From Merovingian Kings and the Sea-Kings of Norway, the ancestors of Jeffry Jovan Philyaw (aka Jovan Hutton Pulitzer) quickly forgot their beginnings in the castles of Europe. There they fought for family, honour and power; Lords, Earls, Templar Knights, Knights of the Garter, Kings and Queens of Scotland, England, Wales and Europe. When the politics began to stifle their freedom, they moved to the Americas, many of them changing their names. As they spread across the nation, they became farmers, teachers, attorneys, politicians, doctors, nurses and soldiers fighting in every war since the Revolution. While his fathers side were Protestants and traditional religious leaders, Jovan's mother's ancestors were Jewish and suffered the indignities of the Holocaust, some of them dying in concentration camps, while others cooperated with the Germans and were scientists and high-ranking soldiers. Families were torn apart, and principles were compromised in order to survive.