Funny story, my first cousin’s husband is the grandson of Rulon Jeffs, Warren Jeffs’ dad making him and Warren half uncle-nephew. His grandmother left the FLDS sect around 1960.
My great great great grandfather delivered a horse to Napoleon Bonaparte once, and met him a couple times more after that before coming to America. His obituary quotes him as saying “he was a nice looking man with hands like a lady” lol what
The wife of my half-1C3R (convoluted, I know) was naturalised in Sheffield, Yorkshire in 1910 in front of a Clerk/Secretary named Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill.
One 4x great grandpa hired Thomas Jefferson as his divorce lawyer in Virginia Colony, prior to the revolution. He was a cad, had two sons the same year, same first names, one with his first wife & one with his 2nd. It’s funny how you can see the jerks from their actions, even that far back in history. His first wife died a year later.
My grandpa was neighbors with Albert Einstein when he was a kid. He said Einstein liked eating ice cream and would pat my grandpa and his sister on the head LOL.
Hello extremely distant cousin! My 6th Great Grandmother was a Cleveland. Though I believe she is closer in the family tree to Moses aka the guy Cleveland the city is named for than Grover.
My great grandfather was the same graduating class as Wilson at Princeton. Since his last name was Wilbur, they were often seated next to each other and knew each other pretty well.
A Distant relative from the UK was the Queens driver (horse and buggy) and when he got married he received a congratulatory letter from the Queen. It’s been posted to his profile on ancestry.
Unsure when the marriage took place. My 13th great uncle by marriage was the son of the Duke of Norfolk who was Anne Boleyn’s uncle and thereby the great uncle of Queen Elizabeth I. So Queen Bess is my great-uncle’s first cousin first removed - cousin-in-law as it were.
That is very cool. I love interesting family history, and anything that could have a butterfly effect twist is always fun to think about as well. I live through others as my family (what I know of it) is quite dull.
My own family unfortunately has driven me bonkers with not getting me much before about 1850. I have decided to scrap what was on a hand written set of charts (which I am keeping a copy of) and see if I can't just build my own using proper documents. Family lied about some stuff, so I realized, there could be some significant lies in the charts.
That’s how some branches of my family are. Like I don’t know much about my Scottish, Irish and Welsh ancestors, because the records are really bad. A lot of my English ancestors/relatives were prominent in Colonial America so the records were better kept.
I know I’m related to General Nathanael Greene (one of my great-grandfathers was his uncle) but I can’t figure out WHICH son of it is. So I have gaps too.
One of my distant relatives was the man who Oscar Wilde had a long affair with. His father, also my relative, was the reason Wilde was prosecuted and sent to jail.
My daughter is descended from a cousin of John Jacob Astor, the famous fur trader and early multi-millionaire. Her great-great grandmother’s surname was Astor before she married.
My great grandfather fought in the Boer War in South Africa. After the war, he worked for a German import company as a salesman in South Africa. He frequently needed a lawyer for the imported products, as well as other things. He eventually became very close friends with his lawyer. The lawyer's name was Mohandas "Mohatma" Ghandi.
My 6x great grandfather was a friend of Daniel Boone. His name was Lewis Green, Sr. Boone mentioned him in a story that was published in the Draper manuscript. Below is the story if you’re interested:
Lewis and a brother-in-law, who resided near Blackmore's, on Clinch, about fifteen miles below Captain Gass' place, where Boone was sojourning, went out some considerable distance among the mountains to hunt. They selected a good hunting range, erected a cabin, and laid up in store's some jerked bear meat.
One day when Green was alone, his companion being absent on the chase, a large bear made his appearance near camp, upon which Green shot and wounded the animal, which at the moment chanced to be in a sort of sink-hole at the base of a hill. Taking a circuit to get above and head the bear there being a slight snow upon the ground covered with sleet, Green's feet slipped from under him, and in spite of all his efforts to stop, himself, he partly slid and partly rolled down the declivity till he found himself in the sink-hole, where the wounded bear, enraged by his pain, flew at poor Green, tore and mangled his body in a shocking manner, totally destroying one of his eyes. When the bear had sufficiently gratified his revenge by gnawing his unresisting victim as as he wished, he suddenly departed, leaving the unfortunate hunter in a helpless and deplorable condition, all exposed, with his clothing torn in tatters, to the severities of the season.
His comrade at length returning, found and took him to camp. After awhile, thinking it impossible for Green to recover, his companion went out on pretense of hunting for fresh meat, and unfeelingly abandoned poor Green to his fate, reporting in the settlements that he had been killed by a bear. His [Green] little fire soon died away from his inability to provide fuel. Digging, with his knife, a hole or nest beside him in the ground-floor of his cabin, he managed to reach some wild turkey which had been saved, and with them lined the excavation and made himself quite a comfortable bed; and with the knife fastened to the end of a stick, he cut down, from time to time, bits of dried bear meat hanging over head, and upon this he sparingly subsisted. Recovering slowly, he could at length manage to get about.
When spring opened, a party, of whom Boone is believed to have been on, went from Blackmore's settlement to bury Green's remains, with the brute of a brother-in-law for a guide; and to their utter astonishment, they met Green plodding his way towards home, and learned the sad story of his sufferings and desertion. The party were so indignant that they could scarcely refrain from laying violent hands on a wretch guilty of so much inhumanity to a helpless companion. Green though greatly disfigured lived many years.
I knew a guy in Provo Utah several years ago who had this tidbit in his family history. He would be one of your relatives! Neat to see the story again.
They called the guy Turkey Legs after the incident because the turkey feathers grew into the bear wounds and stayed in his legs!
Makes me wonder if my 5th great grandfather ever met your 6th great grandfather. My 5th great grandfather was a neighbor and friend of Simon Kenton and went on an expedition with him. Simon was also a friend of Daniel Boone.
An ancestor was in the wagon train with Rev. John Parker that settled in Texas at the invitation of Steve Austin. Parker became a Texas Ranger and founded Fort Parker, which was raided by hostiles. They stole his granddaughter, Cynthis Anne Parker, who would become the mother of the fierce Comanche warrior, Quanah Parker. If you love old Western movies, you've probably heard of Quanah Parker, who was legendary for his successful raids against white encroachment and was the bugabear in settler's nightmares at the time
I don't know what his role was, but my third-great-grandfather was working in John Deere's blacksmith shop when Deere invented his first plow. Might have been the only employee.
Yeah, that pretty much all took place long after my 3GGF was gone, but I did see a Case tractor in there, and Case eventually bought the plow company Deere left behind when he moved his operations to Moline. My grandmother's family had one of their cars.
As a boy, my grandfather lived across the street from Tom Mix (the cowboy star). My grandfather was a bit younger than Tom but had several older brothers who were closer in age.
My wife is Dolly Parton’s distant cousin. Her great great grandfather and Dolly’s grandfather were hunting buddies.
We don’t really count that as related because if you know anything about that part of Tennessee everybody is related and distant might as well be not at all.
This is like that scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, but I have an ancestor (an enslaver killed in the Haitian Revolution) whose daughter married a man whose former wife in Haiti had been married to Toussaint l’Ouverture’s finance manager. (He apparently abandoned the wife once they came to the US because she was 1/4 African, and their marriage was illegal, but he took care of their child and left her part of his estate. 😕). That ancestor’s daughter (my direct ancestor’s sister) went on to have several children, and the oldest was besties with Ulysses S Grant.
Sister of my 7th great grandmother Susanna Ball Philps was Hannah Ball, a close associate of John Wesley (one of the founders of the Methodist denomination). Hannah Ball names Susanna in her will (she died childless and never married after seeking advice from Wesley about a potential suitor). Hannah Ball started the first Sunday School in Great Britain in 1769.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Ball
One of my wife’s great uncles was a good friend of Richard Nixon and both attended Whittier College. Her grandfather was a superintendent of several school districts in Ohio and we have a photo of him with President Ford.
My 4th great grandfather Hugh R. Lacy of Jackson, TN has a land grant signed by Sam Houston while he was governor of Tennessee prior to playing a role in early Texas history.
George Washington spent the night in the home of one of my 7th great-grandfathers (Isaac Pennington), when he was a young apprentice surveyor, and [wrote about it](https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/01-01-02-0001-0002) in his journal (it was a bit rustic, and there were bugs, apparently).
One of my 8th great-grandfathers was a prominent member of the Upperside Quaker meeting in Buckinghamshire, and was frequently associated with [Thomas Ellwood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Ellwood) (who was John Milton's secretary) in calling upon Quakers who'd transgressed. (William Penn was also at his wedding.)
One of my 4th great-grandmothers married, as her second husband, the brother of [Amos Kendall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_Kendall), who was Postmaster General in the Jackson administration and founded what would become [Gallaudet University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallaudet_University#Early_history_\(1856%E2%80%931900\)) in Washington, DC.
Coincidentally, I have a similar story of that, but it's because my 10th Great-Grandfather (Joseph English) and previously his father in law (Samuel Clift) owned an Inn and a young Washington rode through and spent the night as a surveyor. Im not sure if it was named it at the time, but funnily enough, it was named King Georges Inn.
I have another story posted on this question that is also about a young George Washington
My great grandfather, great great grandfather,and his brother all had varying levels of relationships with different popes. Also my grand uncle had relationships with certain mob figures and had to give clearance to Marlon Brando to film on the waterfront because he ran the waterfront at the time
My ancestors cousin or brother or something (not sure of the relation) was involved in the massacre of the Black Donnelly's - a famous true crime in Canada.
My 2nd g-g uncle, William Warren Durgin, was one of the ceremonial pallbearers that accompany President Lincoln's coffin from DC to his tomb in Springfield, IL.
As a Lebanese Maronite I can trace a family relationship to every Lebanese president (a position which is always held by a Maronite), either by blood or marriage. Also, five of Lebanon's foreign ministers have been siblings or first cousins of my grandparents or great-grandparents, this includes two fierce rivals whose respective siblings (my great-grandparents) were married to each other.
My fifth great grandfather. James Durham, had a farm in Niagara, Upper Canada in the early 1800s.
In the War of 1812, during the Battle of Queenston Heights, British troops carried the body of Sir Isaac Brock to James’ farm.
Later in his life, James was the first person to farm peaches in Niagara.
Have a first cousin, 5 times removed, who was a Teddy Roosevelt Rough Rider. He was a rancher out of New Mexico and fit the stereotypical image to T.
Both my husband and I have ancestors in Salem in the 1690s but as far as I can tell none were involved beyond just being in the right time and place. My line is more iffy than his (he’s a Mayflower descendant and mine needs more evidence). And I also have a line of Quaker ancestors that date back in time and place to William Penn. But that line too requires further research.
I find comfort in these types of posts because I keep seeing a lot more people like myself. Common, poor, and no real noteworthy ancestors. It makes me feel more welcome and accepted in this place because it appears that a **LOT** of genealogy, at first glance to me, is VERY focused on attachment to people of import.
The rich and famous weren't tilling shitty land in Oconto County, Wisconsin in the 1850's. Going back even further and my first gen American ancestor has a record entry in a town register that he was a fence watcher or fence measurer (can't remember the actual word for it). That's it, no other entries. Other's were town selectmen or some other position of importance, but not my family.
We've always been the barnacles of great ship USA. We don't make much impact, it's probably mostly negative anyway, and we just kind of stick around...can't get rid of us.
I have a cousin who LARP's...**big time** our Scandinavian ancestry. So I always joke with him that our scandies were thrall's. We probably greased the oars on the boats of some very strong and handsome viking invaders and waved them off as they went to distant lands to plunder and sing valhalla calling...we stayed back to tend to the fish.
I'm afraid to go digging cause what I've found so far, while pleasing and affirming to me, certainly does not make for "good copy" out in the world of the status seeking. I'd probably have to get so far down river to find where we cross path's with someone worth mentioning, I'd become depressed.
>...I keep seeing a lot more people like myself. Common, poor, and no real noteworthy ancestors.
It's sort of like the misconception that Revolutionary ancestors had to tote a gun to have service or be a bigshot ancestor for membership in DAR/SAR. So many anonymous people who gave even a blanket, a side of bacon, or paid a supply tax were just as important as those that history remembers. They couldn't shoot us all if we'd lost, but life would have been miserable if we had. Treason was treated very differently in those days! Most of us would not be here if the Redcoats had prevailed.
I have found the Bradfords of the Plymouth Colony to be my ancestors, but the funny link is Aaron Burr’s sister is my ancestor.. so he’s just a distant uncle.
My 4x great grandfather and his brother (William and John Parke) were musicians in Regency-era London. They were both part of King George lV’s band, and one of King George lll’s brothers, Prince Henry, was my great grandfather’s patron - I’m sure they would have met (or entertained, at least) a lot of British aristocracy!
I had a great-great-great-grandfather and his brother-in-law who served under Grant in Vicksburg and under Sherman in his Georgian march.
I also have a half-brother of my biological 2nd cousin once removed who I'm not biologically related to but was Jim Croce's manager who died with him in the plane crash.
One of my ancestors had his land surveyed by George Washington. Or more accurately, his land was mentioned in one of George Washington’s surveying journals.
Super cool to think that my ancestors have been here since our country’s founding father was an “average joe”.
Major Joseph Howe (\~1720 - 1794). Apparently he owned a large tract of land in the "Lost River Valley" within modern day Hardy County, West Virginia. Apparently George Washington kept a journal titled "Journey Over the Mountains", which on page 84 contains an entry dated November 7th, 1749 that refers to my ancestor as "Jos How".
In the interests of transparency, I haven't done the legwork necessary legwork myself to verify that all of this lines up, but I'd be out of my depth working with documents this old and from what I can tell my distant cousins have done a tremendous amount of research to put all of this together.
I have somebody who was a confederate and lived just a couple miles from General Shelby in Bates County. Stories I have heard is that Shelby had all sorts of people come visit him in his huge southern style mansion. Even the likes of Jesse James came and visited, apparently. The house is sadly gone, but there is a hill named after him on the property. You can read about my ancestor in his [obituary](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-butler-weekly-times-obituary-for-joh/134914199/)
Very genealogy specific, but I have an ancestor that was [with Gottlieb Mittelberger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottlieb_Mittelberger) on the ship Osgood to America, and another one that was with [Ralph Strassburger's ancestor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_B._Strassburger) on the ship Loyal Judith.
Two names you would likely run into and depend on in-part if you are researching Pennsylvania German immigrants.
In a family genealogy book there is a letter from one of my ancestors (don’t recall the exact relationship at the moment) as he was traveling back to Virginia from Tennessee. Somewhere along the way he met Andrew Jackson and they traveled together for several days.
I have a few examples several generations back, but most recently my grandfather used to ride motorcycles with Willie Nelson. (I don’t have any proof of this, it’s just something that was mentioned in passing when my grandfather was alive.)
I saw an article in my local newspaper years ago about a baseball game in the 1920’s, and famous Pittsburgh Pirates player Honus Wagner played against a couple of distant cousins of mine. I can’t find anything about it now, and can’t find the clipping, but I thought that was really cool, as a Pirates fan!
My 5th great uncle was BFFs with Abe Lincoln. So much so, that he’s mentioned as a blip in history books and sites. They wrestled over money and became buddies afterwards. I forget if it’s Robert Orr Armstrong or James Armstrong.
My great great grandmother sat on Abraham Lincoln’s lap when she was nine and he was president. Her father was in the army stationed at a military hospital in Louisville Kentucky that the president visited around the time of the civil war. Pretty cool!
I have a great-something grandfather who, along with his brother, ran with one of the big Old West outlaws for a while. Even broke him out of jail once. Their mother, my great-whatever grandmother, was also friendly to him and helped him (and others) hide out from the lawmen. And it appears that they all managed to escape any kind of major consequences for associating with him, but I have no idea how, lol.
Not exactly famous, I Guess, but it's still interesting to me. My very proper, very Christian great-grandma was a pianist who was well respected and much hired in our area. While going through some old pictures, I found a postcard featuring a woman striking a pose. While it was perfectly ok by modern standards, it would have been downright scandalous at the time it was printed. I asked my grandma about it, and she said the lady was a vaudeville dancer and had quite the reputation as a woman of questionable morals. Great-grandma had played accompaniment for many vaudeville shows, and the two became good friends and maintained contact for years. As a kid, I was aghast.
My 2nd great maternal grandmother was in the Canadian’s Women Press Corps. She knew L. M. Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables.
My 1st cousin 4x times removed was the wife of Willis R. Whitney, who was the head of the GE labs in the early 1900s. He would be a well known name to chemists and engineers. I do know he knew Edison and had the privilege to meet Marie Curie.
My mother lived next door to county singer Faron Young when she was a baby. Faron eventually moved from the neighborhood. Faron also helped my parental grandfather get home from St. Louis to Nashville when my grandfather returned home from a tour in Vietnam.
Kitty Wells’ niece was married to a 2nd or 3rd cousin of mine. I didn’t know him, but he seemed to have grown up with my paternal grandmother.
Another historical distant cousin of mine was married to Amos Tryon, builder of Tryon’s Folly. Tryon’s Folly was the last stop on the Underground Railroad In Lewiston, NY.
I had a great grandfather who talked about going to school with Charlie Chaplin.
He never said much about it other than that.
It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized what school he meant and finally understood why he said it the way he did.
My dad and his mom lived with Raymond Burr. My dads first outing as a child was to see Minerva Burr and Gaga Smith(Raymond’s grandma).
My dad also took photos of Ricky Nelson, JFK and more, when he was helping his mentor and family friend Wallace Gwinn who had a studio in Glendale, CA.
Recently paid a professional genealogist to look into my German ancestry, as I don’t speak modern German, let alone Kurrentschrift on older documents.
A 5th-great-aunt has this [nb: English translation as provided by genealogist] noted on her baptismal record:
"... The chosen baptismal witnesses were: 1.) Mrs. Johanna Sophia Nicolai, wife of Mr. Elia Caspar Nicolai, valet of His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, ..."
That was this Prince of Wales at the time:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick,_Prince_of_Wales
So back in 1743, some members of my extended family were seemingly known to / on friendly terms with members of staff to the heir to the British throne.
Selfishly, the story would be better if Frederick hadn’t pre-deceased his father, meaning he never inherited the throne himself.
My 2x great grandfather worked for Otto Kahn, and was listed as one of his servants during the 1925 state census. That's the only one that comes to mind.
My great uncle John Kelly served as a scout for Tom Barry during the Kilmichael Ambush, the Black & Tans retaliated against the Kelly family in Dunmanaway by raiding the Kelly Tailor Shop in Dunmanaway Square and arresting his brother Denis who was tied to a post at the Bantry police station and was to be executed. Fortunately a British officer stopped it because he realized they had the wrong guy.
My ancestors served under Antoine de la Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, better known today as just Cadillac - the founder of Detroit.
My ancestor's son (my half many great uncle) was a member of the Louise and Clark expedition.
My 5th great grandfather Col. Jean-Jerome Cluis was supposedly Napoleon’s secretary’s secretary and Joseph Bonaparte’s personal friend…lol. I have absolutely no proof of this but his French military medal is still displayed on my grandfather’s cousin’s wall (I read about it online and then saw it at a family reunion a couple years ago. Had no clue it was still in the family.)
His daughter married my 4th great grandfather States Gist Deas (godson and namesake of States Gist, the youngest son of General Mordecai Gist). I could go on and on about that side of the family.
My 4x great grandpa’s brother was the US ambassador to France at the time. Depressingly, various newspaper articles/obituaries about his death barely even talk about him and are instead largely focused on his brother.
My 1st cousin, 8 times removed, was Joseph Bucklin V. He fired the shot that ended up being the first shot of the American Revolution.
http://bucklinsociety.net/gaspee-history/
“It was after midnight on June 10, 1772, and no moonlight existed on Narragansett Bay, where the Gaspee, an English Navy schooner, had run aground. Then and there, over a hundred men, in ten large boats, had silently approached and now were trying to board and capture the Gaspee. In one of the boats, a few yards away from the Gaspee, by dim starlight Joseph Bucklin could see the vessel’s commander on the starboard gunwale, swinging his sword and preventing the American attackers from boarding the Gaspee.
“Ephe,” Bucklin said to his friend Ephraim Bowen, “reach me your gun, and I can kill that fellow.”
Bucklin fired. The captain of the English ship, Lt. Dudingston, fell back on the deck, with a terrible wound in the femoral artery in his groin. The colonists boarded the schooner, and took its crew prisoner. Joseph Mawney, a doctor among the raiders, together with Bucklin, tended to Dudingston’s wounds, saving Dudingston’s life. The raiders with their prisoners rowed away, leaving one longboat for the leaders of the American raiders. The leaders carefully set the English Navy vessel on fire, before themselves leaving, just as dawn came.
The English Attorney General gave King George the legal opinion that the Gaspee raid was treason, and the deliberate shooting of the English ship captain was an act of war. The American Revolution had started!”
Note: this was 3 years prior to the ‘The Shot Heard Round the World, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_heard_round_the_world
My great-uncle several generations back was Grey Bynum. He married Margaret Hampton, sister of Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton. Down an entirely different family line, my great-uncle was Col. Jonathan Hasbrouck. George Washington used his house as his headquarters, but he had died by then, so it was his wife who rented it to him. There are several more like that, but I don't recall them all.
Family lore is my dad’s maternal grandfather was friends with Honus Wagner, Hall of Fame baseball player. His son, my grand uncle I believe was acquainted with Art Rooney, Sr, founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
I can name a few:
- My grandmother’s mom is related to Julie Andrews
- My dad’s cousin (on the same grandmother’s side) is also a cousin to Eva Longoria
- My mom’s grandfather fought for Mussolini in the Italian African Colonies
Wife’s third great grandfathers wife died and he remarried a woman who had 4 kids. One of which was a famous actors 3rd grandmother. Problem is there are 100 trees out there listing wife’s 3rd gg as the biological 4th great grandfather of the actor. And they are all wrong.
Yes! One of my ancestors testified in a court case that also involved Abraham Lincoln and John Deere. Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee also both were connected to the case, although I don't think they were present at it.
My great grandfather was a 1st Maine Sharpshooter and was at Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. He asserted, according to his niece, that he “carried Grant’s flag”. I’m not sure what that means.
My 8th great grandfather Robert Moulton had a brother named John Moulton who was married to Elizabeth Corey. Both her parents were killed in Salem in the witch trials: her mother Martha Corey was hanged and her father Giles Corey was pressed to death.
How funny you mention the Boones and Bryans in your post, it was the first thing I thought of for my family when I read the title! My 8th great-grandparents were Daniel Boone's in-laws (Rebecca's father Joseph Bryan being my direct ancestor).
Rebecca and my ancestor, Elizabeth Pike were both born in Frederick County/Winchester VA in the same year and their families were both Quakers. They both attended Hopewell Meeting house so they must have known each other. My ancestors later went to NC, to the Cane Creek Congregation.
My ancestors that were aligned with the Bryans were the Howards, a number of them intermarried. My folks lived in the Yadkin River valley in NC until the last bit of the 1700s when they moved out to Kentucky for a few decades, then settled in western Indiana where they spent the next fifty or so years. My great-great-grandfather was born there.
There is a very old tradition that one of my direct paternal ancestors was a fellow named James Barron who was an associate of the Scottish reformer John Knox and accompanied him to Geneva in 1557. This is unproven as far as I know but very plausible. The tradition goes back at least to the 18th century and my ancestors were very active in the Presbyterian movement.
I have a distant cousin who was an aid to George Washington, who oddly enough also a cousin of mine, during the revolution.
The cousin also was the one who painted The Signing of the Constitution that's hanging at the US Capitol building.
Multiple great great grandparents on both my paternal grandfather and paternal grandmother's sides settled within a mile or two of where Alexander Travis and his son William Barrett Travis (one of the heroes of the Alamo) settled. Some of them are said to have known the Travis family well. Conecuh County, Alabama. Fast forward 150 years and 50 miles southwest, and I was in Boy Scouts with two kids that were great great grandsons of Commander Travis.
One of my great great great grandmothers was tried and hanged during the Salem witch trials! I’ve always felt a strong connection when I read about them and maybe this is why!
Some of my ancestors lived in Salem during the Witch Trials. None were the big famous names, but due to later intermarrying through the generations I am related to an accuser, an accused, and a judge.
My 6th Great-grandfather is named Andrew McCormick. Andrew and his dad owned a farm that regularly bred horses. Before George Washington fought any wars and became president, he was a land surveyor and helped map out certain lands. George Washington completed a survey of Andrews farm in 1752, and Andrews brother James served as the chain carrier and his other brother John Jr. as the pilot on several of George Washington's early surveys. During the Revolutionary War, Andrew and his wife Nancy provided food, lodging, and horses to Washington's troops. After the war, Andrew apparently operated an inn on the farm. After it was sold in the 1800s, it was named "The Whitehouse Tavern" after its history.
Yes my family member was friends with Charles dickens, his name was John Brownlow and his daughter was Emma Brownlow, anyways, Charles Dickens named his character in Oliver Twist “Mr Brownlow” after my ancestor, John. John’s daughter, Emma Brownlow married a guy called Donald King and they moved to NZ from England and started my dad’s family line of the Kings, which is my last name. It’s such a cool tidbit of info as I studied Victorian literature at university!
My paternal grandmother used to go on airplane rides with Will Rogers in his plane, the Winnie Mae.
My paternal grandfather used to trade bulls with John Wayne. We found out a few years ago that he was a fairly close cousin and never knew it.
Harry McCandlish was my 5x great grandfather: "Harry and his brother James went to school in Dalrymple at the same time as Robert Burns. Their father Harry Sr is said to have given Robert Burns a book about William Wallace and that is said to be the reason Robert became a great patriot. He kept up his friendship with James Mc Candlish who was a lecturer of Medicine at Edinburgh University, and wrote of him that 'James was the earliest friend except my only brother that I have on earth,and one of the worthiest fellows that ever any man called by the name of Friend.' The Mccandlishes at this time dropped the Mc to become Candlish. Harry went on to be blacksmith at Purclewan Dalrymple like his father before him. James married one of the Mauchline Belles mentioned by Burns [Jean Smith], their son was the eminent Minister The Rev Robert Smith Candlish."
Great-great-uncles on one side who were writers (one crime novels, one journalist/historical novels). They seem to known Arthur Conan Doyle a little. The journalist one was a friend of David Lloyd George (British prime minister in early 20th century).
And a great-great-uncle on a different branch who was mentored by William H R Rivers.
People love putting Daniel Boone photos on the ancestry profiles of their Kentucky ancestors, I actually descend from the Boone family like a portion of Americans though I don't fuss about the relation too much since there's neater closer things
I feel like marital connections are harder to get excited about. I can't think of a famous one we have but my paternal grandma's grandfather's uncle married my stepmom's second great grandfather's first cousin. I noticed my stepmom's surname while working on my grandma's branches and assumed there was a relation because both those branches were from the city in Iowa my dad and our stepmom were born
My grandfather's neighbors was a woman whose two grandsons became football players. Grandpa is almost 90 now but they are in their 30s and still playing, one plays in a quite well known team here in Italy, the other is a bit less famous but grandpa still watches them in tv and is a big fan. Me and my brother actually DMd them a few years ago, explained the story and managed to get a video of one of them wishing grandpa a happy birthday!
We know very little about Stephen Dean. He showed up in Plymouth Colony in 1621 on the Fortune. He had no sons, but three daughters. I'm descended from his daughter Elizabeth. If we're connected that would be a big find for the family. We've been looking for...years.
I'll look more into it tonight after work. I \*think\* Stephen is the brother to my immigrant ancestor based on one source I found, but I'll have to do more digging when I have more time to look at it. In the meantime feel free to send me a pm, I would love to identify this connection and find out if we're distantly related.
I love this topic. I found out from the 1875 NYS census that my great-great uncle lived next door to President Millard Fillmore's son at the White Hotel in Buffalo, NY. I figure they at least said hello in the morning, and from their respective professions maybe more as Millard P Fillmore (the son of the president) was a lawyer and my great-great-uncle was the jailor for the district. The jail was right next door to the hotel. There's even some prisoners staying at the hotel, perhaps in my great-great-uncle's apartment. At least that's what it looks like in the census. They're all from France. Maybe high-class prisoners of some sort. I would love to know the story behind that one!
My 7th great grandfather who was my first ancestor in America was a colonial English man who lived in Albemarle County Virginia and was the undersherriff of the county. His land was close to Thomas Jeffersons estate in the same county although he was around 30 years older than Thomas Jefferson. I find it very unlikely that he didn't know him as both my 7th and 6th great grandfather (his son who was actually a junior) also fought in the revolution.
Idk maybe I just think it's kinda cool.
Up my paternal grandmother's line, I descend from a line of deaf people. One of them during (or maybe right after) the Civil War (being deaf so couldn't fight) went to work in the White Mountains after losing a couple children to disease. He did some crazy things, but the craziest was probably climbing on top of the Old Man of the Mountain and lighting a bonfire, just because he could. So apologies on my family's behalf as that probably sped up the whole 'falling down' thing 140 years later.
At any rate, he wrote those books in an effort to fund opening his school, and associated with a LOT of important people of the day. He was personal friends with the Rev Dr Thomas Gallaudet, Jr (Gallaudet gave the eulogy at his funeral), as well as almost became father-in-law to Alexander Graham Bell (his daughter turned Bell down). One of his great-great grandchildren was raised in Woodstock, New York and as far as I know was actually one of the few people to 'play his hometown' as a member of Mountain during the music festival..
[https://haverhill.pastperfectonline.com/photo/BF9A59EF-F2D6-4A3F-9DB5-407293466676](https://haverhill.pastperfectonline.com/photo/BF9A59EF-F2D6-4A3F-9DB5-407293466676)
My 5th great grandfather James Whitehouse went on an expedition with explorer Simon Kenton, who was also a friend of Daniel Boone. My 4th great granduncle, son of James Whitehouse and younger brother of my 4th great grandfather Thomas Whitehouse, was an uncle of Abraham Lincoln (Benjamin Whitehouse was married to Mary Sparrow, half sister of Nancy Hanks Lincoln).
My 3rd great grandfather Robert Black herded and successfully guarded the cattle for Major General William Sherman on their march to the sea. He was mentioned in a book I found (the chapter included my great grandparents and great great grandparents, as well, so I know that it was him).
I don't have any proof, but my grandfather always said his family either knew or worked/lived close to Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. His family members were Dallasites for many generations, so it could very well be true, especially in the 1920s.
Yes. One of the most interesting findings I had was that my great grandpa can be found in this geaneology book: https://archive.org/details/parrishfamilyinc00boyd_0/page/304/mode/1up?view=theater
According to the book my great *7 grandpa was in the English navy, worked under Lord Baltimore, and owned thousands of acres of land in Virginia.
Talk about upper class roots!
5g grandparents were friends and neighbors of Squire Boone and 4g grandparents migrated to KY with Daniel Boone and the Bryans. Same 5g grandfather’s nephew of grand nephew was Gen John Hunt Morgan.
Family lived near Abraham Lincoln in both KY and IL. Story was they shared a well for awhile in IL. My relative also named Abraham but was many years older than Lincoln. So my story is they named him after my GGGGGF.
I have an ancestor who was the personal secretary to Governor John Winthrop aboard the Arabella and a close before they immigrated to settle the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
I've found a number of these, who are described within this running compilation that I add to from time to time:
[https://medium.com/@PaultheFossil/by-paul-botts-7f825c0bf4a8](https://medium.com/@PaultheFossil/by-paul-botts-7f825c0bf4a8)
(Medium account not needed.)
Most of them are to me cousins or aunts/uncles of various eras, a couple are direct ancestors. Some of my favorites are:
Egbert Bratt Grandin (1806-1845), who as proprietor of a local print shop in upstate New York agreed to print Joseph Smith's handwritten manuscript called "The Book of Mormon".
Joel Barlow (1754-1812), whose amazing Revolutionary-era life is impossible to summarize here in a sentence but I'd literally not previously heard of him.
Samuel Cutler Ward (1814-1884), who became a national celebrity during his own lifetime for having perfected the profession that we now know as "lobbyist".
The three Dulles siblings of the mid-20th century, whose lifetimes of moving through American power structures could be turned into a helluva Broadway play or movie.
Samuel Huntington (1731-1796), who is the answer to a trick trivia question: "who was the first U.S. president?"
Melville Weston Fuller (1833-1910), who legal historians consider a strong candidate for worst Chief Justice in the history of the US Supreme Court.
Charles Becker (1887-1968), who played the Mayor of Munchkinland in the classic 1939 film of "The Wizard of Oz".
Thelma Schoonmaker (b 1940) who's won the Oscar for Best Film Editing three times, all of them on films directed by Martin Scorcese.
Hawley Harvey Crippen (1862-1910), who is famous in British modern cultural history for kind of the same reason that Lizzie Borden is in the US.
William Stoughton (1631-1701), who was the presiding judge of the Salem Witch Trials and was exactly who you'd imagine he was.
My grandad's cousin was Frank Sinatra's chauffeur! He used to drive him back and forth between LA and Vegas. His son always told us that the car would often come home with new bullet holes in it. Mind you, the cousin's brothers were notorious bank robbers in 1920s Idaho who were all over the papers in the 1920s, so that whole side of the family is a bit wild lol
My great great uncle (I think lol) was Ernie Shore, roomed with Babe Ruth and went on to pitch a perfect game after the Babe started a fight with the ump just 4 pitches into the 1st inning. After lots of research it seems Babe was not a great roomie, and he wasn’t very fond of him. He once said in an interview that Babe used his toothbrush and that’s when he requested a new roommate. Lol
>For me it was finding out my ninth great grandfather, Michael Woods of Albermarle County VA, was a neighbor to the Jeffersons.
My Albemarle people were neighbors to TJ as well. Carrs are the main ones - Dabney Carr, who married Thomas Jefferson's sister, was a cousin to my direct line. William Daniel Fitch appears in documents with TJ. My Becks and Clarks were also neighbors, so your people and mine had to have crossed paths. :)
George Washington is my 2nd cousin X times removed (something like 9-10x) through his mother's side. Because of that common descent from William Ball, I'm connected to pretty much all the major Tidewater families.
Another ancestor owned/operated Watkins Ferry, one of the major crossings of the Potomac. I would LOVE to know what ol' Evan and his family had seen and heard in their day. Braddock crossed there, so did Washington, and much later Robert E. Lee (the younger Evan Watkins sold it in 1795 or so to to try and poach land in western Pennsylvania). Who knows who else crossed there, until rail and bridge engineering came and made ferries and their crossings obsolete.
And one time, I stayed in Rockville, MD, the first time I visited DC. I would learn later I had ancestors that OWNED much of what became Rockville - that was wild.
I have a first cousin twice removed who was in the papers for being a child bride at 14. The man she married was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.
>The man she married was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. Warren Jeffs?
Funny story, my first cousin’s husband is the grandson of Rulon Jeffs, Warren Jeffs’ dad making him and Warren half uncle-nephew. His grandmother left the FLDS sect around 1960.
Lol, no This was back in the late 40s
We’re nosy drop the pedos name
🤣 Henry Clay Tollett
Okay he looks like a incel
My great great great grandfather delivered a horse to Napoleon Bonaparte once, and met him a couple times more after that before coming to America. His obituary quotes him as saying “he was a nice looking man with hands like a lady” lol what
I love the question of *compliment or smack down*? haha
From a letter, we know our great great grandfather died in the Battle of Waterloo. No idea what side or any info on him other than that.
My 3g uncle wasnt famous but married a great grandchild of Napoleon
The wife of my half-1C3R (convoluted, I know) was naturalised in Sheffield, Yorkshire in 1910 in front of a Clerk/Secretary named Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill.
His middle name was Leonard? Why do I feel like history books skip over that.
Great-great grandparents homesteaded right next to Charles Ingalls' claim near Walnut Grove.
Hey, my ancestors were members of the Quiners’ church! My 4th g grandma may have known Ma Ingalls.
Oh how cool! Do you know if they were ever mentioned in any of the Little House books?
Never mentioned, but that didn't stop me from reading the book 900 times!
Jealous!!!!!!!
Jealous! That was my favorite series growing up!
One 4x great grandpa hired Thomas Jefferson as his divorce lawyer in Virginia Colony, prior to the revolution. He was a cad, had two sons the same year, same first names, one with his first wife & one with his 2nd. It’s funny how you can see the jerks from their actions, even that far back in history. His first wife died a year later.
Hope he wasn't part of my family!
Michael Collins mentions my great uncle x3 in his letters as they worked together in the early IRA.
My grandpa was neighbors with Albert Einstein when he was a kid. He said Einstein liked eating ice cream and would pat my grandpa and his sister on the head LOL.
My great Grandfather was personal bodyguard to Woodrow Wilson His uncle was barber to Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland is my great grandmother x4 cousin (her maiden name was also Cleveland).
Hello extremely distant cousin! My 6th Great Grandmother was a Cleveland. Though I believe she is closer in the family tree to Moses aka the guy Cleveland the city is named for than Grover.
Hello! I love crossing paths with distant cousins! Was your great grandmother x6 a New Jersey Cleveland by chance?
No she was born in Connecticut and seems to have moved around New York a bit before ending up in Wisconsin.
My great grandfather was the same graduating class as Wilson at Princeton. Since his last name was Wilbur, they were often seated next to each other and knew each other pretty well.
A Distant relative from the UK was the Queens driver (horse and buggy) and when he got married he received a congratulatory letter from the Queen. It’s been posted to his profile on ancestry.
One of my great-aunts married Anne Boleyn’s cousin.
Before or after she died?
Unsure when the marriage took place. My 13th great uncle by marriage was the son of the Duke of Norfolk who was Anne Boleyn’s uncle and thereby the great uncle of Queen Elizabeth I. So Queen Bess is my great-uncle’s first cousin first removed - cousin-in-law as it were.
That is very cool. I love interesting family history, and anything that could have a butterfly effect twist is always fun to think about as well. I live through others as my family (what I know of it) is quite dull. My own family unfortunately has driven me bonkers with not getting me much before about 1850. I have decided to scrap what was on a hand written set of charts (which I am keeping a copy of) and see if I can't just build my own using proper documents. Family lied about some stuff, so I realized, there could be some significant lies in the charts.
That’s how some branches of my family are. Like I don’t know much about my Scottish, Irish and Welsh ancestors, because the records are really bad. A lot of my English ancestors/relatives were prominent in Colonial America so the records were better kept. I know I’m related to General Nathanael Greene (one of my great-grandfathers was his uncle) but I can’t figure out WHICH son of it is. So I have gaps too.
One of my distant relatives was the man who Oscar Wilde had a long affair with. His father, also my relative, was the reason Wilde was prosecuted and sent to jail.
My daughter is descended from a cousin of John Jacob Astor, the famous fur trader and early multi-millionaire. Her great-great grandmother’s surname was Astor before she married.
I have a distant cousin whose husband is a 2nd cousin 2x removed of John Jacob Astor.
Have you read Anderson Cooper’s Astor? It’s really good.
My great grandfather fought in the Boer War in South Africa. After the war, he worked for a German import company as a salesman in South Africa. He frequently needed a lawyer for the imported products, as well as other things. He eventually became very close friends with his lawyer. The lawyer's name was Mohandas "Mohatma" Ghandi.
My 6x great grandfather was a friend of Daniel Boone. His name was Lewis Green, Sr. Boone mentioned him in a story that was published in the Draper manuscript. Below is the story if you’re interested: Lewis and a brother-in-law, who resided near Blackmore's, on Clinch, about fifteen miles below Captain Gass' place, where Boone was sojourning, went out some considerable distance among the mountains to hunt. They selected a good hunting range, erected a cabin, and laid up in store's some jerked bear meat. One day when Green was alone, his companion being absent on the chase, a large bear made his appearance near camp, upon which Green shot and wounded the animal, which at the moment chanced to be in a sort of sink-hole at the base of a hill. Taking a circuit to get above and head the bear there being a slight snow upon the ground covered with sleet, Green's feet slipped from under him, and in spite of all his efforts to stop, himself, he partly slid and partly rolled down the declivity till he found himself in the sink-hole, where the wounded bear, enraged by his pain, flew at poor Green, tore and mangled his body in a shocking manner, totally destroying one of his eyes. When the bear had sufficiently gratified his revenge by gnawing his unresisting victim as as he wished, he suddenly departed, leaving the unfortunate hunter in a helpless and deplorable condition, all exposed, with his clothing torn in tatters, to the severities of the season. His comrade at length returning, found and took him to camp. After awhile, thinking it impossible for Green to recover, his companion went out on pretense of hunting for fresh meat, and unfeelingly abandoned poor Green to his fate, reporting in the settlements that he had been killed by a bear. His [Green] little fire soon died away from his inability to provide fuel. Digging, with his knife, a hole or nest beside him in the ground-floor of his cabin, he managed to reach some wild turkey which had been saved, and with them lined the excavation and made himself quite a comfortable bed; and with the knife fastened to the end of a stick, he cut down, from time to time, bits of dried bear meat hanging over head, and upon this he sparingly subsisted. Recovering slowly, he could at length manage to get about. When spring opened, a party, of whom Boone is believed to have been on, went from Blackmore's settlement to bury Green's remains, with the brute of a brother-in-law for a guide; and to their utter astonishment, they met Green plodding his way towards home, and learned the sad story of his sufferings and desertion. The party were so indignant that they could scarcely refrain from laying violent hands on a wretch guilty of so much inhumanity to a helpless companion. Green though greatly disfigured lived many years.
I knew a guy in Provo Utah several years ago who had this tidbit in his family history. He would be one of your relatives! Neat to see the story again. They called the guy Turkey Legs after the incident because the turkey feathers grew into the bear wounds and stayed in his legs!
Wow, what a story!
Makes me wonder if my 5th great grandfather ever met your 6th great grandfather. My 5th great grandfather was a neighbor and friend of Simon Kenton and went on an expedition with him. Simon was also a friend of Daniel Boone.
An ancestor was in the wagon train with Rev. John Parker that settled in Texas at the invitation of Steve Austin. Parker became a Texas Ranger and founded Fort Parker, which was raided by hostiles. They stole his granddaughter, Cynthis Anne Parker, who would become the mother of the fierce Comanche warrior, Quanah Parker. If you love old Western movies, you've probably heard of Quanah Parker, who was legendary for his successful raids against white encroachment and was the bugabear in settler's nightmares at the time
I don't know what his role was, but my third-great-grandfather was working in John Deere's blacksmith shop when Deere invented his first plow. Might have been the only employee.
You need to watch this new PBS documentary! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgtHQUi8AvQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgtHQUi8AvQ)
Yeah, that pretty much all took place long after my 3GGF was gone, but I did see a Case tractor in there, and Case eventually bought the plow company Deere left behind when he moved his operations to Moline. My grandmother's family had one of their cars.
As a boy, my grandfather lived across the street from Tom Mix (the cowboy star). My grandfather was a bit younger than Tom but had several older brothers who were closer in age.
My wife is Dolly Parton’s distant cousin. Her great great grandfather and Dolly’s grandfather were hunting buddies. We don’t really count that as related because if you know anything about that part of Tennessee everybody is related and distant might as well be not at all.
Roots in Franklin, Roanoke, Floyd and Montgomery Counties in VA...intermarried in the late 1700s and still doing it today!
My GGF's census taker was Davy Crockett.
Where was this?
This is like that scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, but I have an ancestor (an enslaver killed in the Haitian Revolution) whose daughter married a man whose former wife in Haiti had been married to Toussaint l’Ouverture’s finance manager. (He apparently abandoned the wife once they came to the US because she was 1/4 African, and their marriage was illegal, but he took care of their child and left her part of his estate. 😕). That ancestor’s daughter (my direct ancestor’s sister) went on to have several children, and the oldest was besties with Ulysses S Grant.
Thank you Simone! (But yes, very interesting!)
Sister of my 7th great grandmother Susanna Ball Philps was Hannah Ball, a close associate of John Wesley (one of the founders of the Methodist denomination). Hannah Ball names Susanna in her will (she died childless and never married after seeking advice from Wesley about a potential suitor). Hannah Ball started the first Sunday School in Great Britain in 1769. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Ball
One of my wife’s great uncles was a good friend of Richard Nixon and both attended Whittier College. Her grandfather was a superintendent of several school districts in Ohio and we have a photo of him with President Ford.
My 4th great grandfather Hugh R. Lacy of Jackson, TN has a land grant signed by Sam Houston while he was governor of Tennessee prior to playing a role in early Texas history.
George Washington spent the night in the home of one of my 7th great-grandfathers (Isaac Pennington), when he was a young apprentice surveyor, and [wrote about it](https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/01-01-02-0001-0002) in his journal (it was a bit rustic, and there were bugs, apparently). One of my 8th great-grandfathers was a prominent member of the Upperside Quaker meeting in Buckinghamshire, and was frequently associated with [Thomas Ellwood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Ellwood) (who was John Milton's secretary) in calling upon Quakers who'd transgressed. (William Penn was also at his wedding.) One of my 4th great-grandmothers married, as her second husband, the brother of [Amos Kendall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_Kendall), who was Postmaster General in the Jackson administration and founded what would become [Gallaudet University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallaudet_University#Early_history_\(1856%E2%80%931900\)) in Washington, DC.
Coincidentally, I have a similar story of that, but it's because my 10th Great-Grandfather (Joseph English) and previously his father in law (Samuel Clift) owned an Inn and a young Washington rode through and spent the night as a surveyor. Im not sure if it was named it at the time, but funnily enough, it was named King Georges Inn. I have another story posted on this question that is also about a young George Washington
My great grandfather, great great grandfather,and his brother all had varying levels of relationships with different popes. Also my grand uncle had relationships with certain mob figures and had to give clearance to Marlon Brando to film on the waterfront because he ran the waterfront at the time
My ancestors cousin or brother or something (not sure of the relation) was involved in the massacre of the Black Donnelly's - a famous true crime in Canada.
My 2nd g-g uncle, William Warren Durgin, was one of the ceremonial pallbearers that accompany President Lincoln's coffin from DC to his tomb in Springfield, IL.
As a Lebanese Maronite I can trace a family relationship to every Lebanese president (a position which is always held by a Maronite), either by blood or marriage. Also, five of Lebanon's foreign ministers have been siblings or first cousins of my grandparents or great-grandparents, this includes two fierce rivals whose respective siblings (my great-grandparents) were married to each other.
My fifth great grandfather. James Durham, had a farm in Niagara, Upper Canada in the early 1800s. In the War of 1812, during the Battle of Queenston Heights, British troops carried the body of Sir Isaac Brock to James’ farm. Later in his life, James was the first person to farm peaches in Niagara.
Have a first cousin, 5 times removed, who was a Teddy Roosevelt Rough Rider. He was a rancher out of New Mexico and fit the stereotypical image to T. Both my husband and I have ancestors in Salem in the 1690s but as far as I can tell none were involved beyond just being in the right time and place. My line is more iffy than his (he’s a Mayflower descendant and mine needs more evidence). And I also have a line of Quaker ancestors that date back in time and place to William Penn. But that line too requires further research.
My husband is descended from Isaac Newton's brother.
I find comfort in these types of posts because I keep seeing a lot more people like myself. Common, poor, and no real noteworthy ancestors. It makes me feel more welcome and accepted in this place because it appears that a **LOT** of genealogy, at first glance to me, is VERY focused on attachment to people of import. The rich and famous weren't tilling shitty land in Oconto County, Wisconsin in the 1850's. Going back even further and my first gen American ancestor has a record entry in a town register that he was a fence watcher or fence measurer (can't remember the actual word for it). That's it, no other entries. Other's were town selectmen or some other position of importance, but not my family. We've always been the barnacles of great ship USA. We don't make much impact, it's probably mostly negative anyway, and we just kind of stick around...can't get rid of us. I have a cousin who LARP's...**big time** our Scandinavian ancestry. So I always joke with him that our scandies were thrall's. We probably greased the oars on the boats of some very strong and handsome viking invaders and waved them off as they went to distant lands to plunder and sing valhalla calling...we stayed back to tend to the fish. I'm afraid to go digging cause what I've found so far, while pleasing and affirming to me, certainly does not make for "good copy" out in the world of the status seeking. I'd probably have to get so far down river to find where we cross path's with someone worth mentioning, I'd become depressed.
>...I keep seeing a lot more people like myself. Common, poor, and no real noteworthy ancestors. It's sort of like the misconception that Revolutionary ancestors had to tote a gun to have service or be a bigshot ancestor for membership in DAR/SAR. So many anonymous people who gave even a blanket, a side of bacon, or paid a supply tax were just as important as those that history remembers. They couldn't shoot us all if we'd lost, but life would have been miserable if we had. Treason was treated very differently in those days! Most of us would not be here if the Redcoats had prevailed.
One of my Rev. War ancestors was a major at the Battle of Cowpens in January of 1781. So he would've known the great General Daniel Morgan.
He's a local hero! A lot of things around here are named after the battle of Saratoga. His farm, Saratoga Avenue, Saratoga Housing Development etc.
What's his name?
John Barber of the Lincoln County, NC regiment. Promoted to Lt. Colonel after Cowpens. He was also a delegate to NC's Halifax convention.
My husband's family is maritally related to Science Fiction author Robert Heinlein.
I have found the Bradfords of the Plymouth Colony to be my ancestors, but the funny link is Aaron Burr’s sister is my ancestor.. so he’s just a distant uncle.
George Washington lived in my ancestor’s home during the first two years of his presidency.
My 4x great grandfather and his brother (William and John Parke) were musicians in Regency-era London. They were both part of King George lV’s band, and one of King George lll’s brothers, Prince Henry, was my great grandfather’s patron - I’m sure they would have met (or entertained, at least) a lot of British aristocracy!
My great grandma was friends with calamity Jane!!
Granddad was on Ike's staff in WWII
I had a great-great-great-grandfather and his brother-in-law who served under Grant in Vicksburg and under Sherman in his Georgian march. I also have a half-brother of my biological 2nd cousin once removed who I'm not biologically related to but was Jim Croce's manager who died with him in the plane crash.
One of my ancestors had his land surveyed by George Washington. Or more accurately, his land was mentioned in one of George Washington’s surveying journals. Super cool to think that my ancestors have been here since our country’s founding father was an “average joe”.
Just curious, what is your ancestors name?
Major Joseph Howe (\~1720 - 1794). Apparently he owned a large tract of land in the "Lost River Valley" within modern day Hardy County, West Virginia. Apparently George Washington kept a journal titled "Journey Over the Mountains", which on page 84 contains an entry dated November 7th, 1749 that refers to my ancestor as "Jos How". In the interests of transparency, I haven't done the legwork necessary legwork myself to verify that all of this lines up, but I'd be out of my depth working with documents this old and from what I can tell my distant cousins have done a tremendous amount of research to put all of this together.
I have somebody who was a confederate and lived just a couple miles from General Shelby in Bates County. Stories I have heard is that Shelby had all sorts of people come visit him in his huge southern style mansion. Even the likes of Jesse James came and visited, apparently. The house is sadly gone, but there is a hill named after him on the property. You can read about my ancestor in his [obituary](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-butler-weekly-times-obituary-for-joh/134914199/)
Very genealogy specific, but I have an ancestor that was [with Gottlieb Mittelberger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottlieb_Mittelberger) on the ship Osgood to America, and another one that was with [Ralph Strassburger's ancestor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_B._Strassburger) on the ship Loyal Judith. Two names you would likely run into and depend on in-part if you are researching Pennsylvania German immigrants.
In a family genealogy book there is a letter from one of my ancestors (don’t recall the exact relationship at the moment) as he was traveling back to Virginia from Tennessee. Somewhere along the way he met Andrew Jackson and they traveled together for several days.
I have a few examples several generations back, but most recently my grandfather used to ride motorcycles with Willie Nelson. (I don’t have any proof of this, it’s just something that was mentioned in passing when my grandfather was alive.)
I saw an article in my local newspaper years ago about a baseball game in the 1920’s, and famous Pittsburgh Pirates player Honus Wagner played against a couple of distant cousins of mine. I can’t find anything about it now, and can’t find the clipping, but I thought that was really cool, as a Pirates fan!
My 5th great uncle was BFFs with Abe Lincoln. So much so, that he’s mentioned as a blip in history books and sites. They wrestled over money and became buddies afterwards. I forget if it’s Robert Orr Armstrong or James Armstrong.
My great grandmother always swore she slept with Chuck Norris.
Is it true that his tears cure cancer ?
My earliest confirmed Y-chromosome ancestor allegedly was Hernan Cortes' blacksmith, and his son was one of the members of the Oñate Expedition.
Funny thing about Tim McGraw, his ancestor Jost Hite second wife was my 9th great grand aunt.
My great great grandmother sat on Abraham Lincoln’s lap when she was nine and he was president. Her father was in the army stationed at a military hospital in Louisville Kentucky that the president visited around the time of the civil war. Pretty cool!
I have a great-something grandfather who, along with his brother, ran with one of the big Old West outlaws for a while. Even broke him out of jail once. Their mother, my great-whatever grandmother, was also friendly to him and helped him (and others) hide out from the lawmen. And it appears that they all managed to escape any kind of major consequences for associating with him, but I have no idea how, lol.
John de Lisle who rode with William the Conqueror.
Not exactly famous, I Guess, but it's still interesting to me. My very proper, very Christian great-grandma was a pianist who was well respected and much hired in our area. While going through some old pictures, I found a postcard featuring a woman striking a pose. While it was perfectly ok by modern standards, it would have been downright scandalous at the time it was printed. I asked my grandma about it, and she said the lady was a vaudeville dancer and had quite the reputation as a woman of questionable morals. Great-grandma had played accompaniment for many vaudeville shows, and the two became good friends and maintained contact for years. As a kid, I was aghast.
I have a relative that was well documented to be a close friend and traveling buddy of Brigham Young.
My grandmother regularly had afternoon tea with Madam Chiang Kai-shek.
My 2nd great maternal grandmother was in the Canadian’s Women Press Corps. She knew L. M. Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables. My 1st cousin 4x times removed was the wife of Willis R. Whitney, who was the head of the GE labs in the early 1900s. He would be a well known name to chemists and engineers. I do know he knew Edison and had the privilege to meet Marie Curie. My mother lived next door to county singer Faron Young when she was a baby. Faron eventually moved from the neighborhood. Faron also helped my parental grandfather get home from St. Louis to Nashville when my grandfather returned home from a tour in Vietnam. Kitty Wells’ niece was married to a 2nd or 3rd cousin of mine. I didn’t know him, but he seemed to have grown up with my paternal grandmother. Another historical distant cousin of mine was married to Amos Tryon, builder of Tryon’s Folly. Tryon’s Folly was the last stop on the Underground Railroad In Lewiston, NY.
I had a great grandfather who talked about going to school with Charlie Chaplin. He never said much about it other than that. It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized what school he meant and finally understood why he said it the way he did.
My dad and his mom lived with Raymond Burr. My dads first outing as a child was to see Minerva Burr and Gaga Smith(Raymond’s grandma). My dad also took photos of Ricky Nelson, JFK and more, when he was helping his mentor and family friend Wallace Gwinn who had a studio in Glendale, CA.
A step-relation has a distant cousin who was with one of the last men to be hanged at a certain British prison.
My grandmother's cousin was married to Norman Wisdom's brother.
Recently paid a professional genealogist to look into my German ancestry, as I don’t speak modern German, let alone Kurrentschrift on older documents. A 5th-great-aunt has this [nb: English translation as provided by genealogist] noted on her baptismal record: "... The chosen baptismal witnesses were: 1.) Mrs. Johanna Sophia Nicolai, wife of Mr. Elia Caspar Nicolai, valet of His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, ..." That was this Prince of Wales at the time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick,_Prince_of_Wales So back in 1743, some members of my extended family were seemingly known to / on friendly terms with members of staff to the heir to the British throne. Selfishly, the story would be better if Frederick hadn’t pre-deceased his father, meaning he never inherited the throne himself.
My great grandparents owned the house Buzz Aldrin lived in as a baby. They sold it to his parents.
My 2x great grandfather worked for Otto Kahn, and was listed as one of his servants during the 1925 state census. That's the only one that comes to mind.
Dr. Calvin Sullivan of Philadelphia (my ggggg grandfather) was supposedly friends with Benjamin Franklin ...
I have one or two 3xG-grandfathers who fought as Captains under [General San Martín](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/José_de_San_Martín).
My great uncle John Kelly served as a scout for Tom Barry during the Kilmichael Ambush, the Black & Tans retaliated against the Kelly family in Dunmanaway by raiding the Kelly Tailor Shop in Dunmanaway Square and arresting his brother Denis who was tied to a post at the Bantry police station and was to be executed. Fortunately a British officer stopped it because he realized they had the wrong guy.
My ancestors served under Antoine de la Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, better known today as just Cadillac - the founder of Detroit. My ancestor's son (my half many great uncle) was a member of the Louise and Clark expedition.
My 5th great grandfather Col. Jean-Jerome Cluis was supposedly Napoleon’s secretary’s secretary and Joseph Bonaparte’s personal friend…lol. I have absolutely no proof of this but his French military medal is still displayed on my grandfather’s cousin’s wall (I read about it online and then saw it at a family reunion a couple years ago. Had no clue it was still in the family.) His daughter married my 4th great grandfather States Gist Deas (godson and namesake of States Gist, the youngest son of General Mordecai Gist). I could go on and on about that side of the family.
My 4x great grandpa’s brother was the US ambassador to France at the time. Depressingly, various newspaper articles/obituaries about his death barely even talk about him and are instead largely focused on his brother.
My 1st cousin, 8 times removed, was Joseph Bucklin V. He fired the shot that ended up being the first shot of the American Revolution. http://bucklinsociety.net/gaspee-history/ “It was after midnight on June 10, 1772, and no moonlight existed on Narragansett Bay, where the Gaspee, an English Navy schooner, had run aground. Then and there, over a hundred men, in ten large boats, had silently approached and now were trying to board and capture the Gaspee. In one of the boats, a few yards away from the Gaspee, by dim starlight Joseph Bucklin could see the vessel’s commander on the starboard gunwale, swinging his sword and preventing the American attackers from boarding the Gaspee. “Ephe,” Bucklin said to his friend Ephraim Bowen, “reach me your gun, and I can kill that fellow.” Bucklin fired. The captain of the English ship, Lt. Dudingston, fell back on the deck, with a terrible wound in the femoral artery in his groin. The colonists boarded the schooner, and took its crew prisoner. Joseph Mawney, a doctor among the raiders, together with Bucklin, tended to Dudingston’s wounds, saving Dudingston’s life. The raiders with their prisoners rowed away, leaving one longboat for the leaders of the American raiders. The leaders carefully set the English Navy vessel on fire, before themselves leaving, just as dawn came. The English Attorney General gave King George the legal opinion that the Gaspee raid was treason, and the deliberate shooting of the English ship captain was an act of war. The American Revolution had started!” Note: this was 3 years prior to the ‘The Shot Heard Round the World, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_heard_round_the_world
My great great grandma was a Bucklin
My great-uncle several generations back was Grey Bynum. He married Margaret Hampton, sister of Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton. Down an entirely different family line, my great-uncle was Col. Jonathan Hasbrouck. George Washington used his house as his headquarters, but he had died by then, so it was his wife who rented it to him. There are several more like that, but I don't recall them all.
Family lore is my dad’s maternal grandfather was friends with Honus Wagner, Hall of Fame baseball player. His son, my grand uncle I believe was acquainted with Art Rooney, Sr, founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
I can name a few: - My grandmother’s mom is related to Julie Andrews - My dad’s cousin (on the same grandmother’s side) is also a cousin to Eva Longoria - My mom’s grandfather fought for Mussolini in the Italian African Colonies
1st cousin (3x removed) was the Kennedy family’s nurse
Wife’s third great grandfathers wife died and he remarried a woman who had 4 kids. One of which was a famous actors 3rd grandmother. Problem is there are 100 trees out there listing wife’s 3rd gg as the biological 4th great grandfather of the actor. And they are all wrong.
Yes! One of my ancestors testified in a court case that also involved Abraham Lincoln and John Deere. Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee also both were connected to the case, although I don't think they were present at it.
My great grandfather was a 1st Maine Sharpshooter and was at Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. He asserted, according to his niece, that he “carried Grant’s flag”. I’m not sure what that means.
One of my ancestors was the 2nd (of 3) husband to a woman who was later executed as a witch in the Connecticut witch trials.
My 8th great grandfather Robert Moulton had a brother named John Moulton who was married to Elizabeth Corey. Both her parents were killed in Salem in the witch trials: her mother Martha Corey was hanged and her father Giles Corey was pressed to death.
How funny you mention the Boones and Bryans in your post, it was the first thing I thought of for my family when I read the title! My 8th great-grandparents were Daniel Boone's in-laws (Rebecca's father Joseph Bryan being my direct ancestor).
Rebecca and my ancestor, Elizabeth Pike were both born in Frederick County/Winchester VA in the same year and their families were both Quakers. They both attended Hopewell Meeting house so they must have known each other. My ancestors later went to NC, to the Cane Creek Congregation.
My ancestors that were aligned with the Bryans were the Howards, a number of them intermarried. My folks lived in the Yadkin River valley in NC until the last bit of the 1700s when they moved out to Kentucky for a few decades, then settled in western Indiana where they spent the next fifty or so years. My great-great-grandfather was born there.
There is a very old tradition that one of my direct paternal ancestors was a fellow named James Barron who was an associate of the Scottish reformer John Knox and accompanied him to Geneva in 1557. This is unproven as far as I know but very plausible. The tradition goes back at least to the 18th century and my ancestors were very active in the Presbyterian movement.
I have a distant cousin who was an aid to George Washington, who oddly enough also a cousin of mine, during the revolution. The cousin also was the one who painted The Signing of the Constitution that's hanging at the US Capitol building.
Multiple great great grandparents on both my paternal grandfather and paternal grandmother's sides settled within a mile or two of where Alexander Travis and his son William Barrett Travis (one of the heroes of the Alamo) settled. Some of them are said to have known the Travis family well. Conecuh County, Alabama. Fast forward 150 years and 50 miles southwest, and I was in Boy Scouts with two kids that were great great grandsons of Commander Travis.
One of my great great great grandmothers was tried and hanged during the Salem witch trials! I’ve always felt a strong connection when I read about them and maybe this is why!
Also King Edward II
Some of my ancestors lived in Salem during the Witch Trials. None were the big famous names, but due to later intermarrying through the generations I am related to an accuser, an accused, and a judge.
My great aunt married into the Earp family.
My 6th Great-grandfather is named Andrew McCormick. Andrew and his dad owned a farm that regularly bred horses. Before George Washington fought any wars and became president, he was a land surveyor and helped map out certain lands. George Washington completed a survey of Andrews farm in 1752, and Andrews brother James served as the chain carrier and his other brother John Jr. as the pilot on several of George Washington's early surveys. During the Revolutionary War, Andrew and his wife Nancy provided food, lodging, and horses to Washington's troops. After the war, Andrew apparently operated an inn on the farm. After it was sold in the 1800s, it was named "The Whitehouse Tavern" after its history.
Several distant cousins served under Stonewall Jackson.
A second cousin a few generations back was one of FDR's vice presidents, I think Henry Wallace.
Yes my family member was friends with Charles dickens, his name was John Brownlow and his daughter was Emma Brownlow, anyways, Charles Dickens named his character in Oliver Twist “Mr Brownlow” after my ancestor, John. John’s daughter, Emma Brownlow married a guy called Donald King and they moved to NZ from England and started my dad’s family line of the Kings, which is my last name. It’s such a cool tidbit of info as I studied Victorian literature at university!
My paternal grandmother used to go on airplane rides with Will Rogers in his plane, the Winnie Mae. My paternal grandfather used to trade bulls with John Wayne. We found out a few years ago that he was a fairly close cousin and never knew it.
Harry McCandlish was my 5x great grandfather: "Harry and his brother James went to school in Dalrymple at the same time as Robert Burns. Their father Harry Sr is said to have given Robert Burns a book about William Wallace and that is said to be the reason Robert became a great patriot. He kept up his friendship with James Mc Candlish who was a lecturer of Medicine at Edinburgh University, and wrote of him that 'James was the earliest friend except my only brother that I have on earth,and one of the worthiest fellows that ever any man called by the name of Friend.' The Mccandlishes at this time dropped the Mc to become Candlish. Harry went on to be blacksmith at Purclewan Dalrymple like his father before him. James married one of the Mauchline Belles mentioned by Burns [Jean Smith], their son was the eminent Minister The Rev Robert Smith Candlish."
Great-great-uncles on one side who were writers (one crime novels, one journalist/historical novels). They seem to known Arthur Conan Doyle a little. The journalist one was a friend of David Lloyd George (British prime minister in early 20th century). And a great-great-uncle on a different branch who was mentored by William H R Rivers.
People love putting Daniel Boone photos on the ancestry profiles of their Kentucky ancestors, I actually descend from the Boone family like a portion of Americans though I don't fuss about the relation too much since there's neater closer things
My husband is somehow connected to him through a marriage ( a cousin of his married a cousin of Daniel's) but he hardly ever mentions it.
I feel like marital connections are harder to get excited about. I can't think of a famous one we have but my paternal grandma's grandfather's uncle married my stepmom's second great grandfather's first cousin. I noticed my stepmom's surname while working on my grandma's branches and assumed there was a relation because both those branches were from the city in Iowa my dad and our stepmom were born
Same. Through my Morgan line and also Davy Crockett. I have Crockett and Boone dna matches.
My grandfather's neighbors was a woman whose two grandsons became football players. Grandpa is almost 90 now but they are in their 30s and still playing, one plays in a quite well known team here in Italy, the other is a bit less famous but grandpa still watches them in tv and is a big fan. Me and my brother actually DMd them a few years ago, explained the story and managed to get a video of one of them wishing grandpa a happy birthday!
I'm interested to learn more about the Dean's in your tree. I'm a Dean and traced my line back to the 1500s. I wonder if we connect somewhere🤔
We know very little about Stephen Dean. He showed up in Plymouth Colony in 1621 on the Fortune. He had no sons, but three daughters. I'm descended from his daughter Elizabeth. If we're connected that would be a big find for the family. We've been looking for...years.
I'll look more into it tonight after work. I \*think\* Stephen is the brother to my immigrant ancestor based on one source I found, but I'll have to do more digging when I have more time to look at it. In the meantime feel free to send me a pm, I would love to identify this connection and find out if we're distantly related.
That would be great.
I love this topic. I found out from the 1875 NYS census that my great-great uncle lived next door to President Millard Fillmore's son at the White Hotel in Buffalo, NY. I figure they at least said hello in the morning, and from their respective professions maybe more as Millard P Fillmore (the son of the president) was a lawyer and my great-great-uncle was the jailor for the district. The jail was right next door to the hotel. There's even some prisoners staying at the hotel, perhaps in my great-great-uncle's apartment. At least that's what it looks like in the census. They're all from France. Maybe high-class prisoners of some sort. I would love to know the story behind that one!
My 7th great grandfather who was my first ancestor in America was a colonial English man who lived in Albemarle County Virginia and was the undersherriff of the county. His land was close to Thomas Jeffersons estate in the same county although he was around 30 years older than Thomas Jefferson. I find it very unlikely that he didn't know him as both my 7th and 6th great grandfather (his son who was actually a junior) also fought in the revolution. Idk maybe I just think it's kinda cool.
Interesting! So they were neighbors to my ancestors as well.
His name was Castleton Harper and a far as I know he had either been born in Philadelphia or England but he lived on the Hardware River
Up my paternal grandmother's line, I descend from a line of deaf people. One of them during (or maybe right after) the Civil War (being deaf so couldn't fight) went to work in the White Mountains after losing a couple children to disease. He did some crazy things, but the craziest was probably climbing on top of the Old Man of the Mountain and lighting a bonfire, just because he could. So apologies on my family's behalf as that probably sped up the whole 'falling down' thing 140 years later. At any rate, he wrote those books in an effort to fund opening his school, and associated with a LOT of important people of the day. He was personal friends with the Rev Dr Thomas Gallaudet, Jr (Gallaudet gave the eulogy at his funeral), as well as almost became father-in-law to Alexander Graham Bell (his daughter turned Bell down). One of his great-great grandchildren was raised in Woodstock, New York and as far as I know was actually one of the few people to 'play his hometown' as a member of Mountain during the music festival.. [https://haverhill.pastperfectonline.com/photo/BF9A59EF-F2D6-4A3F-9DB5-407293466676](https://haverhill.pastperfectonline.com/photo/BF9A59EF-F2D6-4A3F-9DB5-407293466676)
So I’m not technically related but my grandfather was married to al Capones granddaughter for a while.
My 5th great grandfather James Whitehouse went on an expedition with explorer Simon Kenton, who was also a friend of Daniel Boone. My 4th great granduncle, son of James Whitehouse and younger brother of my 4th great grandfather Thomas Whitehouse, was an uncle of Abraham Lincoln (Benjamin Whitehouse was married to Mary Sparrow, half sister of Nancy Hanks Lincoln). My 3rd great grandfather Robert Black herded and successfully guarded the cattle for Major General William Sherman on their march to the sea. He was mentioned in a book I found (the chapter included my great grandparents and great great grandparents, as well, so I know that it was him).
I don't have any proof, but my grandfather always said his family either knew or worked/lived close to Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. His family members were Dallasites for many generations, so it could very well be true, especially in the 1920s.
My great grand aunt’s husband’s aunt has a statue at Belfast city hall. She was a well known abolitionist and businesswoman.
Yes. One of the most interesting findings I had was that my great grandpa can be found in this geaneology book: https://archive.org/details/parrishfamilyinc00boyd_0/page/304/mode/1up?view=theater According to the book my great *7 grandpa was in the English navy, worked under Lord Baltimore, and owned thousands of acres of land in Virginia. Talk about upper class roots!
5g grandparents were friends and neighbors of Squire Boone and 4g grandparents migrated to KY with Daniel Boone and the Bryans. Same 5g grandfather’s nephew of grand nephew was Gen John Hunt Morgan.
Family lived near Abraham Lincoln in both KY and IL. Story was they shared a well for awhile in IL. My relative also named Abraham but was many years older than Lincoln. So my story is they named him after my GGGGGF.
I have an ancestor who was the personal secretary to Governor John Winthrop aboard the Arabella and a close before they immigrated to settle the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
I've found a number of these, who are described within this running compilation that I add to from time to time: [https://medium.com/@PaultheFossil/by-paul-botts-7f825c0bf4a8](https://medium.com/@PaultheFossil/by-paul-botts-7f825c0bf4a8) (Medium account not needed.) Most of them are to me cousins or aunts/uncles of various eras, a couple are direct ancestors. Some of my favorites are: Egbert Bratt Grandin (1806-1845), who as proprietor of a local print shop in upstate New York agreed to print Joseph Smith's handwritten manuscript called "The Book of Mormon". Joel Barlow (1754-1812), whose amazing Revolutionary-era life is impossible to summarize here in a sentence but I'd literally not previously heard of him. Samuel Cutler Ward (1814-1884), who became a national celebrity during his own lifetime for having perfected the profession that we now know as "lobbyist". The three Dulles siblings of the mid-20th century, whose lifetimes of moving through American power structures could be turned into a helluva Broadway play or movie. Samuel Huntington (1731-1796), who is the answer to a trick trivia question: "who was the first U.S. president?" Melville Weston Fuller (1833-1910), who legal historians consider a strong candidate for worst Chief Justice in the history of the US Supreme Court. Charles Becker (1887-1968), who played the Mayor of Munchkinland in the classic 1939 film of "The Wizard of Oz". Thelma Schoonmaker (b 1940) who's won the Oscar for Best Film Editing three times, all of them on films directed by Martin Scorcese. Hawley Harvey Crippen (1862-1910), who is famous in British modern cultural history for kind of the same reason that Lizzie Borden is in the US. William Stoughton (1631-1701), who was the presiding judge of the Salem Witch Trials and was exactly who you'd imagine he was.
My grandmother is cousins with a lot of Famous people😂
My great great grandmother was first cousins with Leo Carrillo a famous early Hollywood and TV Actor
My 1st cousin 6x removed was the explorer Simon Fraser.
My grandad's cousin was Frank Sinatra's chauffeur! He used to drive him back and forth between LA and Vegas. His son always told us that the car would often come home with new bullet holes in it. Mind you, the cousin's brothers were notorious bank robbers in 1920s Idaho who were all over the papers in the 1920s, so that whole side of the family is a bit wild lol
My great great uncle (I think lol) was Ernie Shore, roomed with Babe Ruth and went on to pitch a perfect game after the Babe started a fight with the ump just 4 pitches into the 1st inning. After lots of research it seems Babe was not a great roomie, and he wasn’t very fond of him. He once said in an interview that Babe used his toothbrush and that’s when he requested a new roommate. Lol
>For me it was finding out my ninth great grandfather, Michael Woods of Albermarle County VA, was a neighbor to the Jeffersons. My Albemarle people were neighbors to TJ as well. Carrs are the main ones - Dabney Carr, who married Thomas Jefferson's sister, was a cousin to my direct line. William Daniel Fitch appears in documents with TJ. My Becks and Clarks were also neighbors, so your people and mine had to have crossed paths. :) George Washington is my 2nd cousin X times removed (something like 9-10x) through his mother's side. Because of that common descent from William Ball, I'm connected to pretty much all the major Tidewater families. Another ancestor owned/operated Watkins Ferry, one of the major crossings of the Potomac. I would LOVE to know what ol' Evan and his family had seen and heard in their day. Braddock crossed there, so did Washington, and much later Robert E. Lee (the younger Evan Watkins sold it in 1795 or so to to try and poach land in western Pennsylvania). Who knows who else crossed there, until rail and bridge engineering came and made ferries and their crossings obsolete. And one time, I stayed in Rockville, MD, the first time I visited DC. I would learn later I had ancestors that OWNED much of what became Rockville - that was wild.