Actually, if it were someone like Hitler or Jeff Dahmer (yes, I know he’s a poor example for this hypothetical, but whatever), who have still-living victims, then I’d be concerned, if just because there are people for whom those memories are still painful. Well, that and if they were schizophrenic I’d want to watch out for that.
But if it was someone like Genghis Khan? You bet your ass I’d brag about it. (Actually, in his case I probably wouldn’t be that special, because I understand he has a ton of descendants.)
Consider this: given the amount of mayhem that human beings have been involved in over the millennia, it’s a dead cert that every single one of us is directly descended from people who did heinous things. Rapists, murderers, war criminals, etc etc etc. Cannibals, for that matter, if you go back far enough.
There are bound to be examples of each in everyone’s family tree.
ETA: For example: My surname comes directly from Vikings that settled in Ireland. They weren’t peaceful settlers.
I have an ancestor that was hanged for horse rustling, and there were slavers on my step-father’s side. Other than that, I have a pretty boring family tree. It could use some livening up.
Probably chagrin, at worst; maybe even somewhat uncomfortable, if the way I was descended from the ancestor was particularly vile (I guess I’m thinking rape, specifically, here).
It’d all be dulled by how many generations back it goes, of course. I’d guess the cutoff would be about the early 20th century or so for me to not feel things really viscerally. I mean, there’s suspected Viking ancestry on both sides of my family; my mother’s side has a lot of New England sea captains who it’s said were often pressured into making at least one slave run, and I have to figure that I’m descended from someone who bludgeoned someone else with a mammoth-bone club under questionable justification at least once.
On my dad’s side I’m German and Austrian, and descended in part from people who were in Austria during the Second World War and served in the German military during that conflict. Does that mean I’m related to ex-Nazis? Well, define ‘Nazi’. None of my relatives were especially high-ranking, I don’t think I have any camp guards in my family tree, and I’m not related to anyone who went before a war crimes tribunal. I have a grandmother who was essentially shanghaied into being a nurse and a somewhat more distant relative who served in the German Navy.
(I also have good evidence parts of my dad’s family were in the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the First World War and contributed to the war effort. Does anyone really think the Austro-Hungarian Empire was especially evil?)
My mom’s side is a big mess and I don’t even know where some of that bloodline comes from. I do know I’m part-Norwegian, which implies I might be descended from Vikings, but nobody really knows.
One of my father’s ancestors claimed to be related to George Washington and when a guy denied it he challenged him to a duel. He won and got off scott free. He later founded a town in Pennsylvania.
We know the whole thing is BS because every member of my family is actually descended from Charlemagne.
Oh, I also had a relative who was a member of Quantrills raiders. He got drunk on a raid (my family is prone to this) and was captured by some of the surviving townspeople who weren’t very happy about the events of the previous night.
Let’s just say he died of stoppage of breath in a meeting of the Uplifter’s Society.
And I don’t really care much, what’s done is done and all I know is not to do the same as them.
Wouldn’t bother me that much. I am already quite closely related to a relatively notorious criminal and murderer. There’s already a well-known play about him, at least one book and he’s been featured in a movie or two.
Exactly how I feel. The only time this could be an exception would be if one of my parents turned out to have done something terrible because they’ve had an active hand in raising me, but even then I think that would just lead me to rethink my view of them rather than myself.
Do I care? Well, it’s nothing to be proud of, and an awful thing for the victims. But, I don’t mind if people know that I’m related.
After all, David Carradine was my 9th cousin, and his death was surrounded by some, ahem, bad publicity, but I still think it’s cool to be able to connect to people, famous or infamous. I’ll even admit that George W. Bush is another 9th cousin, twice removed (through his mother). He’s not dead, but some might say he fits the “notorious, vile crime” part of the OP (YMMV).
My something-like-five-greats-uncle, a reasonably significant historical figure, was supposedly poisoned by one of his nephews. I like to assume that was my something-like-four-greats-grandfather, although I have absolutely no reason to think that it was he instead of some other nephew.
Since none of the family members who came over from Poland are still alive and no one living knows exactly which areas either side of the family came from, I’d be flat-out amazed if someone drew a line from there to here. And whoever back down the line may have done something horrendous certainly wouldn’t have any bearing on who I am and what I’ve done with my life. I would like to know the history of my ancestors just because, but except for passing along genetic material, what they did has nothing to do with me.
And if something was uncovered from my husband’s family tree, I could have a blast making in-law jokes!
I wonder how you would feel if you were still obtaining some benefit from the heinous actions of your ancestor.
I can think of a number of the UK aristocarcy that were deeply involved in the slave trade, such as the Lascelles of Harewood.
Its quite one thing to have no personal connection to the past events, but to still have wealth and social prestige based largely upon these heinous events seems to me to be something I would not want to continue.
Wouldn’t bother me. Heck my dad’s uncle went to prison for child molestation, and his son is currently in prison for murdering his girlfriend (possibly with his help, it’s uncertain). So I’ve got living relatives who are guilty of horrible crimes, and I don’t let it bother me.
On my mother’s side I’m descended from a long line of blueblood slaveholders from Wilmington, NC: the de Rosset family.
It both does and doesn’t bother me: On the one hand it doesn’t bother me because I had nothing to do with it, and would personally never tolerate nor participate in such a heinous activity. But on the other hand it does trouble me–deeply–that slavery was even an institutional at all, at any point in history, and I’m not happy that I’m even as historically closely connected to it, as I am!
