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I tried to stay away from the really obvious here – like Kate Hudson is Goldie Hawn’s daughter and that sort of thing. I think a couple slipped by me anyway… what’s obvious to everyone else is not always obvious to me (I bet a lot of you already knew #3 and #7).
1. Abe Lincoln and Tom Hanks. Before Abe’s mom married his dad, Thomas, she was Nancy Hanks. Tom has said in multiple interviews that he’s distantly related to her, although I’ve never heard him mention specifics.
2. Sophia Loren was once sister-in-law to Mussolini’s son. Romano Mussolini married Sophia’s sister, Anna Maria Villani Scicolone, in 1962.
3. Richard Nixon’s daughter married Dwight D. Eisenhower’s grandson. This one is pretty well-known. Julie Nixon and David Eisenhower met at the 1956 Republican National Convention. They married after her father was elected but before he took office.
4. Humphrey Bogart and Princess Diana were seventh cousins, twice removed.
5. Jason Patric from The Lost Boys (and other things, but The Lost Boys is my favorite) has a couple of famous relatives. His dad was Jason Miller, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Academy Award nominee. If you’ve seen The Exorcist, you’ll remember him as Father Karras. Patric’s grandpa was Jackie Gleason – his mother was Gleason’s daughter, Linda.
6. Jean-Paul Sartre was first cousin, once-removed to Nobel Peace Prize winner Albert Schweitzer. His mother, Anne-Marie Schweitzer, was Albert’s first cousin.
7. Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are brother and sister. They grew up in Virginia where Warren was a star football player. He decided to try acting once he saw Shirley’s success.
8. Val Kilmer is second cousins with American poet Joyce Kilmer, best remembered for his piece Trees (“I think that I shall never see A poem as lovely as a tree.”).
9. Helena Bonham Carter’s great grandfather, H.H. Asquith, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916.
10. Richard Gere’s forefathers came over on the Mayflower. His ancestors include Francis Eaton, John Billington, George Soule, Richard Warren, Degory Priest, William Brewster and Francis Cooke. President James Garfield was also a descendant of John Billington. Richard Warren is known to have thousands of descendants, as he had seven children who all survived to adulthood. Some of his famous relatives include Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Franklin Roosevelt, Alan Shepard, the Wright Brothers and Laura Ingalls Wilder. Similarly, Degory Priest’s descendants include FDR, Orson Scott Card, Maria Mitchell, Pete Seeger and Dick Van Dyke. Seth MacFarlane is one of Brewster’s descendants and Francis Cooke has a ton of notable relatives: Orson Welles, Julia Child, Wild Bill Hickok, Grandma Moses, Johnny Carson, Dane Cook, Kris Kristofferson, Pete Seeger, William Washburn, and the Wilson brothers from the Beach Boys.
OK, a lot of us probably come from passengers on the Mayflower, but it’s pretty interesting to read about anyway. At least I think it is. Do you have any famous relatives in your family? I heard once that my family was related to Grover Cleveland somewhere but have never seen the proof.
Comments (95)
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I am descended from the captain of the Mayflower, Christopher Jones, as well as Rob Roy MacGregor and Hannah Duston, famed for her capture and bloody escape from a 1697 raid in Haverhill, MA.
posted by Mother Chat on 2-27-2009 at 3:57 pm
One of my ancestor’s relatives signed the Declaration of Independence: Thomas Stone. That’s it though.
posted by Catherine on 2-27-2009 at 4:03 pm
I’m the 6th great grand-daughter of Samuel F.B. Morse, inventor of the Morse Code. I’m also somehow related to Nathan Hale and Mary Hale, the writer of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”.
posted by AmandaStretch on 2-27-2009 at 4:04 pm
My great great great (maybe a couple more) uncle is washington irving the author of rip van wrinkle and sleepy hollow. And my cousins are the harts the family that founded Irvine california
posted by capecod dan on 2-27-2009 at 4:04 pm
My husband is related to Davy Crockett. And my Dad’s second-cousin’s, grandmother’s second-cousin was Harry Houdini. My Dad remembers going to her house and hearing her biatch about what a louse he was in her thick Polish accent.
posted by Amanda on 2-27-2009 at 4:04 pm
I was told for a while that I was related to the person who wrote the Little Engine that Could. Not sure where that comes from seeing as there’s no real author.
posted by Zach on 2-27-2009 at 4:09 pm
Wow! AmandaStretch, you and I might be related, because Nathan Hale was my 6-great-uncle! My parents have a picture of his family crest in their house.
posted by Kevin on 2-27-2009 at 4:16 pm
I am related to Benjamin and William Henry Harrison somehow.
posted by Nora on 2-27-2009 at 4:17 pm
2 of my grandmas are Anne Marbury Hutchinson and Anne Dudley Bradstreet. I am also descended from Mayflower passengers George Soule, John Billington, and a couple others. John Winthrop is an uncle, and I believe that Sir Francis Drake is too. One of my gg grandpas was one of the Green Mountain Boys, and Douglas McArthur is a 7th or 8th cousin. I haven’t thoroughly verified it yet, but my research thus far also shows that I am probably descended from Plantegenet royalty (like millions of others).
posted by Becky on 2-27-2009 at 4:20 pm
My grandma always said that we were somehow related to Martin Luther (of the Lutherien religion, not King), but i never saw any proof of it.
posted by Andy on 2-27-2009 at 4:26 pm
As far as I know, I’m not related to anyone famous, but I have such a rare last name that I know I’m related to anyone who shares my name.
posted by Lindsey on 2-27-2009 at 4:27 pm
When I was little, I was told by my mom that my dad’s side of the family was related to Cary Grant. He was Archibald Leach before changing his name to Cary Grant, and ‘way back in jolly old England the Leaches were related to the Hattersleys. My paternal great-grandmother and Archibald Leach’s grandfather were sister and brother, or some such. Very, very shirt-tail at best.
posted by Mama9cats on 2-27-2009 at 4:28 pm
Apparently, John Dillinger is a distant cousin of mine. I kinda like that my relative is infamous, rather than just famous!
posted by Angie on 2-27-2009 at 4:31 pm
Robert E. Lee
posted by Johnny Cat on 2-27-2009 at 4:36 pm
lol Angie. I hear ya on that. John Billington was the first murderer to be hung in the new world in 1630, and his son Francis (my grandpa) nearly blew up the Mayflower because he was messing around with the gunpowder!
I just remembered I’m a distant cousin of Lizzy Borden. One of our common ancestors, Thomas Cornell, was hung for murder in the 1600’s. His posthumous daughter (the grandma) was named Innocent because Thomas’s wife didn’t think he was guilty.
posted by Becky on 2-27-2009 at 4:42 pm
my family has “connections” to the Gambino family. I think cousins removed or something along those lines. It’s not mentioned much. The story goes my grandmother was psyched to get married so that wouldn’t be her name anymore.
posted by Caitlin on 2-27-2009 at 4:43 pm
My maternal grandmother’s family are direct descendents of Cotton Mathers, Puritan theologian and witch-trial participant, though their name mutated to Masters.
There is definitely an intellectual and religious/philosophical streak coming from this side of the family.
posted by Dagnabbit on 2-27-2009 at 4:48 pm
Apparently, and without a shred of proof, I am distant cousins with Dolly Parton. I personally don’t think it’s true.
Dolly and I share the same birth date (January 19th) and I think this is what inspired my mother to tell this kind of story. Also, I do have some family in Tennessee (where Dolly was born and raised) so this lends some validity to the rumor but I still don’t believe it.
posted by Josh on 2-27-2009 at 4:49 pm
My Great-Grandpa liked to tell me we were related to Jesse James. James was apparently a really sore spot with his mother, who was a James. I don’t know about any proof, but James’ father was from the same area as my family. So who knows!
posted by L on 2-27-2009 at 4:49 pm
My grandmother’s second cousin is Barbara Bush. I don’t admit that often or to many people.
posted by Anonymous on 2-27-2009 at 4:52 pm
I married into a family that traces back to Winston Churchill on one side and Andrew Jackson on the other.
posted by Laura. on 2-27-2009 at 4:53 pm
I’m related to the current Secretary of Agriculture and former governor of Iowa Tom Vilsack (through familial heritage only, he is adopted).
It sets the bar kind of embarrassingly high when you set your goals to be the best in your family and you’ve got someone currently 9th in the line of US Presidential succession. :)
posted by John on 2-27-2009 at 4:54 pm
My dad’s sister-in-law is a direct descendant of Juan Ponce de Leon, seeker of the fountain of youth.
There’s some suggestion that my family is related to poet W.B. Yates, but it only works if there was a spelling change along the way.
posted by Chelsea on 2-27-2009 at 4:58 pm
My grandma’s first cousin is Bill Blass (the designer), but I never met him, apparently their parents had a falling out in the 50’s and our families never spoke again. And my great-great-grandfather was a world famous conductor in the Prague Symphony.
I don’t think we are related to anyone else “famous”, but a girl I went to grade school and high school with, her Great Uncle was Al Capone. And my college roommate’s cousin is Nickolai Scarfo (you know the mobster)…that was an interesting experience…lol.
posted by J-me on 2-27-2009 at 4:59 pm
I’m a distant cousin of Ronald Reagan.
posted by Norkio on 2-27-2009 at 5:01 pm
My great-grandmother died and my great-grandfather got with his younger secretary- the cousin of Rosie O’Donnell’s mom.
I’m not proud of that.
posted by Kelly J on 2-27-2009 at 5:01 pm
My family was distantly related to Gilda Radner through marriage. As well I was once distantly related to the actual “Big Mamma” from Big Mammas House through marriage lol.
posted by Nick on 2-27-2009 at 5:11 pm
I am a descendant of Louis Hebert, the first Canadian Apothecary(pharmacist) and first European to farm in Canada. His statue(and the rest of his family) is located in Parc Montmorency overlooking the St. Lawrence River in Quebec City. To be fair, many thousands of French Canadians are descendants of his as well.
posted by Sylvia on 2-27-2009 at 5:16 pm
my wife’s family, on her mother’s side, is originally from Texas and apparently very closely related to Gene Autry, the singing cowboy who made some of the first and most-well known recordings of “Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer”, “here comes santa clause”, “up on the housetop” and many more. But evidently the Autry family is reluctant to acknowledge this family tie because they think my wife’s family is trying to cash in and get a part of Gene’s estate.
Also, one of my sister’s best friends is of close relation to and still shares a surname with Robert Frost
posted by Jon on 2-27-2009 at 5:17 pm
my Mum told me she was second cousins with Patty Duke? I think that was who and how.
posted by Scotty A on 2-27-2009 at 5:25 pm
i am 2nd cousins twice removed with Madeleine L’Engle (L’Engle is my middle name)
posted by mri on 2-27-2009 at 5:52 pm
My boyfriend is a realtive of the singer Bonnie Raitt. I think he calls her his second aunt or something like that.
posted by Colene on 2-27-2009 at 5:57 pm
I’m supposedly related to Clara Wieck Schumann (1819-1896), Romantic era musician/composer and wife of German composer Robert Schumann.
Clicking on my name will take you to her wikipedia page.
posted by nutmeag on 2-27-2009 at 6:03 pm
George Washington’s uncle on my father’s side, and some 4 star general on my mother’s side.
posted by Vickey on 2-27-2009 at 6:06 pm
We found both Charles Darrow (one of the Monopoly inventors) and Clarence Darrow (the lawyer) among the cousins. My great grandfather invented the Can-O-Seat. Imagine a cane with a small round seat and two legs attached, that can fold out to a tripod.
posted by Laurel on 2-27-2009 at 6:08 pm
Several Mayflower passengers including John & Priscilla Alden, Pricilla’s Dad William Mullins, William Brewster, Love Brewster, and Richard Warren. And obviously anyone descended from them.
posted by Judy on 2-27-2009 at 6:18 pm
@ Scotty A- Your mother wouldn’t happen to be Patty Duke’s identical cousin, by any chance?
posted by Jim on 2-27-2009 at 6:34 pm
Not only am I descended from someone who came over on the Mayflower, my ancestor is Myles Standish, who was their “enforcer”, so to speak. And I’ve heard that we’re related to Martha Graham somehow, but who knows?
posted by Laura on 2-27-2009 at 6:44 pm
I am a decedent f captain James Cook who mapped most of the world, and my girlfriend is related to winston churchill, in fact she is named after his mother, Jennie Jerome
posted by Gabriel on 2-27-2009 at 6:56 pm
Distantly related to the Kennedys through the Fitzgerald part of the family.
Some speculation that my family is related to Rock Hudson.
Related to the founders of Branson, Missouri.
Other than that.. a few Spanish gypsies..
posted by Avery on 2-27-2009 at 6:58 pm
Hey, I’m related to George Soule as well. My aunt traced our line to several others from the Mayflower, but I can’t remember any of them offhand. I’m not related to anyone in recent history that’s famous, but one great uncle a couple times removed has artwork hanging in the Smithsonian for realism.
posted by Becky on 2-27-2009 at 7:00 pm
I know for a fact that I’m related to Robert Fulton (inventor/first commercial user of the Steam Boat) and, apparently, to Pocahontas though I’m pretty sure this has never been actually confirmed. However I’d believe my deceased grandmother who claimed it any day and will carry her dead legacy to my own grave. So there.
posted by Related2Pocahontas on 2-27-2009 at 7:05 pm
By MARRIAGE … related to a certain ‘Red Hot Mama’ (Sophie Tucker)
posted by Anon Emous on 2-27-2009 at 7:23 pm
I AM SPARTACUS
posted by Spartacus on 2-27-2009 at 7:25 pm
EVERYONE’S related to someone well-known if you go far back enough.
And no, I’m not talking about that bullshit Adam & Even line of thinking.
posted by mike on 2-27-2009 at 7:33 pm
Family legend has it that we are related to Andrew Jackson; my mother did some interet research or something and all the men till way back are named Andrew Jackson. However, I find this sketchy because he did not have any biological children and he was an orphan.
posted by Brandy on 2-27-2009 at 7:40 pm
I’m related to Woodrow Wilson.
I also had ancestors on the Mayflower, but I forget their names right now.
posted by Karen on 2-27-2009 at 7:57 pm
My mom’s family is really into genealogy.
According to my her, we have a relative that was related to the Queen of England at the time, I think she was a second cousin or something. Apparently, she married a commoner and was excommunicated, they then moved to New Zealand for a time before returning to England.
Another ancestor fought with William the Conqueror, I was told.
posted by me on 2-27-2009 at 8:01 pm
I’m a confirmed cousin of James Fenimore Cooper the author of “Last of the Mohicans”
posted by Heidi on 2-27-2009 at 8:19 pm
I’m a confirmed cousin of James Fenimore Cooper author of “The Last of the Mohicans”
posted by Heidi on 2-27-2009 at 8:23 pm
Jim:
I think I can safely say not.
posted by Scotty A on 2-27-2009 at 8:48 pm
Thanks to a relatives interest in geneology, I have found out that I am related to former Governors Brownlow of Tenn., Harris of Georgia, General Gaines (who captured Aaron Burr after the duel), Samuel Boswell, the English writer, Dr. Crawford Long, the discoverer of Ether, General George Custer, General Robert E. Lee and the Wright Brothers. Kinda sounds like six degrees of Kevin Bacon!
posted by Richard Harris on 2-27-2009 at 9:03 pm
I have, over the last 3 years, used Ancestry.com to trace my family. I am related to the Fuller family that came over on the Mayflower. I presently have over 10000 persons listed in my tree and have found cousins through the site. The Lathrop/Lothrop family of Norwich, Ct are also a part of the family tree. Through them I am related to: Shirley Temple Black (8th cousin) and other such notables as U.S. Grant; Eli Whitney; Ronald Reagan; James Garfield; Oliver W. Holmes and….Benedict Arnold and George Bush.
And by the look of it a few of the commenters on this page.
Yo Cousins!
posted by Owen on 2-27-2009 at 10:09 pm
My second cousin, Beth Chapman, is Secretary of the state of Alabama, or something like that. And I’m only related to him by marriage, but my step grand-uncle is Hank Williams’ third or fourth cousin. I’ve read that John Grisham and Bill Clinton are 19cousins, although my source offered no proof.
posted by Sara on 2-27-2009 at 10:18 pm
My boyfriend’s godfather is a bonafide, iconic celebrity, but not technically related. His godmother was in soaps, sitcoms and on Broadway though.
posted by Jen on 2-27-2009 at 11:24 pm
Well then Ms. Stacy, that would make us related – LOL!!!
My great-grandmother was a cousin of Grover Cleveland (her name was Lusetta Cleveland)
posted by James on 2-27-2009 at 11:55 pm
Ingmar Bergman (iconic Swedish director) was my grandmother’s 2nd cousin.
My father is a 5th cousin of Gavrilo Princip, the man who assassinated Franz Ferdinand. He is also distantly related to former English PM H.H. Asquith.
My great uncle was married to the famous ’70’s musician Phoebe Snow.
posted by hilly on 2-28-2009 at 12:21 am
Also, Benny Hill was my great nan’s milkman before he got famous. We always joke and say they had an affair.
posted by hilly on 2-28-2009 at 12:24 am
William Wallace is my great great great great great great great grandfather.
Also, my husband is Helen Keller’s Nephew… I thought that was pretty cool.
posted by Reg on 2-28-2009 at 12:38 am
I saw someone else say this so i guess i may be related to him as well……but i’m related to Dolly Parton. My mom’s family is from the knoxville and sevierville areas of Tennessee where Dolly’s family is from.
My boobs are of average size.
posted by alexequalsmoney on 2-28-2009 at 12:55 am
Through my father’s mother’s family, I’m related to Hattie Carraway, the first elected female US Senator.
Also through my father’s father’s mother, I am related to Joseph and Reuben Field, who were part of the Lewis & Clark Expedition.
And I discovered that the late author, William Styron is my 8th cousin.
posted by Dianne on 2-28-2009 at 1:37 am
I’m also a descendant of Richard Warren. When my brother was in Junior High in Michigan, he chose Warren for a report on one of his ancestors. As was his way, he put a ton of effort into an elaborate cover page and completely half-assed the report. He was then followed by a girl whose painstakingly researched and thoroughly well-written report was on her ancestor, Richard Warren.
posted by El Tigre on 2-28-2009 at 1:47 am
one of my great grandfather’s is a brother of mary todd lincoln (she had 15 siblings, so not so shocking) and one of my great grandmothers is a sister to robert e. lee.
my family also has a castle in england that’s still standing..it’s in ruins and it doesn’t really belong to anyone, but it still has our name on it- so that’s pretty neat.
posted by em on 2-28-2009 at 1:49 am
Daphne du Maurier (Jamaica Inn,Rebecca)
was the cousin of Llewelyn Davies boys of Peter Pan fame.
not that im related to them, it just goes along with the article.
posted by Alice on 2-28-2009 at 9:05 am
Jefferson Davis – not sure how, though.
I had a relative who rode with Jesse James and was hanged.
My favorite famous relative is Cousin Bob, aka Bob Dorrough, the genius behind School House Rock. A really sweet man.
posted by Lisa on 2-28-2009 at 10:03 am
my family and i are the direct descendents of prophet mohammed,founder of islam the religion,we are his grandsons’ children
posted by nida on 2-28-2009 at 11:21 am
Hey Judy,
We have similar Mayflower decendants.. Could I get your email so we cn exchange some info… Or at least where the connection is??
Please let me know Tania
posted by Tania on 2-28-2009 at 11:28 am
I’m a direct descendant of Erik the Red.
There were some people on the Mayflower, but I have no idea who.
posted by Sarah on 2-28-2009 at 12:43 pm
If I go back 10 generations and Dwight Eisenhower goes back 5 generations we end up at the same couple. Not sure what that would make us though.
posted by Tom on 2-28-2009 at 1:33 pm
Hey, Jon! My great-grandmother, on my mother’s side, was an Autry, so I’m also related to Gene. I got the same impression, though — that after he made it big he didn’t want to hear anything about poor cousins (can’t say as I blame him, but not really a flattering portrait of a guy).
My husband’s surname is so rare (it’s Lithuanian, and was probably “helpfully” re-spelled for them by an official at Ellis Island) that every single person in America who has it is a close blood relative (no further than second cousin). They were apparently the only family of that name ever to come to America.
posted by Southern Buddhist on 2-28-2009 at 4:05 pm
I have three lines that emigrated to “the colonies” early on, but not on the Mayflower. The Dickinsons arrived in 1630 and the Greenleafs and the Trasks by 1649.
My family is supposed to be related to Jenny Jerome (Churchill’s mother), Hannah Duston, John Greenleaf Whittier, Emily Dickinson, Noah Webster and, as I’ve just found out – Richard Nixon (and I’m sorry to read that!). My great-great-great-great-great grandfather was one of the first doctors in Vermont and his brother was one of the first to use invirulation to fight smallpox (before vaccination) in Massachusetts.
posted by Laurie Mann on 2-28-2009 at 4:05 pm
I am related to John Alden, who came over the Mayflower. It’s been a tradition to have the first born son have the middle name ‘Alden’. My 3 year old son is the newest addition to our family “heirloom” haha.
posted by Scott on 2-28-2009 at 5:15 pm
My Grandmother’s maiden name is Clark. When we started doing our family tree a few years ago we found out that our family is DIRECTLY related to William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The funny thing is: Our family never branched out of Oregon. I can say that I’m a direct descendant of the first non-native american Oregonian.
posted by Kate on 2-28-2009 at 5:27 pm
hey Related2Pocahontas, me too!! she’s my 14th great-grandmother (as in 14 “greats”).
i love that we are all so proud of our ancestry!! =)
posted by audrey on 2-28-2009 at 5:42 pm
Everyone here seems to be related to someone famous (and I suppose we all are somehow), but I don’t know of anyone in my family.
But as for “famous people related to other famous people,” actress Elizabeth Montgomery (”Bewitched”), in addition to being the daughter of Robert Montgomery, was also sixth cousins once removed to alleged axe murderess Lizzie Borden. Montgomery also played the killer herself in “The Legend of Lizzie Borden.”
Far cry from good-natured magical housewife. ;)
posted by arfies on 2-28-2009 at 6:41 pm
My family is related to Isaac Hull, commander of “Old Ironsides” during the War of 1812
posted by Caroline on 2-28-2009 at 7:36 pm
My family on my mother’s side is related to the “Brown Bomber” Joe Louis.
posted by blksabre on 2-28-2009 at 8:28 pm
on my grandmother’s side, through marriage, i’m related to francis scott key (star spangled banner).
posted by JoAnna on 2-28-2009 at 10:05 pm
on my grandmother’s side, through marriage, i’m realted to francis scott key
posted by JoAnna on 2-28-2009 at 10:07 pm
i’m descended from members of the Shang Dynasty of China which was also known as the Yin Dynasty(which is my last name)
posted by kidrad on 2-28-2009 at 11:36 pm
I’m a distant cousin of Billy the Kid, and I agree with Angie, I think it’s kind of cool to have an outlaw lurking in the family tree!
posted by KarenInJapan on 3-1-2009 at 1:28 am
i’m related to john and priscilla from the mayflower as well. they’re popular people to be related to lol
posted by amanda on 3-1-2009 at 2:06 pm
I can trace my ancestry, on my mother’s side, back to 1186 – but before the 1300’s it is really more a history of the name which is and isn’t my ancestry. There must be someone famous in there somewhere. I like to pretend that because there is the last name Lyon, something about Glen Lyon, Scotland, I am short and like Corgi’s that there is something about royalty in there, but mostly I just like to say I can trace my ancestry back so far. :)
posted by elynorah on 3-1-2009 at 3:10 pm
Unfortunately I’m related to Slobodan Milosevic. Quite closely, in fact – he is my father’s first cousin. My parents moved here from the former Yugoslavia before I was born. I shared the same last name, but luckily I was married before my previous surname came to be synonymous with war crimes. My brother received a lot of flak for our name though.
posted by dangermouse on 3-1-2009 at 4:12 pm
My husband’s great-uncle is Augusto Marin, a famous painter from Puerto Rico. I also have relatives from the Mayflower, although I can’t remember who…
posted by Tamsyn on 3-1-2009 at 7:57 pm
I’m related to Grover Cleveland in two, non-consecutive ways…just kidding, had an ancestor who died at the Alamo, that’s about it.
posted by Chadd on 3-1-2009 at 9:36 pm
My great x 5 grandfather was Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy
posted by Kevin H on 3-1-2009 at 11:18 pm
I am also related to Captain James Cook. (according to everyone in my family)
posted by tw on 3-1-2009 at 11:19 pm
I’m related to Lincoln too and my peeps came from Northern England before the Mayflower (beat that, Richard Gere).
posted by Eden on 3-2-2009 at 9:18 am
My cousin’s mother-in-law is Jane Alexander. That’s about it, though. My dad’s parents and all of my mom’s grandparents came from Ireland, and I have no idea what kind of ancestors I might have had over there! :)
posted by Kate on 3-2-2009 at 2:13 pm
Johnny Cat we might be related cause Robert E. Lee is an ancestor of mine too. Also Martha Washington.
posted by Rachel G on 3-2-2009 at 9:09 pm
On my mom’s side, I’m related to the Adams family (the presidents, not the undead), and on my dad’s side is Myles Standish.
More recently on my dad’s side is the civil war deserter that the novel Cold Mountain is loosely based on.
posted by Colby on 3-3-2009 at 4:32 pm
John Wilkes Booth is my great granduncle…
posted by Stephanie Davis on 3-5-2009 at 1:06 pm
My great-Grandfather on my dad’s side was the theologian and baptist minister Walter Rauschenbusch. Richard Rorty, the Philosopher, is my cousin (we have Rauschenbusch as a common ancestor). My great-Grandmother remarried to Roger Nash Baldwin, of the ACLU fame (who is himself descended from Puritans). Through my great-Grandmother I am related to one of the first Governors of Connecticut, John Haynes, as well as Roger Sherman… which means I am distantly related to William Tecumseh Sherman, and that I share a common ancestor with none other than John Kerry and George Bush!
I really got into my family’s genealogy a few months ago, and I was surprised to find all of this information! I guess it is suiting for me though, I am a history major, after all!
posted by Am Tessten on 3-14-2009 at 8:04 pm
I am 2nd cousins 5x times removed with General Custer. His grandfather is my Great X5 grandfather.
posted by Maya on 3-25-2009 at 7:40 pm