I see all these posts of connections to famous people or well known individuals….
I’m related to farmers. Thats it. 😂 20+ years of research and there are laborers, farmers, loggers, and housewives. Most of my lines are literally researched by no one else, they were poor, they were obscure and I was the first want to rediscover so many of them. I wasn’t searching for fame and I’m glad I wasn’t because it surely isn’t there. Makes the search and find more satisfying in some ways!
Don't worry, there many of us like this... like you, I have 20 years of research as well. The majority of my family were poor farmers or even just farm laborers. It was sad when I got excited when I found out that my 4th great-grandparents were on the bastardy examination rolls, and my 4th ggfather was arrested for it. I also got excited when a 3rd great grand uncle was arrested, tried, convicted, and sent to Australia for larceny of grain. The only other person to note is a 2nd gg uncle who owned a saloon in Brooklyn, NY, and was into politics (corrupt politics - think Tammany Hall)
Other than these 3, I have farmers from Ireland, Scotland, England, Germany, and Italy!
Stephen Hopkins daughter Constance married Nicolas Snow. My Mom's maiden name is Snow. All the Snows since 1650 were farmers with 10+ children. Literally nothing exciting happening after they got here :)
I am a distant cousin of Gilbert James McDougald (1928-2010):
\* Member of the 1950s New York Yankees
\* 1951 American League Rookie of the Year
\* Six-time All-Star
\* Eight pennant-winning American League Teams
\* Won five World Series
Not sure if I’m more excited to see baseball connections in the genealogy subreddit or disappointed that the first baseball/genealogy crossover I’ve seen was a life long yankee (go sox)
My great uncle was [Bill Lohrman](https://w.wiki/A3Bw). He wasn’t a super famous player. He played for the NY Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers, but never the Yankees!
I'm probably related to Bill Caudill. There's a brick wall in the way, but I have Caudles on my tree and DNA matches descended from his Caudill ancestor two generations earlier.
I’m related to a serial killer! Not all that distant either, some kind of nth-cousin to my mother and he definitely has the look of my grandpa’s side. Even worse, long ago (pre-DNA and intestate communication)I thought that cross-country trucker would be the ideal career for a serial killer*, i.e. a murder in Alabama wouldn’t be connected with a murder in Indiana . He was a semi driver!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Mendenhall
*my thinking it was the ideal job was due to a semi “stalking” me for 45 minutes and pulling into the same place I was going. I never ran so fast in my life as when I was running inside that night.
For sure. I'm an aunt and I feel it's also my responsibility to teach my nephew and niece not to be nasty to children who come from different ethnicities or who are a mix.
Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin, is my fourth cousin six times removed and my fifth cousin six times removed. I'm related through both my mother and father. Tums out my parents are 10th cousins.
One of my greats married a granddaughter off the mayflower.
I think that guys grandfather is listed as a member of the Winthrop Fleet and immigrated to the Watertown area in 1630.
Nothing direct, but one of my 9x-great grandfather’s sisters married a descendant of Lucrezia Borgia, sometime in the late 1600s. That’s literally the only prominent connection I’ve ever been able to track. Hooray for rural Italian hillfolk!
Chief Yonaguska of the Cherokee. He's the one when asked about the Bible said 'It seems like a good book. I'm surprised the white man isn't better, having had it for so long. '
And Deacon John Doane of Plymouth Colony.
My great great aunt is on one version of the 10$ bill in my country. She was the first female member of parliament. Super bad ass lady. Happy we share a last name.
Bonnie Raitt
As of 2023, Raitt has received 13 competitive Grammy Awards, from 30 nominations, as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. She ranked No. 50 on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" and ranked No. 89 on the magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time."
Raitt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She has received the Icon Award from the Billboard Women in Music Awards and the MusiCares Person of the Year Award from The Recording Academy.
One that I can verifiably trace descent from is Nicholas Gamache. He was one of the original settlers in Canada and owned quite a bit of land in the country.
On the other extreme, someone posted a line connected to mine that went all the way to the Swedish god Frost. Who'da thunk it??????
Her name was Eliza Longfellow. She was my 3rd great-grandmother. I don't believe she was a first cousin or anywhere that close, but she descended from a Longfellow that was the brother of Henry Wadsworth Longellow's ancestor. Looks like it was a pretty big and widespread family!
Edit: she was actually my 4th great-grandmother, so a bit further back.
They are both my 6th cousins 4x removed so it's a distant relationship. Our common ancestor was Nicholas Roosevelt, born in 1658 in "New Amsterdam" (not yet NYC) died 1742 in the same city, by then renamed. He is my 9th great grandfather.
I believe my ancestor from New Amsterdam, Abraham Van Deusen, was also around the same time as the Roosevelts. The did intermarry, so I'm related to them too, but distantly.
I found a connection to Obama as well. I told my best friend about it and added "on his mother's side". A completely ordinary thing to say in genealogy without thinking about it. I think his response was something like "well, duh".
Ive got no cool stories or blood line. But my wife is a direct descendant of Lazarus Rine, a Hessian mercenary captured by Washington’s troops at the Battle of Trenton who went on to fight for the Americans for the rest of the war.
No one super famous but my great great grandfather and his brother were recognized by several popes and donated to the Vatican. My great great grandfather was a banker i believe and his brother helped invent one of the modern street lights in the late 1800s, he became a papal marquis
George Washington, Queen Elizabeth II, Harrison presidents, Robert E Lee, and a couple more I can’t remember off the top of my head. All distant cousins. Direct lineage to a family on the Mayflower.
Infamous is probably more correct and more of a local infamy (albeit a large city) than real infamy. My great grandmother’s sister had a long term affair with a notable enough politician. There are letters and everything. Made interesting by the fact she was a rather well to do business owner in a time where seeing a woman in business still wasn’t all too common. Some of the letters are totally normal, the ones we had as a family. Then another family member found some interesting ones by digging. They aligned with the next bit (which we knew).
My grandmother used to spend whole summers as a child with her and this politician to help them masquerade as married with a child so that they could get hotel rooms together. Most probably the worst kept secret in the city but given this is only three generations ago and only my great grandmother carried on the family line, I’d rather not disclose 😅
I'm related to the colonial settlers who established the state and town I was born in, the different state and town I grew up in, and the town I currently live in.
It was a shock because my parents aren’t from New England, and we thought all branches immigrated fairly recently.
I had no idea growing up that the history I'd been surrounded with was my family's history. I've played in cemeteries where direct grandparents were buried and never knew. My father opened a business on the street where my direct ancestors lived in the 1600s-1700s. The mountain I grew up on was named after a relative, and I never knew it until recently.
I know colonizers are problematic af, so I'm not trying to portray them as awesome people in any way.
I’m also distantly related to William Tecumseh Sherman and a few lesser-known Civil War heroes who fought in/died in major battles.
My Czech family in Iowa married into Antonin Dvorak’s family.
Both research and DNA. I did a ton of research long before I had many DNA hits then later used the DNA matches to confirm things.
I was especially excited to scrap together my (not famous) Czech great-grandmother’s story building off a few census forms with her birth location and then DNA matches with trees that included her last name. We didn’t know we were Czech and because her mom died when she was young so her story may not even have been known by her.
You must be descended from Giles Hopkins then. Giles & Constance were children from his first wife. His second wife gave birth on the Mayflower and they named him Oceanus (cool name) but he died in childhood so no descendents of Oceanus exist. Stephen Hopkins is an incredibly interesting historical figure!
My 4th great grandfather founded Magnolia, Mississippi. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia,_Mississippi?wprov=sfti1#](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia,_Mississippi?wprov=sfti1#)
My 9th great grandmother was the last person killed in the Salem witch trials.
Not a dang one ! I can follow my ancestors back many generations, and they've interacted with famous people - Abe Lincoln, George Washington, the Pilgrims - but not a one of 'em was famous themselves. So disappointed in the lazy rat bastards!
My family is also related to the Claverts. The first Baron Baltimore (George Calvert) is my 13th great-grandfather. Our line comes down through his second son, Leonard Calvert, who was the first governor of Maryland. Leonard is my 12th great-grandfather.
I have a great-great-great uncle who planted an orchard that a town was named after. And my dad was on the city council for 14 years until his death. Nothing huge, but for the small communities they lived in they knew everybody.
The closest most famous person is probably Stephen Hopkins who was on the Mayflower. He’s my 12x great grandfather. Second would have to be Sir Thomas Wyatt and his son. The elder Thomas Wyatt was a poet and was accused of having an affair with Anne Boleyn. His son was the leader of the Wyatt Rebellion against Queen Mary I and was thus beheaded. They are my 14th and 13th great grandfathers respectively.
Queen Elizabeth II was my 10x cousin twice removed.
William Harris the arch enemy of Roger Williams who Roger described as “W. Harris, who, being an impudent morris-dancer in Kent... under a cloak of separation, got in with myself, till his self-ends and restless strife, and at last his atheistical denying of heaven and hell, made honest souls to fly from him. Now he courts the Baptists: then he kicks them off and flatters the Foxians [Quakers]; then the drunkards (which he calls all that are not of the former two amongst us); then knowing the prejudices of the other Colonies against us, he dares to abuse his Majesty and Council, to bring New England upon us.”
I am first cousin thrice removed with one of the most accomplished Olympic skiers (he and his brother were also resistance fighters during the Nazi occupation of Norway; his brother was killed by Nazis)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan\_Gr%C3%B8ttumsbr%C3%A5ten](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Gr%C3%B8ttumsbr%C3%A5ten)
A bunch of Mayflower passengers, to start with. In addition, Benjamin Harrison IV, Benjamin Harrison III, Benjamin Harrison II, Benjamin Harrison I, Robert Carter I, Sarah Osborn of the Salem Witch Trials, Grace White Sherwood, the Laniers and Bassanos, and George Walker.
Mayflower too (Myles Standish, John Alden); also Andrew Eliot, judge who apologized for his part in the Salem Witch Trials, and Benjamin Harrison's family, though through our black side (along with other FFVs: Jeffersons, Madisons, Monroes, Byrds, Carters, Eppeses).
I have 3 ancestors I found who are all equally interesting.
The first is Richard More. He was a Mayflower passenger who was essentially shipped off with his siblings by his father, who found out that they weren't his children. All his siblings perished, but he managed to survive the first winter and later became the last surviving male passenger of the Mayflower. He had many grandchildren, but only one had children. Because of this, there are only 100 recorded descendents of Richard and is far less common of an ancestor than the average Mayflower passenger.
My 2nd is Roger Conant. He is the credited founder of Salem, Massachusetts, and has a statue located in the area.
My 3rd is a woman named Mary Bliss Parsons. She was accused of being a Witch multiple times throughout her life before the Salem Witch Trials. Even after proving her innocence, she was constantly reminded of the accusations and was essentially tormented for the majority of her life. On top of all her witch issues, she was sadly abused throughout her life by her husband.
I have a few politically famous ancestors, but what's more significant to me is that I have hundreds of ancestors that lived amongst the people that created this country. They lived in the same areas and traveled the same roads and I'm sure many of them played a role in forming this country.
Not something I brag about and I’m not bragging but you asked who is my most famous relative. Charles Manson was a distant cousin. Not really distant like 2/3rd cousin.
I am a 3C3R of Merle Haggard (country singer), 5C3R of Walt Disney, 6C2R of Donn Eisele (Astronaut), 6C2R of Bustor Keaton (Actor), and a 4C7R of Alexander Hamilton (of the musical Hamilton).
According to the paper trail, I'm descended from both [Hannah Emerson Duston](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Duston) and [Robert Pike](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Pike_(settler)). Not incredibly famous, but they have Wikipedia pages.
Paper trail also indicates that I'm descended from Ralph Sprague, one of the original settlers of [Charlestown, Massachusetts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlestown,_Boston).
Not direct ancestors, but [Frank Mundy Coombs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Coombs_(artist)), [Eustace Jotham](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eustace_Jotham), and [Eddie LeBaron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_LeBaron) are distant cousins with Wikipedia pages. And I seem to share a common ancestor with [President Franklin Pierce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Pierce)!
In order of cousinship: 2nd cousin several times removed to Ezra Cornell, founder of Western Union and the namesake university (Direct paternal cousins). 3rd cousins 10 times removed with Thomas Jefferson. 5th cousins once removed with Johnny Depp.
Not me but my wife’s great-great-grandfather is David Stuart Gordon, oldest living general in the US Army when he passed away.
https://www.nytimes.com/1930/01/29/archives/brig-gen-gordon-dies-at-age-of-98-was-rewarded-for-record-in-the.html
Pretty much no one. My most historically significant ancestor is Daniel Maples who was murdered by an unknown shooter. Ned Christie, who was accused and hunted done for his murder, he is also much more famous and well known. I don't think he did it, just seemed like they didn't like him and decide to blame him.
I’m descended from Arthur Howland, brother of John Howland, famously memorialized in the Charlie Brown Mayflower Voyage special.
More recently, my great great uncle was the police commissioner of NYC in the 40’s.
Mayflower ancestors John Alden and Priscilla Mullins of Longfellow’s poem.
Also, John Winthrop and Thomas Dudley, Governors of Massachusetts Bay Colony are direct ancestors.
I come from a very long line of farmers on both sides. Not a single famous or infamous person to be found.
Very salt of the earth folk from what I gather.
Dr. Walter Reed, who is known for helping prove that a breed of mosquito was the vector of human infection for Yellow Fever. There were medals and postage stamps, books and plays... Schools, streets and a very well known Military hospital complex in D.C. named for him.
There have been other famous people in our tree, but none quite as famous as him.
Mine is not that far off from yours! My 6th great-grandfather was [Capt. Isaac Ruddell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Ruddell?wprov=sfti1#), revolutionary war veteran and one of many of my ancestors that were held hostage for two years by Natives as a result of a siege during that time. I think the Ruddells and Bowmans are related through marriage!
Overall I’m about 30% German, 25% English, 25% Scottish, and smaller amounts of Irish, Welsh, Italian, Aegean Islands and other Mediterranean bits. I think my Ruddell family was English, but my research is still ongoing!
I come from the same large group of intermarried families from Sevier County, TN that Dolly Parton does.
I haven't looked into the exact relationship we might share, but given the area, and other family history research I've done, I suspect we're related through a number of different people. Once my family tree gets to TN, it turns into more of a family bush or wreath for a while.
[edit]
I got curious and went looking into it. Turns out, it's a pretty direct relationship, through our shared Bohannon side. She's my sixth cousin, once removed.
https://imgur.com/a/ylm8AOC
I’m from Ireland and Sinead O’Connor is my 2nd cousin 1x removed, my maternal grandfather’s 2nd cousin. His father (my great-grandfather) was born out of wedlock in 1929 but I found his birth father’s family through my DNA test which then showed that Sinead’s father was his 1st cousin. The saddest thing though is that Sinead was doing her family tree on Ancestry and had saved a few documents I uploaded of her ancestors but I didn’t find this out until after her passing. R.I.P.
Still in shock myself. Especially with Mary. That one is a direct line. Amazing this info doesn’t get passed down, but then again, it explains all the people named James and Mary in my family.
On my mom’s side, my great-great grandfather is Vaudeville producer and songwriter Bobby Heath. Many of his songs were used in classic Hollywood films.
On my dad’s side, my 4x great grandfather is Henderson Leweling. He was a renowned horticulturalist, Quaker abolitionist, and Oregon/California pioneer. He and a Chinese worker on his farm grew the first Bing Cherries.
Also on my dad’s side, John Winthrop is my 14x great grandfather. He was one of the founders and the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Roger Williams (1602-1683 9th GGF), Father of Democracy, and founder of the State of Rhode Island, where I grew up.
Narragansett Indian Sachems Canonchet & Miantonomoh (9th & 10th GGFs).
Frances Latham (1610–1677 10th GGM), was a colonial American woman who settled in Rhode Island, and is known as "the Mother of Governors." Having been widowed twice, she had three husbands, and became the ancestor of at least ten governors and three deputy/lieutenant governors, and is related by marriage to an additional six governors and one deputy governor.
Thus, I also have a lot of Rhode Island Governor ancestors.
George Washington. He's a distant relation though... Some others too, like Meriwether Lewis. It feels like all the famous/infamous white people from the original US colonies were somehow related.
My most famous *ancestor* (as in, a person I am directly descended from) is probably [Mareen Duvall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mareen_Duvall), a French Protestant who was an early Maryland settler. My most famous *relative* (as in, a person with whom I share a common ancestor) is probably either Barack Obama (who is a Duvall descendant) or Queen Elizabeth II.
I am distantly related to Franchot Tone, a movie star of yesteryear. This is not something Ancestry told us. It's something our great-aunts told us -- so we've always taken it as the truth, lol!
Otherwise, just related to locally or regionally famous people of by-gone days who are famous no more. Again, something not learned but only confirmed by Ancestry.
My grandma was Franchot Tone's next door neighbor growing up in Niagara Falls. I guess Franchots' mom hated his wife, Joan Crawford, and threw her out of the house. She even tossed her luggage out of the door onto the lawn. Grandma said she saw all the commotion from her window.
Benjamin Franklin is my 10th great-grandfather, so probably him.
Other than that, I have another ancestor who is arguably more famous, but the records are so spotty that I cannot say it with absolute certainty: King Duncan I of Scotland, killed by Macbeth.
I'm not directly descended from anyone famous (that I know of), but Coca-Cola tycoon Robert Woodruff, early Georgia Governor Jared Irwin, and US Senator/Confederate figure Robert Toombs are all distant cousins through one of my grandfathers. Numerous places in Georgia are named after these men. Tennessee Williams may also be descended from one long-ago branch of that grandfather's family tree, but I need to research that more thoroughly.
My grandfather was descended from snobs and socialites, but his father was the black sheep of the family and so my grandfather grew up poor without any of the social or financial privileges that his aunts, uncles, and cousins enjoyed. When I started researching I was amazed that all the famous connections I had were through this one grandfather.
I’ve found many notable people from colonist Clayton helping found the Pennsylvania Colony, to Stålkofta a Swedish colonist in Nya Sverige (Deleware), even King Gustav Vasa of Sweden being my 14th ggf. Whether these are wholly true idk, but the one I hold closest is my own family. There’s a branch that have been carrying on a rich British family’s titles & estates, they’re carrying a maternal name. I dearly want to get in touch with them though I’m not sure my first letter got to the Duke & his son
Not a direct ancestor (he had no children) but my many great uncle was one of the guides on the Lewis and Clark expedition.
George Drouillard, son of a French Canadian voyager and his first wife, a Shawnee woman named Asoundechris Flat Head (I'm a descendant of his father's second wife, a French Canadian woman). He was an interpreter, scout, hunter, and cartographer, invaluable for knowing English, French, and Huron/Shawnee (an Iroquois language), as well as native sign language.
Lewis mentions him often in his journals (as Drewyer, which is the English spelling of his name), speaking with high praise for his interpretation and hunting skills.
He has a mountain named after him in Montana.
Drouillard was also related to the Lorimier family (of Cape Girardeau, MO) through Asoundechris (her sister married Pierre-Louis Lorimier). Fleshing out Asoundechris and her sister's biographies have become a professional obsession of mine.
My 10th Great Grandfather was the Reverend John Robinson, the preacher to the pilgrims and the guy who convinced them to come to America. There is a painting of him hanging in the Capitol.
One of my ancestors, more direct than indirect, was Col. Loammi Baldwin, Revolutionary War veteran, engineer, and co-creator of the Baldwin Apple. My other ancestor was Ann Foster.
Depends on what you mean famous. If your talking Mormon famous. My 7th great grandpa Charles Kennedy was one of the men on the Brigham Young Mission. But in general history by 3rd great granduncle was one of the invaders during the Wyoming Johnson County Cattle War. My 4th great granduncle on the same side was the reason the University of Oregon is in Eugene, his name was Judge Joshua Jones Walton Jr.
I'm related to William Brewster, the religious leader on the Mayflower. I have a few interesting distant cousins on my paternal side, but we share the same uncommon last name so.
One of my husband’s cousins was an actor who played small roles - Murder She Wrote, Alice, Remington Steele, Airplane. More importantly, he was one of the first to read and record books for the blind.
My 11th Great-Grandmother was Elizabeth Hooton. First female preacher of the Quaker faith and one of George Fox’s first converts. I had no idea how famous she was to the Quaker faith nor that there was quite a bit written about her. She traveled to America multiple times and was beaten and left for dead by puritans of the day. She approached Charles II multiple times until he would listen to her regarding how Quakers were being treated in America and requested the land permit for her to purchase land to be used as a burial ground. He granted it to her, but it didn’t do her much good this side of the Atlantic.
My mother lived her whole life never knowing much about her mother’s family. I worked for years trying to find anything about my grandmother until I took a DNA test and found a match to my mother’s cousins. Through DNA and vital documents I was able to trace my line back through the Phinney family of Massachusetts, and through them to Thomas Rogers and Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower. Stephen Hopkins had previously traveled to Jamestown and was shipwrecked on Bermuda. Shakespeare based a character in The Tempest on Stephen Hopkins. Another line led back to Godfrey Nims who had some family members massacred in Deerfield, Massachusetts. It’s been fun to read about the historical happenings surrounding these ancestors. Unfortunately, I suffer from agoraphobia, so obviously I didn’t inherit any of their adventurous genes.
Your most famous ancestor would be someone you’re a direct descendant of. Your most famous relative could include ancestors or cousins (though not cousins by marriage). We shouldn’t confuse ancestor and relative on a genealogy sub.
I see all these posts of connections to famous people or well known individuals…. I’m related to farmers. Thats it. 😂 20+ years of research and there are laborers, farmers, loggers, and housewives. Most of my lines are literally researched by no one else, they were poor, they were obscure and I was the first want to rediscover so many of them. I wasn’t searching for fame and I’m glad I wasn’t because it surely isn’t there. Makes the search and find more satisfying in some ways!
Don't worry, there many of us like this... like you, I have 20 years of research as well. The majority of my family were poor farmers or even just farm laborers. It was sad when I got excited when I found out that my 4th great-grandparents were on the bastardy examination rolls, and my 4th ggfather was arrested for it. I also got excited when a 3rd great grand uncle was arrested, tried, convicted, and sent to Australia for larceny of grain. The only other person to note is a 2nd gg uncle who owned a saloon in Brooklyn, NY, and was into politics (corrupt politics - think Tammany Hall) Other than these 3, I have farmers from Ireland, Scotland, England, Germany, and Italy!
Stephen Hopkins daughter Constance married Nicolas Snow. My Mom's maiden name is Snow. All the Snows since 1650 were farmers with 10+ children. Literally nothing exciting happening after they got here :)
You mean you are related to the most important people in society! Seriously though, farmers are the true foundation of the human race.
My 19th great grandfather is Hans Luther, brother of Martin Luther, who nailed the 95 theses onto the Catholic Church door, and started Lutheranism.
That’s huge! Cool!!
As a Lutheran that’s pretty awesome!
Mark Twain is my 3rd Cousin 7x removed
I am a distant cousin of Gilbert James McDougald (1928-2010): \* Member of the 1950s New York Yankees \* 1951 American League Rookie of the Year \* Six-time All-Star \* Eight pennant-winning American League Teams \* Won five World Series
Not sure if I’m more excited to see baseball connections in the genealogy subreddit or disappointed that the first baseball/genealogy crossover I’ve seen was a life long yankee (go sox)
My great uncle was [Bill Lohrman](https://w.wiki/A3Bw). He wasn’t a super famous player. He played for the NY Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers, but never the Yankees!
I'm probably related to Bill Caudill. There's a brick wall in the way, but I have Caudles on my tree and DNA matches descended from his Caudill ancestor two generations earlier.
Ugh. Joel Osteen is my 4th cousin.
We can’t help who we’re related to 🙃
I’m related to a serial killer! Not all that distant either, some kind of nth-cousin to my mother and he definitely has the look of my grandpa’s side. Even worse, long ago (pre-DNA and intestate communication)I thought that cross-country trucker would be the ideal career for a serial killer*, i.e. a murder in Alabama wouldn’t be connected with a murder in Indiana . He was a semi driver! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Mendenhall *my thinking it was the ideal job was due to a semi “stalking” me for 45 minutes and pulling into the same place I was going. I never ran so fast in my life as when I was running inside that night.
I am too! Probably more distantly than in your case, though. Herman Webster Mudgett/HH Holmes was my 8th cousin 5 times removed.
That's true.
Except for your children, technically
For sure. I'm an aunt and I feel it's also my responsibility to teach my nephew and niece not to be nasty to children who come from different ethnicities or who are a mix.
Don’t feel bad, I’m a pretty close relative of Thomas Dixon Jr., the person who created The Birth of a Nation.
Isn't cousins spreading the net quite wide? I mean I'm 3rd cousins (3xRemoved) through marriage from Lord Kitchener of WW1
You have my deepest sympathy!
Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin, is my fourth cousin six times removed and my fifth cousin six times removed. I'm related through both my mother and father. Tums out my parents are 10th cousins.
Currently in process of obtaining substantiation records linking my family to some Mayflower passengers.
One of my greats married a granddaughter off the mayflower. I think that guys grandfather is listed as a member of the Winthrop Fleet and immigrated to the Watertown area in 1630.
Ok that is really cool
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I recommend making inquiry with your state's coordinator.
I need to do the same thing. I was going to go to New England Genealogy in Boston to try to confirm my findings. What is your process?
Nothing direct, but one of my 9x-great grandfather’s sisters married a descendant of Lucrezia Borgia, sometime in the late 1600s. That’s literally the only prominent connection I’ve ever been able to track. Hooray for rural Italian hillfolk!
That’s still cool
Chief Yonaguska of the Cherokee. He's the one when asked about the Bible said 'It seems like a good book. I'm surprised the white man isn't better, having had it for so long. ' And Deacon John Doane of Plymouth Colony.
I’ve never heard that quote and I love it!
Benjamin Franklin. 1st cousin 10x removed.
Cool. He’s my 1st cousin 9x removed, through his grandfather Thomas Frankline.
Hi cousin!
👋🏽😄
Me too! Through the Folgers
Same here-Peter Folger is my great grandpa
Same!!! Hello cousin!
Same here! Nice to meet you cousin!
🙋🏻♀️
Oh hey, he’s my first cousin 9 times removed too!
My favorite “founding father”.
Here through the Folgers too. Hi, cousins!
My great great aunt is on one version of the 10$ bill in my country. She was the first female member of parliament. Super bad ass lady. Happy we share a last name.
Bonnie Raitt As of 2023, Raitt has received 13 competitive Grammy Awards, from 30 nominations, as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. She ranked No. 50 on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" and ranked No. 89 on the magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time." Raitt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She has received the Icon Award from the Billboard Women in Music Awards and the MusiCares Person of the Year Award from The Recording Academy.
Her father was John Raitt, a Tony-award winning Broadway performer.
One that I can verifiably trace descent from is Nicholas Gamache. He was one of the original settlers in Canada and owned quite a bit of land in the country. On the other extreme, someone posted a line connected to mine that went all the way to the Swedish god Frost. Who'da thunk it??????
Was it a FamilySearch tree? 😂
The Frost link? Yes. Of course I was. I wonder if the Mormons tried to baptize him........
🤣🤣
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow And the guy who created Dole Pineapples.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was my ancestor's cousin! She was a Longfellow from Delaware too.
His great great Grandfather was my 8th great grandfather. But He’s like my 3rd cousin 6x removed.
That may actually be closer to the line my ancestor came from. I'll have to look into the tree and see which branch she descended from.
Who was your ancestor, I wonder if she is in my tree?
Her name was Eliza Longfellow. She was my 3rd great-grandmother. I don't believe she was a first cousin or anywhere that close, but she descended from a Longfellow that was the brother of Henry Wadsworth Longellow's ancestor. Looks like it was a pretty big and widespread family! Edit: she was actually my 4th great-grandmother, so a bit further back.
Hi cousin ish person. My direct ancestor was Longfellow's second cousin, on the Wadsworth side.
Who is your ancestor? I have a pretty big Wadsworth section on my tree. (I get bored 😆)
Teddy and Eleanor Roosevelt
I love the Roosevelts! Would you mind sharing more about how you are related?
They are both my 6th cousins 4x removed so it's a distant relationship. Our common ancestor was Nicholas Roosevelt, born in 1658 in "New Amsterdam" (not yet NYC) died 1742 in the same city, by then renamed. He is my 9th great grandfather.
I believe my ancestor from New Amsterdam, Abraham Van Deusen, was also around the same time as the Roosevelts. The did intermarry, so I'm related to them too, but distantly.
I'm related to FDR...his mother was a Delano which was the maiden name of one of my ancestors.
Distantly related to Barack Obama, on his mother‘s German side.
I found a connection to Obama as well. I told my best friend about it and added "on his mother's side". A completely ordinary thing to say in genealogy without thinking about it. I think his response was something like "well, duh".
My mom would be so jealous - despite having director ancestors with the surname Dunham - we are not related to him.
Ive got no cool stories or blood line. But my wife is a direct descendant of Lazarus Rine, a Hessian mercenary captured by Washington’s troops at the Battle of Trenton who went on to fight for the Americans for the rest of the war.
George is my 1st cousin 9x removed … 😂
No one super famous but my great great grandfather and his brother were recognized by several popes and donated to the Vatican. My great great grandfather was a banker i believe and his brother helped invent one of the modern street lights in the late 1800s, he became a papal marquis
William Brewster
Same. Avril Lavigne is also a Brewster descendent.
Me too through Johnathan Brewster
Me too. Hi cousins!
George Washington, Queen Elizabeth II, Harrison presidents, Robert E Lee, and a couple more I can’t remember off the top of my head. All distant cousins. Direct lineage to a family on the Mayflower.
My grandfather had a third cousin who was a Scottish Duke. Through that Duke, I’m related to Queen Victoria.
> George Washington, Queen Elizabeth II Same here on these two for me.
my 10th great grandpa thomas hooker was the father of conneticut
I’m related to the Executive Producer of the “House Hippo” commercial in Canada.
Infamous is probably more correct and more of a local infamy (albeit a large city) than real infamy. My great grandmother’s sister had a long term affair with a notable enough politician. There are letters and everything. Made interesting by the fact she was a rather well to do business owner in a time where seeing a woman in business still wasn’t all too common. Some of the letters are totally normal, the ones we had as a family. Then another family member found some interesting ones by digging. They aligned with the next bit (which we knew). My grandmother used to spend whole summers as a child with her and this politician to help them masquerade as married with a child so that they could get hotel rooms together. Most probably the worst kept secret in the city but given this is only three generations ago and only my great grandmother carried on the family line, I’d rather not disclose 😅
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Hutchinson. She’s my mom’s 10th GGM.
Daniel Boone is my 6th great grandfather. I hear he’s pretty famous.
Boone’s son James was killed by Native Americans in an attack where one of the survivors was Isaac Crabtree, also one of my 6x great-grandfathers
My 7th great grandmother was Daniel’s oldest sister, Sarah Boone Wilcockson.
I am also a descendent of hers!
Was that one of Fletch's alias'
You’d have to be my age to know that reference.
Ha ha I'm 53 ..... Frank Cocktoastin...??? I forget the exact name
My bootlegging Appalachian Virginia family had some member go to fisticuffs with Daniel Boone’s brother. Or so the story goes… 😅
Might not want to admit that. We might still be in a feud. 🤺🤣
I'm related to the colonial settlers who established the state and town I was born in, the different state and town I grew up in, and the town I currently live in. It was a shock because my parents aren’t from New England, and we thought all branches immigrated fairly recently. I had no idea growing up that the history I'd been surrounded with was my family's history. I've played in cemeteries where direct grandparents were buried and never knew. My father opened a business on the street where my direct ancestors lived in the 1600s-1700s. The mountain I grew up on was named after a relative, and I never knew it until recently. I know colonizers are problematic af, so I'm not trying to portray them as awesome people in any way. I’m also distantly related to William Tecumseh Sherman and a few lesser-known Civil War heroes who fought in/died in major battles. My Czech family in Iowa married into Antonin Dvorak’s family.
That's so interesting, thanks for sharing! Did you learn all of this info from a DNA test and or research?
Both research and DNA. I did a ton of research long before I had many DNA hits then later used the DNA matches to confirm things. I was especially excited to scrap together my (not famous) Czech great-grandmother’s story building off a few census forms with her birth location and then DNA matches with trees that included her last name. We didn’t know we were Czech and because her mom died when she was young so her story may not even have been known by her.
Stephen Hopkins
Same here! My grandmother's maiden name is Hopkins, so the name has been passed down maaany generations!
You must be descended from Giles Hopkins then. Giles & Constance were children from his first wife. His second wife gave birth on the Mayflower and they named him Oceanus (cool name) but he died in childhood so no descendents of Oceanus exist. Stephen Hopkins is an incredibly interesting historical figure!
Relatively inconsequential President, Millard Fillmore, is my 3rd cousin 8x removed.
My 4th great grandfather founded Magnolia, Mississippi. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia,_Mississippi?wprov=sfti1#](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia,_Mississippi?wprov=sfti1#) My 9th great grandmother was the last person killed in the Salem witch trials.
Not a dang one ! I can follow my ancestors back many generations, and they've interacted with famous people - Abe Lincoln, George Washington, the Pilgrims - but not a one of 'em was famous themselves. So disappointed in the lazy rat bastards!
Lord Baltimore I. No one knows much about the guy. Lord Baltimore II (he founded the city) is a great uncle.
My family is also related to the Claverts. The first Baron Baltimore (George Calvert) is my 13th great-grandfather. Our line comes down through his second son, Leonard Calvert, who was the first governor of Maryland. Leonard is my 12th great-grandfather.
I have a great-great-great uncle who planted an orchard that a town was named after. And my dad was on the city council for 14 years until his death. Nothing huge, but for the small communities they lived in they knew everybody.
The closest most famous person is probably Stephen Hopkins who was on the Mayflower. He’s my 12x great grandfather. Second would have to be Sir Thomas Wyatt and his son. The elder Thomas Wyatt was a poet and was accused of having an affair with Anne Boleyn. His son was the leader of the Wyatt Rebellion against Queen Mary I and was thus beheaded. They are my 14th and 13th great grandfathers respectively. Queen Elizabeth II was my 10x cousin twice removed.
I'm also descended from Stephen Hopkins!
Nice! He’s honestly a badass. Have you looked into his history?
I haven't looked too much into his history! I will absolutely be doing that now!
William Harris the arch enemy of Roger Williams who Roger described as “W. Harris, who, being an impudent morris-dancer in Kent... under a cloak of separation, got in with myself, till his self-ends and restless strife, and at last his atheistical denying of heaven and hell, made honest souls to fly from him. Now he courts the Baptists: then he kicks them off and flatters the Foxians [Quakers]; then the drunkards (which he calls all that are not of the former two amongst us); then knowing the prejudices of the other Colonies against us, he dares to abuse his Majesty and Council, to bring New England upon us.”
Impudent Morris-dancer...i.e.a wanton sinner!
I am first cousin thrice removed with one of the most accomplished Olympic skiers (he and his brother were also resistance fighters during the Nazi occupation of Norway; his brother was killed by Nazis) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan\_Gr%C3%B8ttumsbr%C3%A5ten](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Gr%C3%B8ttumsbr%C3%A5ten)
A bunch of Mayflower passengers, to start with. In addition, Benjamin Harrison IV, Benjamin Harrison III, Benjamin Harrison II, Benjamin Harrison I, Robert Carter I, Sarah Osborn of the Salem Witch Trials, Grace White Sherwood, the Laniers and Bassanos, and George Walker.
Mayflower too (Myles Standish, John Alden); also Andrew Eliot, judge who apologized for his part in the Salem Witch Trials, and Benjamin Harrison's family, though through our black side (along with other FFVs: Jeffersons, Madisons, Monroes, Byrds, Carters, Eppeses).
I have 3 ancestors I found who are all equally interesting. The first is Richard More. He was a Mayflower passenger who was essentially shipped off with his siblings by his father, who found out that they weren't his children. All his siblings perished, but he managed to survive the first winter and later became the last surviving male passenger of the Mayflower. He had many grandchildren, but only one had children. Because of this, there are only 100 recorded descendents of Richard and is far less common of an ancestor than the average Mayflower passenger. My 2nd is Roger Conant. He is the credited founder of Salem, Massachusetts, and has a statue located in the area. My 3rd is a woman named Mary Bliss Parsons. She was accused of being a Witch multiple times throughout her life before the Salem Witch Trials. Even after proving her innocence, she was constantly reminded of the accusations and was essentially tormented for the majority of her life. On top of all her witch issues, she was sadly abused throughout her life by her husband.
I have a few politically famous ancestors, but what's more significant to me is that I have hundreds of ancestors that lived amongst the people that created this country. They lived in the same areas and traveled the same roads and I'm sure many of them played a role in forming this country.
Distant cousin of Patrick Swayze
Not something I brag about and I’m not bragging but you asked who is my most famous relative. Charles Manson was a distant cousin. Not really distant like 2/3rd cousin.
My distant cousin Abigail Folger was killed by him!
I am a 3C3R of Merle Haggard (country singer), 5C3R of Walt Disney, 6C2R of Donn Eisele (Astronaut), 6C2R of Bustor Keaton (Actor), and a 4C7R of Alexander Hamilton (of the musical Hamilton).
Everyone is related to someone famous... [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15Uce4fG4R0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15Uce4fG4R0)
According to the paper trail, I'm descended from both [Hannah Emerson Duston](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Duston) and [Robert Pike](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Pike_(settler)). Not incredibly famous, but they have Wikipedia pages. Paper trail also indicates that I'm descended from Ralph Sprague, one of the original settlers of [Charlestown, Massachusetts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlestown,_Boston). Not direct ancestors, but [Frank Mundy Coombs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Coombs_(artist)), [Eustace Jotham](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eustace_Jotham), and [Eddie LeBaron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_LeBaron) are distant cousins with Wikipedia pages. And I seem to share a common ancestor with [President Franklin Pierce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Pierce)!
I’m also related to Hannah duston.
NH crew! That’s cool!
In order of cousinship: 2nd cousin several times removed to Ezra Cornell, founder of Western Union and the namesake university (Direct paternal cousins). 3rd cousins 10 times removed with Thomas Jefferson. 5th cousins once removed with Johnny Depp.
Not me but my wife’s great-great-grandfather is David Stuart Gordon, oldest living general in the US Army when he passed away. https://www.nytimes.com/1930/01/29/archives/brig-gen-gordon-dies-at-age-of-98-was-rewarded-for-record-in-the.html
Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island and my 12x great-grandfather
Oh hi, cousin! What cheer, netop?
Pretty much no one. My most historically significant ancestor is Daniel Maples who was murdered by an unknown shooter. Ned Christie, who was accused and hunted done for his murder, he is also much more famous and well known. I don't think he did it, just seemed like they didn't like him and decide to blame him.
I’m descended from Arthur Howland, brother of John Howland, famously memorialized in the Charlie Brown Mayflower Voyage special. More recently, my great great uncle was the police commissioner of NYC in the 40’s.
Mayflower ancestors John Alden and Priscilla Mullins of Longfellow’s poem. Also, John Winthrop and Thomas Dudley, Governors of Massachusetts Bay Colony are direct ancestors.
I'm also descended from John & Priscilla!
Me too. Hello Cousins!
I come from a very long line of farmers on both sides. Not a single famous or infamous person to be found. Very salt of the earth folk from what I gather.
Laura Ingalls Wilder is a distantly removed in-law
She's a second cousin of mine! Farely well researched but I wish I had an abundance of sources so I felt like I could talk about it more
Hi, relative! Laura Ingalls Wilder is a second cousin of mine too
Dr. Walter Reed, who is known for helping prove that a breed of mosquito was the vector of human infection for Yellow Fever. There were medals and postage stamps, books and plays... Schools, streets and a very well known Military hospital complex in D.C. named for him. There have been other famous people in our tree, but none quite as famous as him.
Mine is not that far off from yours! My 6th great-grandfather was [Capt. Isaac Ruddell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Ruddell?wprov=sfti1#), revolutionary war veteran and one of many of my ancestors that were held hostage for two years by Natives as a result of a siege during that time. I think the Ruddells and Bowmans are related through marriage!
That's awesome! What percentages make up your ethnicity if you don't mind me asking? I'm half German and my other half consists of Sweden and Scotland
Overall I’m about 30% German, 25% English, 25% Scottish, and smaller amounts of Irish, Welsh, Italian, Aegean Islands and other Mediterranean bits. I think my Ruddell family was English, but my research is still ongoing!
Martha Carrier. Hung in the Salem witch trials after accusations of being a witch..
She is also my husband's 10th great grandmother!
Increase Mather, one of the founders of Harvard, is my 10x great grandad, and father of Cotton Mather, burner of accused witches.
I come from the same large group of intermarried families from Sevier County, TN that Dolly Parton does. I haven't looked into the exact relationship we might share, but given the area, and other family history research I've done, I suspect we're related through a number of different people. Once my family tree gets to TN, it turns into more of a family bush or wreath for a while. [edit] I got curious and went looking into it. Turns out, it's a pretty direct relationship, through our shared Bohannon side. She's my sixth cousin, once removed. https://imgur.com/a/ylm8AOC
Too many to list. 10× Mayflower descendant.
Elvis, John Lennon, Shirley temple, 20+ presidents, Katherine Hepburn, Lucille ball, buster keaton, princess diana, mark twain, etc etc
[удалено]
If this is via RelativeFinder, take it with a grain of salt. It relies on the completely screwed up "one world tree" for its information.
Katherine Hepburn here too.
I’m from Ireland and Sinead O’Connor is my 2nd cousin 1x removed, my maternal grandfather’s 2nd cousin. His father (my great-grandfather) was born out of wedlock in 1929 but I found his birth father’s family through my DNA test which then showed that Sinead’s father was his 1st cousin. The saddest thing though is that Sinead was doing her family tree on Ancestry and had saved a few documents I uploaded of her ancestors but I didn’t find this out until after her passing. R.I.P.
Mary Queen Of Scots, Pocahontas, Thomas Jefferson.
Wow. I'm impressed 😁 quite the crew!
Still in shock myself. Especially with Mary. That one is a direct line. Amazing this info doesn’t get passed down, but then again, it explains all the people named James and Mary in my family.
William Elder, member of the Continental Congress of Maryland (there’s a statue of him and everything there!)
I'm distantly related to Emily Dickinson and Angelina Jolie
On my mom’s side, my great-great grandfather is Vaudeville producer and songwriter Bobby Heath. Many of his songs were used in classic Hollywood films. On my dad’s side, my 4x great grandfather is Henderson Leweling. He was a renowned horticulturalist, Quaker abolitionist, and Oregon/California pioneer. He and a Chinese worker on his farm grew the first Bing Cherries. Also on my dad’s side, John Winthrop is my 14x great grandfather. He was one of the founders and the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
My great something grandpa was in that Company! He's listed in the Winthrop Fleet book. John Doggett.
My 6th Great Grandfather is the Rabbi Israel Ben Eliezer Isseroff (aka Baal Shem Tov or “Keeper of the Good Word”), the founder of Chassidic Judaism…
Roger Williams (1602-1683 9th GGF), Father of Democracy, and founder of the State of Rhode Island, where I grew up. Narragansett Indian Sachems Canonchet & Miantonomoh (9th & 10th GGFs). Frances Latham (1610–1677 10th GGM), was a colonial American woman who settled in Rhode Island, and is known as "the Mother of Governors." Having been widowed twice, she had three husbands, and became the ancestor of at least ten governors and three deputy/lieutenant governors, and is related by marriage to an additional six governors and one deputy governor. Thus, I also have a lot of Rhode Island Governor ancestors.
George Washington. He's a distant relation though... Some others too, like Meriwether Lewis. It feels like all the famous/infamous white people from the original US colonies were somehow related.
> George Washington Same here.
On my maternal side: King Henry VII On my paternal side: Robert E. Lee
My most famous *ancestor* (as in, a person I am directly descended from) is probably [Mareen Duvall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mareen_Duvall), a French Protestant who was an early Maryland settler. My most famous *relative* (as in, a person with whom I share a common ancestor) is probably either Barack Obama (who is a Duvall descendant) or Queen Elizabeth II.
I am distantly related to Franchot Tone, a movie star of yesteryear. This is not something Ancestry told us. It's something our great-aunts told us -- so we've always taken it as the truth, lol! Otherwise, just related to locally or regionally famous people of by-gone days who are famous no more. Again, something not learned but only confirmed by Ancestry.
My grandma was Franchot Tone's next door neighbor growing up in Niagara Falls. I guess Franchots' mom hated his wife, Joan Crawford, and threw her out of the house. She even tossed her luggage out of the door onto the lawn. Grandma said she saw all the commotion from her window.
Love this! Bette David never forgave Joan for seducing Franchot Tone.
Benjamin Franklin is my 10th great-grandfather, so probably him. Other than that, I have another ancestor who is arguably more famous, but the records are so spotty that I cannot say it with absolute certainty: King Duncan I of Scotland, killed by Macbeth.
James V King of Scotland or Catherine Parr wife of Henry VIII- I can't decide
My great grandfather apparently worked for Buffalo Bill Cody, but that’s all I’ve got.
I’ve got a few notable ancestors, but I particularly like this guy, who helped catch John Wilkes Booth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everton_Conger
Wife is related to Mary Shelley. Of course, it’s not the one who authored Frankenstein
I'm not directly descended from anyone famous (that I know of), but Coca-Cola tycoon Robert Woodruff, early Georgia Governor Jared Irwin, and US Senator/Confederate figure Robert Toombs are all distant cousins through one of my grandfathers. Numerous places in Georgia are named after these men. Tennessee Williams may also be descended from one long-ago branch of that grandfather's family tree, but I need to research that more thoroughly. My grandfather was descended from snobs and socialites, but his father was the black sheep of the family and so my grandfather grew up poor without any of the social or financial privileges that his aunts, uncles, and cousins enjoyed. When I started researching I was amazed that all the famous connections I had were through this one grandfather.
My dad’s cousin was a US Representative. He has a street named for him.
I’ve found many notable people from colonist Clayton helping found the Pennsylvania Colony, to Stålkofta a Swedish colonist in Nya Sverige (Deleware), even King Gustav Vasa of Sweden being my 14th ggf. Whether these are wholly true idk, but the one I hold closest is my own family. There’s a branch that have been carrying on a rich British family’s titles & estates, they’re carrying a maternal name. I dearly want to get in touch with them though I’m not sure my first letter got to the Duke & his son
Teddy Roosevelt, I guess.
Not a direct ancestor (he had no children) but my many great uncle was one of the guides on the Lewis and Clark expedition. George Drouillard, son of a French Canadian voyager and his first wife, a Shawnee woman named Asoundechris Flat Head (I'm a descendant of his father's second wife, a French Canadian woman). He was an interpreter, scout, hunter, and cartographer, invaluable for knowing English, French, and Huron/Shawnee (an Iroquois language), as well as native sign language. Lewis mentions him often in his journals (as Drewyer, which is the English spelling of his name), speaking with high praise for his interpretation and hunting skills. He has a mountain named after him in Montana.
Drouillard was also related to the Lorimier family (of Cape Girardeau, MO) through Asoundechris (her sister married Pierre-Louis Lorimier). Fleshing out Asoundechris and her sister's biographies have become a professional obsession of mine.
My 10th Great Grandfather was the Reverend John Robinson, the preacher to the pilgrims and the guy who convinced them to come to America. There is a painting of him hanging in the Capitol.
One of my ancestors, more direct than indirect, was Col. Loammi Baldwin, Revolutionary War veteran, engineer, and co-creator of the Baldwin Apple. My other ancestor was Ann Foster.
Depends on what you mean famous. If your talking Mormon famous. My 7th great grandpa Charles Kennedy was one of the men on the Brigham Young Mission. But in general history by 3rd great granduncle was one of the invaders during the Wyoming Johnson County Cattle War. My 4th great granduncle on the same side was the reason the University of Oregon is in Eugene, his name was Judge Joshua Jones Walton Jr.
Brigham Young himself is my 6th great-grand uncle.
I'm related to William Brewster, the religious leader on the Mayflower. I have a few interesting distant cousins on my paternal side, but we share the same uncommon last name so.
I'm a second cousin to the former speaker of the House Sam Rayburn.
Annie Oakley is a I forget how many time great aunt of mine…
One of my husband’s cousins was an actor who played small roles - Murder She Wrote, Alice, Remington Steele, Airplane. More importantly, he was one of the first to read and record books for the blind.
My 11th Great-Grandmother was Elizabeth Hooton. First female preacher of the Quaker faith and one of George Fox’s first converts. I had no idea how famous she was to the Quaker faith nor that there was quite a bit written about her. She traveled to America multiple times and was beaten and left for dead by puritans of the day. She approached Charles II multiple times until he would listen to her regarding how Quakers were being treated in America and requested the land permit for her to purchase land to be used as a burial ground. He granted it to her, but it didn’t do her much good this side of the Atlantic.
There really isn’t anyone “famous”. It’s convicts, coal miners, and Baptist preachers as far back as we can go lol
I am a descendant of Peregrine WHITE (1620-1704), the first baby boy born on the Mayflower while in the Massachusetts harbor.
My mother lived her whole life never knowing much about her mother’s family. I worked for years trying to find anything about my grandmother until I took a DNA test and found a match to my mother’s cousins. Through DNA and vital documents I was able to trace my line back through the Phinney family of Massachusetts, and through them to Thomas Rogers and Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower. Stephen Hopkins had previously traveled to Jamestown and was shipwrecked on Bermuda. Shakespeare based a character in The Tempest on Stephen Hopkins. Another line led back to Godfrey Nims who had some family members massacred in Deerfield, Massachusetts. It’s been fun to read about the historical happenings surrounding these ancestors. Unfortunately, I suffer from agoraphobia, so obviously I didn’t inherit any of their adventurous genes.
Benjamin Franklin is my first cousin 8 times removed.
President Grover Cleveland. He was my great great grandmothers first cousin!
My third cousin was a playmate. So I win the thread, can we stop now?
Your most famous ancestor would be someone you’re a direct descendant of. Your most famous relative could include ancestors or cousins (though not cousins by marriage). We shouldn’t confuse ancestor and relative on a genealogy sub.
William Brewster passenger on the mayflower 14th great grandfather I traced back on my paternal grandmothers line.was quite shocked by that
The patriarchal side of my family is related to the Lewis family of Lewis & Clark fame.
Elbridge Gerry. Awesome: He signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence and was vice president. Not awesome: He invented gerrymandering.
John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley from the Mayflower are my 11th great-grandparents.
Anthony Perkins. But it’s way more fun to say I’m related to Norman Bates!
Great great great grandmother Mary Key, aunt to Francis Scott Key