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Post by Scarlet Ohana on Jul 18, 2014 19:18:48 GMT
So I mentioned in another thread that I got my DNA test back, I'm adopted so this is all very new and exciting for me. I did have my mother's name and started a family tree on Ancestry.com and I have been addicted to it. It's pretty exciting when your 10th gg is a familiar name. I guess if your family has been in the country like mine has since the beginning you're going to be related to some interesting characters in history. So far I found..
Lots of Lords, Ladies, Knights and Sirs. No Kings or Queens yet. Mylish Standish and John Alden from the Mayflower A "witch: named Rachel from the Salem Witch Trials The 2nd Governor of the Commonwealth of Mass. Thomas Dudley who was also a founder of Harvard. I also found they have a scholarship at Harvard for his direct descendants! A Mormon polygamist pioneer, who had taken his wives and children to Mexico to flee the new laws of Utah against polygamy.
I thought for a while that THE John Smith was my 10th gg, but you have to really watch out for the dates because sometimes what people post on their trees is incorrect. So it was just another John Smith.
It's lots of fun to me going from not related to anyone (other than my kids) to a whole lot of people!!
Anyone interesting in your tree you are related to?
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loco coco
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,662
Jun 26, 2014 16:15:45 GMT
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Post by loco coco on Jul 18, 2014 19:31:49 GMT
that is very cool! It is so much fun One of my lines is pretty neat: Dads (dad) side: Lords and Ladies in England In the 1500's my 11th great grandfather attended Oxford His son then came to America and was a member of the House of Burgess in the Colony of Jamestown (my 10th great grandfather) Fast forward quite a bit and my 4th great uncle has a historical landmark set up for him. He was crucial in winning Texas Independence in the Battle of San Jacinto and has a cemetery named after him and my relatives. This is his quote: "Boys, before many hours we will have one of the damndest, bloodiest fights that ever was fought and I believe it would be a good plan to go and burn that bridge so as not only to impede the advance of reinforcements of the enemy, but it will cut off all chance of retreat of either party." Moms (mom) side: My closet grandmother was Italian, while I love searching this side the most they didn't immigrate over until the late 1800s so most of the records are in Italian I am stuck on this now.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Jul 18, 2014 19:38:23 GMT
Be really, really careful what you pull from other trees on ancestry. It's a wonderful resource for who your relatives MIGHT be - but I have found more often than not the information is wrong. People have a tendency to try and find a link to a famous person, and with just grab someone with the same name. Documentation is often non-existent.
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Post by leftturnonly on Jul 18, 2014 19:39:56 GMT
Between my husband's family and mine, so far it looks like I'm related to every other settler of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia, Missouri, Texas ...... I'm pretty sure Massachusetts and Connecticut can be thrown in there too. It's a little crazy. Imagine being one of the few families - with a dozen kids or so - in a huge area. All the other families have a dozen kids or so. It's shocking that they intermingle and have kids together!
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Post by Kelpea on Jul 18, 2014 19:42:55 GMT
My Great Uncles built the Brookyln Bridge. They were the Robeling Brothers; my grandpa changed his name while living in Queens, NY to Robelen. Other than that, I got nothin.'
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Post by Scarlet Ohana on Jul 18, 2014 19:44:37 GMT
That's what happened with John Smith. Until I looked closer! It wasn't the John Smith they were saying it was. Dates were different, and no documentation.
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Post by Scarlet Ohana on Jul 18, 2014 19:47:23 GMT
That's really awesome!
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Sue
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,231
Location: SE of Portland, Oregon
Jun 26, 2014 18:42:33 GMT
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Post by Sue on Jul 18, 2014 19:56:06 GMT
I have several direct Mayflower ancestors on my Dad's "northern" side and ancestors on my Mom's "southern" side who were here even before the Mayflower and one line that does go back to royalty. That's all interesting but what I have really loved more than anything is learning some of the stories of my great-grands who were born in the 1800's. The tales of Indian encounters (as they were known in that time), the story of my 2nd great grandfather who died while trying to rescue his barn animals from a fire started by a prairie fire, the story of my great grandmother who was bite by a rattlesnake as a teenager and every after could smell a rattlesnake when one was close by or the time she was "rescued" as a little girl walking home from school by an Indian gentleman on a horse as a tornado was about to overtake them. The stories go on and I love how they bring these people to life for me. I can't imagine the stories from my life will be half so interesting to my future descendants!
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Gravity
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,229
Jun 27, 2014 0:29:55 GMT
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Post by Gravity on Jul 18, 2014 20:03:32 GMT
I'm related to the first President of Texas.
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rodeomom
Pearl Clutcher
Refupee # 380 "I don't have to run fast, I just have to run faster than you."
Posts: 3,656
Location: Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma
Jun 25, 2014 23:34:38 GMT
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Post by rodeomom on Jul 18, 2014 20:13:17 GMT
I have been doing genealogy for over 30 years. I have tons of stories. One is my gg Uncles in the civil war. They lived near each other in the same county in Arkansas. When war broke out one fought for the south and the other for the north. When the war was over they both came home and lived the remainder of their lives in the same place. We have never heard of any bad blood between the families.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Mar 29, 2024 7:43:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2014 20:32:14 GMT
I'm a descendant of Pocahontas in my family tree. (she is on my Grandfather's mother's side) I can trace my descendants on my Grandfather's father's side (by name) all the way back to 1694.
I've also got Woodrow Wilson (a Democrat...YIKES! LOL) Ironically enough, he married a Bolling woman...which is the tie to Pocahontas. So technically, I'm related to him by marriage only...not blood.
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Post by red88 on Jul 18, 2014 20:56:20 GMT
My husbands family is a descendant of Oliver Cromwell. His great great grandma was a princess from India who was exiled when she married an English officer. She came to the states in the 1800's. My great great uncles ran with Butch Cassidy & the Hole in the Rock Gang. I don't know anything else from my side. My mil is a huge genealogist & has gone back hundreds of years! She's been researching for 40 years. Her files are amazing.
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Post by Scarlet Ohana on Jul 18, 2014 21:19:56 GMT
My husbands family is a descendant of Oliver Cromwell. His great great grandma was a princess from India who was exiled when she married an English officer. She came to the states in the 1800's. My great great uncles ran with Butch Cassidy & the Hole in the Rock Gang. I don't know anything else from my side. My mil is a huge genealogist & has gone back hundreds of years! She's been researching for 40 years. Her files are amazing. That's an amazing story. I think my favorite part of all this is ready the actual stories! So maybe I'm related to your DH. My 19th GGrandmother is Lady Margaret Baroness Cromwell, she was born 1368.
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Post by workingclassdog on Jul 18, 2014 21:44:42 GMT
Not me but my husband is a 8th cousin or something to Davy Crockett who is linked to Bill Clinton... so if that works, he could also be linked to Clinton.. Not sure how I would feel about that! lol
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Mar 29, 2024 7:43:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2014 21:45:53 GMT
I've always been interested, but haven't had time to research. One of my ancestors worked on the atomic bomb. We have certificates he was presented with for his work.
My several times great grandfather was superintendent of the West Florida Seminary (later became Florida State) during the civil war. I do have the family tree from that side dating back to the 1600's, but someone else did all the work.
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oaksong
Drama Llama
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Location: LA Suburbia
Site Supporter
Jun 27, 2014 6:24:29 GMT
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Post by oaksong on Jul 18, 2014 21:49:26 GMT
I share a common ancestor with Pres. Obama - a gggg-grandfather and a Revolutionary War captain. I thought it was so cool when I found out, but my Fox News-loving older relatives weren't thrilled.
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Post by melanell on Jul 19, 2014 0:41:33 GMT
Be really, really careful what you pull from other trees on ancestry. It's a wonderful resource for who your relatives MIGHT be - but I have found more often than not the information is wrong. People have a tendency to try and find a link to a famous person, and with just grab someone with the same name. Documentation is often non-existent. ITA. Online trees are just something to prove correct in my opinion. Sometimes I do prove them correct. Sometimes I prove them incorrect, and sometimes I can take one look at them and know they are incorrect just based on what I already know. And of course, there are the times when one person believes one thing and one believes another, and neither can find proof. I have some of those happening in my tree.
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Post by melanell on Jul 19, 2014 0:45:04 GMT
I have no one famous. I have the typical batch of titled ancestors that one tends to find if they go back far enough in England, and there's an Italian who is titled, but no one of note. I have a few who would be recognizable to people in my area with a passion for local history, but that's about it.
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Post by ntsf on Jul 19, 2014 1:13:00 GMT
I am related to no one famous. my dh is related to one of the founders of Harvard, many veterans of the various american wars..back to the 1670's, and supposedly a french nobleman who settled in Ireland in the 1200's. (the family still farms land that has a defensive tower on it..from the 1200's..).
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Post by myboysnme on Jul 19, 2014 1:18:42 GMT
Lots of Lords, Ladies, Knights and Sirs. No Kings or Queens yet Mylish Standish and John Alden from the Mayflower www.familytreemagazine.com/article/mayflower-descendants interesting article on Mayflower descendants. I have found through my years of genealogical research that most connections to royalty and to historic figures are inaccurate connections. The people who immigrated to the USA were not royal, propertied, people. I have had my share of connections that led to King James and the like, but in reality, those were false connections. I'm just saying, be careful. My grandmother's uncle was a physician and poet - he wrote the New Hampshire state song. I have no idea what it is. He's the only one who did anything pseudo famous. My last name side of the family is traced back to a man who came over on a prison ship from Scotland to the Iron Bogs in 1650 after opposing Cromwell's forces. He earned his freedom, married, and had 5 sons. Most of the other family I have came from Germany, Ireland and England like many immigrants after wars and famine.
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mlana
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,522
Jun 27, 2014 19:58:15 GMT
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Post by mlana on Jul 19, 2014 1:27:40 GMT
We haven't found any famous relatives so far, but I do have a good story.
My DD started researching the family tree after MIL died last year. My grandmother and DD are very close, so DD spent a lot of time researching her granny's 12 siblings and the rest of her family. Due to DD being in college and Granny being sick, they had not had a chance to get together and go over the results since DD finished.
Last Saturday, Granny had a heart attack after having had surgery for ovarian cancer; the heart dr told us she would not live thru the night. Granny was put in a room and the family was called in to say goodbye. DD had come from college and she stayed after everyone but Mom and me had gone home. Granny was awake and bored, so DD pulled out her iPad and started showing Granny what she had found. I took the coolest pic of the two of them leaned over the iPad looking thru the info. DD had found out that the one sister Granny didn't know about had died in 2000, so Granny knew she was the last surviving member of her family. It just made her day that DD had done so much research into Granny's family.
Granny did survive and is home, but will have to undergo chemo or the cancer will return. She and Mom will have to make that decision. Now Granny wants an iPad and an Ancestry.Com account so she can research the rest of her ancestors. LOL
Marcy
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Post by melanell on Jul 19, 2014 1:30:34 GMT
That is a very cool story, Marcy.
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Post by disneypal on Jul 19, 2014 1:34:24 GMT
The most famous person that I am related to is Lady Jane Seymore (Henry VIII's wife). She is my 1st cousin, 13 times removed. In other words, her mother and my 12 times great grandmother were sisters! So her son, who was briefly king (Edward VI) is my 2nd cousin 12 times removed.
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Post by MissBianca on Jul 19, 2014 1:35:19 GMT
Lady Diana, George Washington, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Pocahontas.
If I can connect a father and son (I need one more piece of documentation) I can trace DH's family back to Knights Templar.
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Post by maureen on Jul 19, 2014 1:45:55 GMT
My Great, Great, Great Grandfather is General William T. Sherman the Civil War General.
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Post by Linda on Jul 19, 2014 4:59:02 GMT
My line? not really too many interesting people - most of mine were agricultural labourers and crofters in Ireland/Scotland/England. I do have some cousins that have their own wikipedia articles - a founder of the Scottish National Party, a BBC broadcaster and a former Member of the European Parliament from Scotland
Dh's lines....I've learnt SO much US history from researching his lines. Four Salem witches were his 9th great Aunts. Clara Barton was a cousin. General William Averell and General James Longstreet (both Civil War - opposite sides) were cousins. A cousin of his died at the Battle of Bunker Hill. He had ancestors who were early settlers in Quebec, Massachusetts and New Amsterdam. He had Patriots and Loyalists in his direct line. Just fascinating really.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Mar 29, 2024 7:43:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2014 5:35:25 GMT
I am related to the Rutledge brothers. One signed the Declaration of Independence, the other the Constitution. No wonder I am so political and have such a burning desire to uphold our Constitution. I also found out through reading our family records that our ancestors lived next to Abraham Lincoln. He was actually engaged to I believe Anne Rutledge but she died before they could get married. I have an interesting written account of his funeral by one of my relatives that was a child when it happened.
Those are the only ones that I am aware that I am related to. I traced one line back to the 1600's. I have over 2500 names that I have entered into my personal family tree.
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Post by miominmio on Jul 19, 2014 8:15:34 GMT
I haven't found anyone famous, but several bishops from when Norway was under Danish rule (a relative did this research before me, but I have checked his sources). Other than that, my family were mostly farmers, which makes me believe the information I've found is correct.
A word of warning to those new to geneology: before 1500 it is difficult to find reliable sources, unless you have found royalty or aristocracy already. Unless you have primary sources available, do not trust anything you find on Ancestry or other online sites. The "information" on those sites are notoriously unreliable. Most likely your ancestors were peasants living in poverty, not royalty.
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Post by disneypal on Jul 19, 2014 10:18:28 GMT
Another great thing I found out is that I am related to my best friend. After I started doing research, it got her interested too....one day she mentioned a surname and I said...hey, that name is on my tree too. We started comparing and found out that my 8 times grandmother and her 8 times grandfather were brother and sister - we always joked that we were related so it was cool when we found out we really were!!
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Post by melanell on Jul 19, 2014 16:11:51 GMT
That's cool, disneypal!
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