# Do you have a famous or infamous ancestor and are willing to tell us?



## tsilver (Aug 9, 2010)

I don't know too much about my ancestors but in the last few years I've been in touch with cousins in Italy on my mother's side.  Both sides of the family 
came from a hilly area near Avellino (Ariano Irpino).  No illustrious ancestors as far as I can tell although for a short while it seemed we had an archbishop of the Catholic Church among the branches (later declared a saint), but not so.  As far as I can tell, I come from a long line of Italian hillbillies and tradespeople.  Darn!  I was hoping for someone in the arts, or a horsethief, or someone colorful at least.


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## kindlequeen (Sep 3, 2010)

On my fathers side, my grandfather traced our family tree back to discover we're related to John Hancock and several soldiers who fought in the Civil War, not sure which side though.  On my mothers side, we're distantly related to Woodrow Wilson.  

Do those count?  They're not terribly exciting.  Having a saint in the family wouldn't be bad.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

On my mother's side (info from Wikipedia):

_Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 - January 11, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives and later served as the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts.

During the American Civil War, he served as a major general in the Union Army. His administration of occupied New Orleans, his policies regarding slaves as contraband, his ineffectual leadership in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign, and the fiasco of Fort Fisher rank him as one of the most controversial political generals of the war. He was widely reviled for years after the war by Southern whites, who gave him the nickname "Beast Butler."
_

Also, as appears to be the case with anyone with ties to Europe, there are indications I am related to Charlemagne; but like I say, that seems to be true for everyone with European roots.


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## Jane917 (Dec 29, 2009)

My maternal grandfather is silent screen actor Billy Bevan. You can read about him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Bevan

From this lineage also came current TV/Movie actor Alex O'Loughlin (of the new Hawaii 5-0 fame). Alex's grandfather and my grandfather were first cousins. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_O%27Loughlin


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

NogDog said:


> On my mother's side (info from Wikipedia):
> 
> _Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 - January 11, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives and later served as the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts.
> 
> ...


Congrats, Nogdog! I'm a minor Civil War fan, and I always consider Ben Butler a sort of lovable rogue that I like in a weird way. He took pride in being the "dirty hands" man who could get messy jobs done, but he was certainly unloved by the Southrons, and he wasn't a great battlefield commander (and I doubt he would have claimed he was one).


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## Margaret (Jan 1, 2010)

Years ago a cousin on my Dad's side of the family had our family tree traced back and found out that Sir Walter Raleigh is an ancestor of ours.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Margaret said:


> Years ago a cousin on my Dad's side of the family had our family tree traced back and found out that Sir Walter Raleigh is an ancestor of ours.


Margaret, you and I had ancestors who were acquaintances, or at least business partners. According to my Aunt's research, one of my ancestors owned one of the ships that took Raleigh's "lost colony" to the new world.

Other minor connections my Aunt has found were that one ancestor was a childhood playmate of Sam Houston (as someone who had immigrated to Texas, she took great pride in that) and we are related by marriage (not genetics) to Sequoyah.


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## tsilver (Aug 9, 2010)

KindleQueen:  Your ancestors seem pretty exciting to me.  I think genealogy is fun.  I wish I knew more.


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## tsilver (Aug 9, 2010)

Great ancestors NogDog but are you accusing Charlemagne as being promiscuous?  In that case, maybe he got down to Italy


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## tsilver (Aug 9, 2010)

Wow, Jane.  Do you have the acting bug also?


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## tsilver (Aug 9, 2010)

That's pretty neat Margaret.  Hang on to your cloak, however.


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## tsilver (Aug 9, 2010)

I would have admired you more Hooded Claw if you had been genetically related to Sequoyah.  But then, I'm not related to him either.


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## Jane917 (Dec 29, 2009)

tsilver said:


> Wow, Jane. Do you have the acting bug also?


The acting bug never hit me. By the time I came along, my grandfather was an avocado rancher in southern California, though he still communted to Hollywood to make movies. He moved out of Hollywood when my mother was only 9, so that his kids would have a normal life. He was classically trainined, and had no use for the "Hollywood social scene." Wonder what he would think now! However, my mother went to school in her early years with some fairly famous childhood stars.

My grandfather was so un-Hollywood, that he lets us kids vote on his Academy Awards ballot. I still remember him going to Hollywood for the awards, and the top hat and tails that he wore. My biggest thrill was going to Hollywood to visit his best friend, Andy Clyde, who was a regular at that time on Lassie. Andy took me several times to visit the kennel where all the Lassies were.....there were a lot of Lassies, and most were really Laddies.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

kindlequeen said:


> On my fathers side, my grandfather traced our family tree back to discover we're related to John Hancock and several soldiers who fought in the Civil War, not sure which side though. On my mothers side, we're distantly related to Woodrow Wilson.
> 
> Do those count? They're not terribly exciting. Having a saint in the family wouldn't be bad.


Well, hello then cousin. My John Hancock's Wife Dorothy is my Aunt through my maternal grandfather.

But my most infamous traces down a different line from that same grandfather, my many greats back was arrested as a witch in Salem.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

Famous family Mom's side:
Brigham Young 
various others traced back to 7 different members of the Mayflower.
Dad's Side:
George Herman (the Babe) Ruth
and When my mom's family was being particularly stuck up about ancestry, he always liked to joke that some of his ancestors were here to greet the Mayflower.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

BTackitt said:


> various others traced back to 7 different members of the Mayflower.


Then we're probably related, too .... Does that mean I can hit you up for a loan, cuz?


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

Geoffrey said:


> Then we're probably related, too .... Does that mean I can hit you up for a loan, cuz?


Come on over for a visit Geoff, you're only a couple hours away.  My family has always been into geneology, Members of the DAR, SAR, and Mayflower Society, and I have huge family history books.


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## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

On my dad's side of the family, I'm related to Jean Arthur.  Every time Shane is on tv, Dad makes sure to call and remind me that she's my cousin.
On my mother's side, Jefferson Davis.


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

My late sister traced our genealogy on my mother's side all the way back to Charles Martel, Charlemagne, William the Conqueror, William Wallace (of "Braveheart" fame), and Sir Walter Raleigh.  I have to admit that it's kind of fun seeing a family tree going way back to Charles Martel and ending with my daughters' names.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

tsilver said:


> Great ancestors NogDog but are you accusing Charlemagne as being promiscuous? In that case, maybe he got down to Italy


Not so much promiscuous but rather that he was "productive", I understand. Mostly it's a combination of being enough generations ago that the family tree branches of so many people intersect his descendants, plus his descendants tended to keep track of their genealogy more than mere commoners, perhaps. Also, I suspect there are more than a few specious claims of being a descendant.


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## par2323 (Nov 22, 2010)

My fifth great uncle on my mother's side: Ethan Allen of the Green Mountain Boys (and more recently, a line of furniture manufacturers).

Here's the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethan_Allen


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## Guest (Feb 20, 2011)

BTackitt said:


> Famous family Mom's side:
> Brigham Young
> various others traced back to 7 different members of the Mayflower.
> Dad's Side:
> ...


You're related to Babe Ruth? That's amazing! And here I thought I was going to win by being related to Sir Francis Drake. How foolish of me!


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

ROFL and here I thought Sir Francis Drake trumped The Babe.


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## Ashley Lynn Willis (Jan 27, 2011)

According to my grandmother, my family on her side is related to Belle Star.  In college, I told my boyfriend this.  Turned out his great, great grandfather was killed by her.  He was actually mad at me over this for like a week.  I’m not kidding.  He was a weird one.


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## tsilver (Aug 9, 2010)

Wow!  This is all very interesting.  Glad I started this thread.


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## Ashley Lynn Willis (Jan 27, 2011)

tsilver said:


> Wow! This is all very interesting. Glad I started this thread.


I've noticed you always start the most interesting ones!


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## tsilver (Aug 9, 2010)

Thank you Ashley but at 86 I have a lot of time on my hands--no job, no one to depend on me, not enough energy to enjoy my old vices; so I have my fun on the computer.  It's fun for me to try to think of different topics and to read the responses.


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## Ashley Lynn Willis (Jan 27, 2011)

Didn't you start the thread titled Boobs?  I'm pretty sure everyone on the Kindle boards had a looksee at that one.  LOL.  When I finally release my first book, I'm going to have you name the thread.    Keep em comin'!


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## metal134 (Sep 2, 2010)

To be honest, I have absolutley no knowledge of my lineage beyond my grandparents.  It's odd, I am a history buff but never really cared at all about my family's history.


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## tsilver (Aug 9, 2010)

Yes, Ashley, I'm the culprit.  I may be old but I'm also a bit ornery.


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## JFHilborne (Jan 22, 2011)

An old family tree traces our roots back to Oliver Cromwell. Not sure how I feel about that.


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## PraiseGod13 (Oct 27, 2008)

My grandpa's cousin was the commander of the Bismark in WWII.


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## BlondeStylus (Jan 28, 2011)

What a fun thread!  

Well, here's my only famous (or infamous) ancestor I know of.  Wagner, the composer.  Well thought of as changing music but not so well thought of since Hitler played his music at the death camps.


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## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

On my dad's side, George Washington's mother was in my family tree, and on my mom's side, we're related to Samuel Huntington, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.  On my dad's side, our family history goes back to 1540's in England from what I traced through Ancestry.com, but I only know the ones who came to the Colonies in the 1640's from a book one of my relatives spent decades putting together.  So, all of you whose family came after the Civil War, you can leave now...  j/k


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## tsilver (Aug 9, 2010)

As Geronimo's grandchildren would say, Cliff "You can leave now".


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

My grandparents and my aunt are buried pretty much right next to Roger Brooke Taney who was the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.  The cemetery is about 3 blocks from where I went to grade school. . .it was a spring field trip for 8th graders every year.  My mother is buried just a little way away.

Apparently there are also several generations buried at Mt. Olivet Cemetery which is also where Francis Scott Key is buried.  On my mother's side we go back to before the American Revolution; my father's parents were born in Ireland and came over early in the last century.


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## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

On my father's side, lineages run back to Scottish minor nobility...
On my mother's side, lineages run back to England's royal family...
This causes a great deal of conflict within the family tree at some point I'm sure.


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## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

tsilver said:


> As Geronimo's grandchildren would say, Cliff "You can leave now".


Naw, my great grandmother was a Kiowa, so I still get to stay  and I'm only joking about people leaving....


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## Ben White (Feb 11, 2011)

I found out fairly recently that I'm a decendant of William I, William the Conqueror, "William the Bastard" to his friends. My reaction to this was, naturally enough, "So why don't I live in a castle, then?". And I still want to know, why don't I live in a castle?


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

One of my relatives has traced us back to John Reid, who arrived in Boston in 1635. Not a single famous name in all the years since then.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

T.L. Haddix said:


> It's actually not that uncommon to be related to English royalty. Here's why. This is the number of individuals in your family tree, whether they are identified or not....
> 
> ...Also, if the average generation is 20 years, then William the Conqueror would be approximately 47 generations back. Now, I'm sure there are math people here who can make a magic formula and come up with the number of ancestors that generation would contain.


If nobody in your entire family tree to that point ever married anyone they were related to enough to share one or more direct ancestors, then it would be a number that approaches "astronomical" status: 247 or 140,737,488,355,328. Since that is approximately 1200 times the total number of people who have ever lived on Earth, it gives you a pretty good indication that if you're of a given ethnicity/nationality, by the time you trace back that many generations, the odds that you are related to anyone else with that ethnicity/nationality approach 100%.


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## AnnetteL (Jul 14, 2010)

My grandfather was a body guard to the Russian Tsar. Got drunk one night, was late for his post, and ran through a graveyard to get there. Fell into an open grave. The story goes that he propped the casket inside on end and climbed up it to get out. (Imagine the shock of the graveyard workers when they returned . . .)


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

Well tsilver you wanted a horse-thief?
Apparently my grandfather's uncle was hung in Illinois as a horse-theif.

Just sayin.....


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## tsilver (Aug 9, 2010)

Geoffrey, I was wanting a colorful ancestor--especially since I have a couple of brothers who are and have been colorful to say the least.  I was wondering where they got those qualities.  That's the part of genealogy that interests me.  What were they like?  Do any of their descendants take after them?  Do you know the story about your family's black sheep?  It might be interesting.  I think my maternal grandfather might have been a colorful character but all I know so far is that he was a tyrant.


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## Tatiana (Aug 20, 2010)

On of my ancestors was Dr. Ephriam Brevard, one of the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.  This document was supposedly signed on May 20, 1775  in Charlotte, NC.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

geoffthomas said:


> Well tsilver you wanted a horse-thief?
> Apparently my grandfather's uncle was hung in Illinois as a horse-theif.
> 
> Just sayin.....


One of the family names on my mother's side was Wimp. We're not sure if it had anything to do with the derivation of the common usage of the word "wimp" now.  (I'm pretty sure that it had nothing to do with Weakly Interacting Massive Particles in current cosmology, though.  )


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## Addie (Jun 10, 2009)

I really enjoy reading this thread!
I don't know much about my ancestors. I've never done the research. But mom did once tell me we were related to a Korean queen and some well-known Korean general long ago.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

T.L. Haddix said:


> Generation eleven = 1,024
> Generation twelve = 2,048
> Generation thirteen = 4,096
> Generation fourteen = 8,192
> Generation fifteen = 16,384


Of course, this assumes you have no shared ancestors in the family lines ... where one runs into trouble is when these numbers be come too small. If generation 15 is still in 3-digits ....

But, all kidding aside, on my father's side, I am related to a chunk of the population of NW Ohio - some of whom I'm related to 2 or 3 times over. If you have any relatives from that area with last names Snyder, Rettig or Eis, chances are extremely high that we're cousins at least once over.


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## Guest (Feb 21, 2011)

BTackitt said:


> ROFL and here I thought Sir Francis Drake trumped The Babe.


Maybe we need to have a poll.


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## 1131 (Dec 18, 2008)

BTackitt said:


> ROFL and here I thought Sir Francis Drake trumped The Babe.


BTackitt, nobody trumps The Babe!

My famous ancestor is John Adams, I'm one of thousands. In fact my current supervisor at the day job also traces her family back to him. My cousin has an old Bible that lists the family since before Adams. The Bible has been handed down since sometime in the early 1800s.

As for infamous, my greatgrandfather was a Texas Ranger who actually went by the name of Tex. When Tex left the Rangers he took up cattle rustling in Montana. His story was that he left Montana "with the law on my heels girl, the law on my heels".


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## Alle Meine Entchen (Dec 6, 2009)

my dad (the geneologist in the family) says that I'm related to french royalty, but then his computer crashed and he lost all of his research. I'm also related to a man who killed the only town dr (in Paintsville KY) back in the 1800s. It wasn't an accidental shooting (he sent his son back for more guns/bullets).

DH is related to (on his mom's side) Wileyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Wiley]Jenny Wileyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Wiley[/url] and the native americans that kidnapped her and (on his dad side) David Harmon (who was one of the men who started that particular fight w/ the native americans)


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## kindlequeen (Sep 3, 2010)

How fun!  I'm wondering why I didn't see any replies to this thread sooner!  

This is making me want to trace things back more.... my uncle has done some research on my maternal grandfather's side going way back in Sweden but I have yet to see it - apparently some distant relative is writing a book.  I'm personally dying to know what royalty I'm related to!  (My mother would swear that if reincarnation were real, I was somebody terribly spoiled in previous lives!)

I'm delighted to be related to you Geoffrey!  This must explain why I've been attracted to so many books you've recommended on here!

I'm starting to get curious how many of us actually are related and don't even know it!


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

T.L. Haddix said:


> I'd say a good number of us are related. The longer our ancestors have been here, the more likely the kinship.
> 
> I think my most recent ancestor came over no later than 1815, and my heritage is primarily English/Scottish. There is a smidge of German and Irish in there, with some Melungeon added just for spice. What's a Melungeon? I'd recommend Google as the easiest explanation source.
> 
> If your ancestors came from the Virginia/Tennessee/Kentucky/North Carolina area, you and I are possibly kin. If they came from the Appalachian regions in those states, we're probably kin.


I'm sure we must be related. I have Murrays and [Mac?]Laughlins on my father's side and Butlers on my mother's side, all definitely from Scotland/England/Ireland, with some here in "the colonies" in pre-Revolution times.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

T.L. Haddix said:


> Hmmm. There was Elizabeth Butler Underwood, wife of one of the Combses a few hundred years ago. I don't know if she has been disproven or is still considered the real deal. Since I started writing, I've not had time to play with genealogy like I did before. I was actually going to go into professional genealogy before I started writing but it didn't work out for a couple reasons I won't go into.


I only know a little bit: my sister and one of my cousins on my father's side have done _lots_ of research, however. I find it kind of interesting, but not enough to put in the time or energy to really study it.


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## kindlequeen (Sep 3, 2010)

My family has been here for God knows how long, my paternal Grandfather came from New Jersey (he's the one traced back to John Hancock and a few Civil War soldiers), my paternal Grandmother's side is from the Dakotas (she came to California as a child).

My maternal Grandmother's side has been settled in California for quite awhile, my great great grandmother moved to San Francisco just in time for the great earthquake (my great grandmother was 1), before that they were sheep farmers in the Brentwood area.  My maternal grandfather's side is the one traced all the way back to Sweden (I know the family name was Bergner - how it got changed to Wilson, we aren't sure but we do know it was changed on Ellis Island), I know we can trace several generations back in San Francisco on this side.

My stepfather's family was always proud that they gave shelter to Robert E. Lee during the civil war in the Dakotas.... that's their claim to fame and the names Robert and Lee have been passed down the lines in honor of him (even though they were living in the North).

If we're going by last names.... my maiden name is Jones.


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## kindlequeen (Sep 3, 2010)

You made me laugh!!!!

My name happens to be Sara Jones!  Well, it was before marriage and my grandmother was Mary Jones (maiden was Soderbaum but she hated it and insisted she would only marry a Jones, Smith or Brown).

I might have to ask for your advice in the future if I ever get brave enough to try to figure out my lineage!


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## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

T.L. Haddix said:


> I'd say a good number of us are related. The longer our ancestors have been here, the more likely the kinship.
> 
> I think my most recent ancestor came over no later than 1815, and my heritage is primarily English/Scottish. There is a smidge of German and Irish in there, with some Melungeon added just for spice. What's a Melungeon? I'd recommend Google as the easiest explanation source.
> 
> If your ancestors came from the Virginia/Tennessee/Kentucky/North Carolina area, you and I are possibly kin. If they came from the Appalachian regions in those states, we're probably kin.


My mom has herself convinced that some of those people who live in the Appalachians are the Lost Colony of Roanoke. She says that there's a story going around that they went inland, married some of the Native Americans, along with runaway slaves, and up until the early 20th century were in hiding in the deepest parts of the Appalachians. She thinks some of her relatives were from that band of people. Have you ever heard of that?

Plus, my dad's side of the family settled in Fairfax and Lee counties before they were Fairfax and Lee Counties, Virginia. I was watching that show "Who Are You?" and I think my family probably bought some land from Tim McGraw's ancestors...


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## Martel47 (Jun 14, 2010)

Nope.  Not really related to anyone famous or infamous.  Some of us had to be the common folk that got kicked around by all your ancestors!

We have some fun and colorful family stories, like someone fleeing England because he was caught in an amorous relationship with a lady above his stature...

...beyond that sort of thing, on the other side of the family, I'm distantly related to the current 2 bagger for the Astros.


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## tsilver (Aug 9, 2010)

Martel:  I think I'd enjoy hearing some of your fun and colorful family stories.


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## ◄ Jess ► (Apr 21, 2010)

How do you guys find all this out about your ancestors?! I only have one living grandparent and she can't go back that far in our relatives. No one in my family even knows what our heritage is or how we ended up in the U.S. I think it would be cool to be able to figure out all your ancestors like you all have.


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

Jessica Billings said:


> How do you guys find all this out about your ancestors?! I only have one living grandparent and she can't go back that far in our relatives. No one in my family even knows what our heritage is or how we ended up in the U.S. I think it would be cool to be able to figure out all your ancestors like you all have.


My sister did a lot of research, using software, online resources, cemeteries, public records, and genealogical libraries. (She loved visiting the Mormon library in Salt Lake City.) She also traveled abroad a number of times, and was able to meet some of our relatives in Ireland. One of them had done quite a bit of genealogical research, too, and her research meshed perfectly with my sister's. My sister was able to get her hands on a document by the Magna Carta Society, which is where she found our links to Charles Martel, Charlemagne, etc. I passed her research on to my cousin when my sister passed away, but I think I'm going to get copies from my cousin so that I can do some research, too.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Jessica Billings said:


> How do you guys find all this out about your ancestors?! I only have one living grandparent and she can't go back that far in our relatives. No one in my family even knows what our heritage is or how we ended up in the U.S. I think it would be cool to be able to figure out all your ancestors like you all have.





Cindy416 said:


> My sister did a lot of research, using software, online resources, cemeteries, public records, and genealogical libraries. (She loved visiting the Mormon library in Salt Lake City.) She also traveled abroad a number of times, and was able to meet some of our relatives in Ireland. One of them had done quite a bit of genealogical research, too, and her research meshed perfectly with my sister's. My sister was able to get her hands on a document by the Magna Carta Society, which is where she found our links to Charles Martel, Charlemagne, etc. I passed her research on to my cousin when my sister passed away, but I think I'm going to get copies from my cousin so that I can do some research, too.


Yeah, my sister and cousin have done a lot of research, including various census reports and other civic records which many states/cities now have on-line. As far as I know, though, my family name dead-ends at my great grandfather, who was either an orphan or abandoned, depending on which story you want to believe. Additionally, it's possible he may have changed the spelling or made it up out of ignorance, so it's tough to even make guesses. Therefore I may actually be a Reese, Reece, Riese, Rees, or Rhys.


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## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

Jessica Billings said:


> How do you guys find all this out about your ancestors?! I only have one living grandparent and she can't go back that far in our relatives. No one in my family even knows what our heritage is or how we ended up in the U.S. I think it would be cool to be able to figure out all your ancestors like you all have.


My dad's side of the family has kept very extensive records, and we had someone who married into the family back in the mid part of the 20th century who decided to bring all of those records together, at least since the family arrived in the 1640's, and put it into book form. It took her about 20 years to do it too. I even stumbled across the digitized version of it a few years back, someone had put it on their computer and put it on the web.

On my mom's side, some of the records are incomplete. Her grandmother was full blooded Kiowa, so she doesn't know anything about where her grandmother was before she met that part of the family. My mom had been hitting roadblocks for 15-20 years until Ancestry.com and all of those other sites came along, and she's managed to figure out where some of her relatives were after the Civil War, but before its kind of a mystery.


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## Alessandra Kelley (Feb 22, 2011)

My grandpa's grandpa was Congressman William Darrah Kelley of Philadelphia, who did a few good things in his time in Congress (1860-1890).  He was a founder of the Republican party (back when they were anti-slavery) and known for chewing out Abraham Lincoln for being too wishy-washy about giving civil rights to African-Americans.  He volunteered to fight for the north in the Civil War, even though as a Congressman he was exempt from service.  Oh, and he was the one who started the movement to make Yellowstone a national park.

The family was awfully late bloomers, though.  WDK was almost a century older than my grandpa, his grandson.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

This is really fun to read. Some of the names that pertain to American history I had to look up. Fascinating.

I am from Germany. My dad is from Bohemia and my mom told me they found out that her father, my grandfather is descended from Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz. Apparently there was a maid or some kind of servant of sorts and he had a By-blow. Of course we are coming from that By-blow . No castle for me either .

What was really eerie is when I looked on Google I found this wikipedia entry on the dude and with a drawing. My jaw dropped as that could be my uncle, one of my mothers brothers.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_I,_Prince_of_Windisch-Gr%C3%A4tz

The likeness is scary, yes including that nose . My brother has it too. Mine thankfully isn't quite that large 

We can't go back on my dads side, but going by stories from his long dead mother, there is something Gipsy going on somewhere. My dads hair is black and his eyes are green like emeralds and he has a ruddy dark complexion in summer. He is very short though. But his brothers are also very dark that way. So who knows, there are no records to be had as they fled the country to walk to Germany across before the border was locked for then Czech Republic.
So I imagine some infamous Gypsy king or something 

Still no castle either.


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

NogDog said:


> Yeah, my sister and cousin have done a lot of research, including various census reports and other civic records which many states/cities now have on-line. As far as I know, though, my family name dead-ends at my great grandfather, who was either an orphan or abandoned, depending on which story you want to believe. Additionally, it's possible he may have changed the spelling or made it up out of ignorance, so it's tough to even make guesses. Therefore I may actually be a Reese, Reece, Riese, Rees, or Rhys.


I know what you mean. My dad's great-great (maybe another great) grandfather was orphaned either before getting on the boat to come over here or while on it, and he was adopted by a Methodist minister, so we can't go any further back in his line that his name. I hate it that we hit a dead-end there.


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

BlondStylus said:


> What a fun thread!
> 
> Well, here's my only famous (or infamous) ancestor I know of. Wagner, the composer. Well thought of as changing music but not so well thought of since Hitler played his music at the death camps.


BlondStylus, I guess we're related somehow -- an ancestor on my mom's side is Cosima, Wagner's second wife. (And I think he didn't have any kids with his first wife.) Hi cousin! 

(I like the music... the later horrid associations aren't Wagner's fault.)


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## caracara (May 23, 2010)

We have been in Texas for at least five generations. I had to do a project in 7th Grade Texas History about the first person to come to Texas that we are directly related to.

Gorden C. Jennings. He was the oldest defender at the Alamo. And his brother was killed in the Goliad Massacre.
I'm proud of my Texas heritage. If you go back far enough I go back to Germany, on both sides of my family.


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## Jeremy C. Shipp (Feb 23, 2011)

Supposedly, I'm related to Jesse James.

-Jeremy


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

Cliff Ball said:


> My mom has herself convinced that some of those people who live in the Appalachians are the Lost Colony of Roanoke. She says that there's a story going around that they went inland, married some of the Native Americans, along with runaway slaves, and up until the early 20th century were in hiding in the deepest parts of the Appalachians. She thinks some of her relatives were from that band of people. Have you ever heard of that?


I've never heard that story before but it's great. There's a part of me wishing it was true.


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## John Hamilton (May 6, 2010)

Cindy416 said:


> My late sister traced our genealogy on my mother's side all the way back to Charles Martel, Charlemagne, William the Conqueror, William Wallace (of "Braveheart" fame), and Sir Walter Raleigh. I have to admit that it's kind of fun seeing a family tree going way back to Charles Martel and ending with my daughters' names.


Well, hello, cuz! I also count William the Conqueror as an ancestor.


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## John Hamilton (May 6, 2010)

For anyone who's interested, I recently was the project manager/editor on a series of 6 books about genealogy. They're children's books, but the series is a great start for anyone who wants to trace their family tree but is unsure where to start. It's possible your library might have a set (they're really not priced for consumers). The series name is "Your Family Tree," and the author's name is Jim Ollhoff.










Another excellent book is _Secrets of Tracing Your Ancestors_ by W. Daniel Quillen. Highly recommended.

Oh, and back on topic: one of my ancestors had his head chopped off at the Tower of London, charged with sedition against the crown.  Evidently, I come from a long line of troublemakers.


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## Alle Meine Entchen (Dec 6, 2009)

John Hamilton said:


> For anyone who's interested, I recently was the project manager/editor on a series of 6 books about genealogy. They're children's books, but the series is a great start for anyone who wants to trace their family tree but is unsure where to start. It's possible your library might have a set (they're really not priced for consumers). The series name is "Your Family Tree," and the author's name is Jim Ollhoff.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


one of mine escaped from prison only to set up a general store a couple of towns away. Aparently, no one wanted to try to capture him again. That might mean he was scary


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## 13500 (Apr 22, 2010)

I have really enjoyed reading this thread. I always wanted to be related to English royalty, but, alas, I only know about my family back two or three generations. They were farmers in Poland. No one talked about the relatives once my great-grandparents came over to the United States, and, I guess no one cares enough to trace it back?!?


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

KarenW.B. said:


> I have really enjoyed reading this thread. I always wanted to be related to English royalty, but, alas, I only know about my family back two or three generations. They were farmers in Poland. No one talked about the relatives once my great-grandparents came over to the United States, and, I guess no one cares enough to trace it back?!?


With all the back-and-forth Poland has suffered over the centuries amongst various European powers conquering it, marching through it, etc., and since all the European royal houses intermarried quite a bit, odds are good that eventually you're Polish ancestors can claim some sort of link to British royalty. However, as they say, there's probably no castle in it for you.


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## 13500 (Apr 22, 2010)

Bummer.


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## John Hamilton (May 6, 2010)

T.L. Haddix said:


> It might be nice to have a castle for a day, but after that, think about all the upkeep. And the utility bills? Oh, heck no.


My family has a castle in Scotland, but it's haunted by a murdered bagpiper. You just don't want to listen to that in the middle of the night.


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## 13500 (Apr 22, 2010)

John Hamilton said:


> My family has a castle in Scotland, but it's haunted by a murdered bagpiper. You just don't want to listen to that in the middle of the night.


Really? Please elaborate.

T.L., I would be willing to deal with those hardships.


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## John Hamilton (May 6, 2010)

KarenW.B. said:


> Really? Please elaborate.


Gladly! I wrote about it in my book _Haunted Places_, from the Series "The World of Horror" (Abdo Publishing, 2007). My connection is with the McCallum Clan. I'm also related to the original builders of the castle, the MacDougalls.

DUNTRUNE CASTLE

Duntrune Castle was built in the 12th century. It is the oldest, continuously inhabited building in Scotland. Located on Loch Crinan, overlooking the Sound of Jura, it is also home to a ghost.

In the 1600s, an invading Irishman named Coll MacDonnell approached the castle, which at that time was home to the Campbells of Duntrune. Before attacking, MacDonnell sent his bagpiper forward to spy on the castle's defenses. The piper was captured and thrown into one of the castle's towers. Looking out the turret window, he saw his lord's ship approaching. He played a warning song from his bagpipe, which caused MacDonnell to turn his ship safely around.

The angry Campbells immediately had the piper's hands cut off, and then butchered him. For many years afterward, even after the castle passed into the hands of the McCallum Clan, the ghostly sound of distant bagpipes echoed through the halls of Duntrune Castle. In 1910, workers found the fingerless skeleton of a man within the castle walls. And in the 1960s, while the castle kitchen was being renovated, workmen found two skeleton hands under the floor. Even though the skeleton was given a proper burial, the eerie bagpipe music can still occasionally be heard.


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## 13500 (Apr 22, 2010)

John Hamilton said:


> Gladly! I wrote about it in my book _Haunted Places_, from the Series "The World of Horror" (Abdo Publishing, 2007). My connection is with the McCallum Clan. I'm also related to the original builders of the castle, the MacDougalls.
> 
> DUNTRUNE CASTLE
> 
> ...


That is awesome. Have you been to the castle?


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## John Hamilton (May 6, 2010)

KarenW.B. said:


> That is awesome. Have you been to the castle?


Sadly, no. I was on a shooting assignment for a brief time in the London area, but didn't have time to get over to Scotland. Someday I'll return when I don't have deadlines breathing down my neck.


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