. Isaac was born about 1816 in Barton Stacey,England, to John Barter and Sarah Head. He married Fanny Mack in 1835 and together they had two children, Mary Ann and Lucy. Isaac has been described as being 5 feet 7 inches tall, having a large and round head, with dark brown hair, no whiskers, dark brown eyebrows, dark brown eyes, a small nose, with a hairy mole on his left cheek.

In early 1840, Barter was held over for trial for participating in the assault of Eliza Carter the year prior. On February 27, 1840, Isaac was sentenced to the death penalty but that sentence was commuted to transportation for life. November 30, 1840, he was transported to the penal colony on the island state of Tasmania aboard the ship Lady Raffles.

You would think that a life sentence to a penal colony would keep someone out of trouble, but this was certainly not the case with Isaac. On the 25th of December 1845, he was charged with unlawfully, feloniously and with malice aforethought, taking up a fork and jabbing it into the left side of the neck of another colonist, Alexander Mickie. The wound was a mortal one, and Alexander died then and there.

You would think that two life sentences on a penal colony would keep someone out of trouble but, again, this was not the case with Isaac. Even after receiving 36 lashes, he still continued on with an air of disrespect. Multiple charges were issued for improper fires, disobedience, insolence, and neglect of his person, including the theft and improper possession of a dead sheep. Isaac received nineteen charges in total and additional time added on to his life sentences. He really was a Tasmanian devil!

As the saying goes, there is someone for everyone, and this proved to be true even for Isaac Barter. He found love with Ann Mary Jones, and they were married January 23, 1860. Interestingly this seemed to be the end of Isaac’s troublemaking days, as there were no further filings of any misconduct. Isaac lived until at least the age of 80. The end of his life was spent in the New South Wales, Australia, Hospital and Asylum. He was an infirm and destitute patient suffering from senile decay, his lawless days nothing more than a distant memory.



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