Comments (52)

1. Robert E. Lee

   I used to be somewhat ashamed to admit that, but since the extended family made me read up on the man, I’ve had my illusions dropped, and find him to be all around noble. I don’t want to start a Lee debate here, but he was a leader before anything, and treated those who worked for him as equals.

   My Mom, her sister and all of my ancestors use Lee as a middle name because of it.

   posted by Johnny Cat on 10-25-2007 at 5:35 pm

2. Lord Baltimore, the first governor of Maryland, back before it was a state.

   had a reputation for playing cards and once bet the govenorship in a game. he didn’t lose.

   posted by Patrick B on 10-25-2007 at 5:57 pm

3. I started doing some research on this in the last few months and found King John of England. You know, the one played by the sniveling lion in the Disney version of Robin Hood. And thereby his brother Richard Lionheart.

   I have uncovered a couple other notables, but only John was in the direct line.

   posted by Bo on 10-25-2007 at 6:46 pm

4. My 5th Great Grandfather is John Howland. He fell off of the Mayflower, but the captain casted a rope over for him and he got back on.

   posted by Emily on 10-25-2007 at 6:50 pm

5. On my dad’s side a convict sent to Australia named Thomas. And on my mother’s side Dutch Dukes and French aristocracy (some who managed to escape slaughter). Apparently there’s still a place in France named for my grandmother’s family. haha

   posted by Ashe on 10-25-2007 at 7:04 pm

6. A man from England who killed a man in a duel, ran to America, and changed his name from Lucas Thomas to Thomas LucasT. Years later, when approached by the government, Thomas denied the previous events, thereby giving up his (and mine, I suppose) claim to the Lucas paint company fortune.

   Also on that side of the family, a man from what is now Slovakia who stole horses and sold them on the black market.

   posted by jzimm on 10-25-2007 at 7:28 pm

7. The Plantagenet royalty of England, beginning with one of the sons of Edward I (not Edward II) and going back through William the Conqueror, etc.
   So, I guess Bo and I are distant cousins.

   Also, an off relative was a man who killed someone and then was shot himself in Tombstone, Arizona in the 1880s.

   posted by James on 10-25-2007 at 7:51 pm

8. John Alden, some guy from the Mayflower. Apparently he was supposed to help Myles Standish hook up with Priscilla Mullins, but ended up marrying her himself. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (another of John and Priscilla’s descendants) wrote a poem about it, “The Courtship of Myles Standish.”
   On the other side all my relatives are gypsies, which is a lot cooler.

   posted by Mike on 10-25-2007 at 8:24 pm

9. I am actually direct [and like grand niece] of a lot of random people.
   Henry Lewis, The Greenoughs of Boston, Heratio Greenough, The Greenoughs of Montclair, some President of Switzerland in like the 1400s, The cardinal that came up and invented the oxford movement [he obviously being a great uncle many times over]

   My favorite family member that just happens to be a tad bit famous and I could talk about forever?
   My baba or well great-grandfather, Edgar Stehli, A man whose voice and face could be recognized by millions during his life [his name usually was not recognized]
   Most people have not really heard of him, but sure enough look him up on the Broadway database or imdb and you will find countless shows he did. Baba was actually named by Edward Albee as one of the 7 greatest character actors of all time. He created the role of Dr. Einstein in the original Broadway production of Arsenic and Old Lace [the play my school is actually doing at the moment]. He was great pals with Rod Sterling and Josephine Hull, but mostly Rod Sterling [as they were both Unitarians]. He actually was on all of the successful radio programs of his time. For years he did radio by day and Broadway by night, he in fact move to movies and television until he was an old man. He also was extremely brilliant [and not just cause he graduated and was a professor at Cornell]. No the smartest thing this man ever did…. He always got his script signed by the entire cast, crew and writers [even the media members and such]. Ever script, EVER SINGLE ONE IS SIGNED! Since my school play this year just happens to be Arsenic and Old Lace, I got special permission to bring in the book [the script was too warn out by the time he was finished with the play]. It is a first American Printing signed by the author Kesselring, and the entire cast [likes of Victor Sutherland, Boris Karloff and Josephine Hull].

   so yea.
   But of course I really loved him for the fact that he was an amazing human being. He knew a total of 7 languages, FLUENTLY. He also loved all human beings, and believed no matter what we all are created equally. He was an extremely fair man, in fact I do not believe I have heard a bad thing about him my entire life.

   posted by Jeannie on 10-25-2007 at 8:28 pm

10. I actually have a couple neat ones in my family tree, first up, I am directly descended from the Proctor’s of Salem witch trial fame. The only reason I’m here today, is because they believed Elizabeth when she said she was pregnant. Next up going back in time is one that made my have a small *omg!* moment when I read post number 4. You see, I am also directly descended from John Howland. If you’d like to talk Emily, check me out on live journal at unholyangel31. Always neat to find someone in the family tree!

    posted by Jess on 10-25-2007 at 10:23 pm

11. May Wirth, a circus performer with barnum and baily, is my great great aunt. She used to teach my grandmother, her niece, how to somersault from horse to horse.

    Flora Macdonald. Scottish herione.

    Matthew Flinders. explorer

    posted by ejmmf on 10-26-2007 at 2:58 am

12. My 3x great grandfather was the Baron (or Earl?) of Alsace in the early 19th century. He emigrated to America in 1831 because he was exiled for protesting the German government. He wanted to marry a French girl but mixed marriages were illegal. Germans had to marry Germans, French only to French. He organized a group of protesters, they were arrested, and imprisoned for three years. He was stripped of his title and exiled. Of course his French wife came with him to America.
    He had his title because he was somehow related to the Royal family of Germany, The Hapsburg’s(sp?).

    In a different “branch” of the family tree I’m related to Walter Lantz the animator who made the Woody Woodpecker cartoons. ha ha ha HA ha!

    posted by Tdave on 10-26-2007 at 3:09 am

13. in an extensive family tree my parents have in a filing cabinet, there is a member of my family known only as “Indian Princess”, the wife of on of my very great uncles. Always thought that was a bit weird.

    posted by John on 10-26-2007 at 4:00 am

14. Charlemange

    I constantly regale my kid that he is decended from the guy who started he public school system in the 700s.

    posted by JLee on 10-26-2007 at 5:20 am

15. On my mother’s side I’m descended from Rob Roy MacGregor. I have two ancestors who got a mention in the book Mayflower– Governor Treat of Connecticut and John Miles, the minister in whose fort several settlers barricaded themselves at the start of King Phillip’s War.

    posted by HJM on 10-26-2007 at 6:08 am

16. Jess might be interested or angry to hear this, but my grandfather on my maternal side was a Thomas Fuller, who played a peripheral role in the Salem witch trials, but a role nonetheless. (On the “hang ‘em!” side) One of his sons son married a Putnam. Coincidentally, my niece unknowingly married a descendent of Rebecca Nurse. Her husband doesn’t appear to hold a grudge so far.

    posted by Karen on 10-26-2007 at 6:25 am

17. I just remembered two other random ones.
    Some guy that owned the first car dealership in Newark, NJ. He of course went on a hunting trip in Canada and never returned.

    Also one of my great grandparents worked for Rockerfeller as his head chemist. My great grandfather way up there would invent things [petroleum jelly being one of them] and Rockerfeller would buy the patents. He would also give him many, many shares in standard oil [this of course being before there were about a million and two gas companies]. Lets just say the family held on to those shares and now they are not that bad off.

    Oh and this is kinda out of my family, but then again not really.
    You know Klondike bars? [aka gods gift to all heartbroken girls]. Yea well originally the idea came from Husky bars. They both are pretty much the same thing [except Husky bars came first]. My god mothers husband is a food chemist and is the man responsible for inventing the chocolate on each of those bars.

    :D

    posted by Jeannie on 10-26-2007 at 6:34 am

18. I’m a big fan of genealogical research, but nothing is going to induce me to start providing DNA samples to anyone. It’s only a matter of time before those samples get in the hands of somebody maintaining a database and you’ll find that you can’t get life insurance because you have some sort of genetic anomaly that makes like sufferers drop dead at an early age.

    Yeah, undoubtedly, governments everywhere will someday not too distant force us all to submit samples (or just take them at birth), but I’m not facilitating the process.

    posted by Sid Morrison on 10-26-2007 at 6:34 am

19. Katherine Howard, of the “I’m a Queen, but not for long, as I made the mistake of marrying Henry VIII” fame.

    posted by frankie on 10-26-2007 at 6:53 am

20. Both on my maternal side, Miles Standish on one side, and Ulysses Grant on the other.

    posted by TracyB on 10-26-2007 at 7:07 am

21. Had a grandmother from Connecticut big into DAR so she could get out of the house. So there was a lot of research done. My middle name is Chapman, from the side of the family descended from Jonathan Chapman’s sister. He was otherwise know as Johnny Appleseed who “traveled out West planting apple trees.” Turns out “out West” in those days was Ohio and Indiana. He is buried in Fort Wayne.

    Another grandmother was Thankful Lawrence whose brother was known as Lawrence of Arabia. Love that we can lay claim to such weirdness in the family.

    posted by winthebig on 10-26-2007 at 7:19 am

22. there are 2 men who have been credited (?)with being the doctor who had to cut off Stonewall Jackson’s arm after Chancellorsville and i’m related to each of them: one on my dad’s side and one on my mom’s.

    posted by mri on 10-26-2007 at 7:24 am

23. What a bittersweet topic for me… being adopted, I don’t know my own birthparents, let alone my great great ancestors.

    Becky, you posed the question: “who is the most fascinating, mysterious, or just plain irreverent person occupying a box seat in your family tree?” To me, every day my ancestry is “mysterious” (although not fascinating) and I’d love to know who my great great great grandfather was- regardless of whether he was just a random farmer or an Earl in England.

    Some people really take their genealogy for granted.

    posted by Kelly on 10-26-2007 at 7:32 am

24. A lady in waiting to a Hapsburg Empress.

    And the founders of Oettinger Beer in Germany.

    I think the second is the better of the two,

    posted by John on 10-26-2007 at 8:28 am

25. I remember doing those genealogy projects when I was in school. My friends had cool ancestors. “I’m related to Abraham Lincoln! “John Glenn is my third cousin twice removed on my father’s side!”, etc. I ran home and couldn’t wait to ask my parents what little gems hung in our family tree.

    Mom: Well, there was a Colonel in the Civil War of some renown on your father’s side.
    Me: Really?!?
    Mom: Yes. He was from Michigan and defected to the South. He wanted around Georgia and never saw combat.
    Me: Oh.
    Mom: My father was in the army during WWII.
    Me: Really?!?
    Mom: He was a postal worker stationed in England.
    Me: Oh.

    It went on like that for awhile.

    My family is hard to trace on both sides.

    On my father’s side, my grandmother was from Hungry (they think). Other than that, nobody knows, because none of her 10 children bothered to ask her any details before she passed away. My grandfather flat out refused to talk about his past, curiously.

    On my mother’s side, we can go a little further back, but the trail runs cold quickly. In the early 1800′s, an ancestor of mine left England to find his fortune in America. He didn’t. Eventually, he made his way back to his little village in England only to discover that every single person he knew and every single family member of his had gone missing. Whether they died or emigrated out of the country, nobody knows. He spent his life trying to track them down to no avail.

    My father gave me this little gem for my project:

    “There are no famous people in your history. Not everybody can be famous. But, our ancestors were the ones that busted their butts to make the lives of the wealthy and well-known a little easier. We’re the backbone of those societies that created the greatness your friends like to lay claim to, and that’s something to be proud of.”

    When it came time to give my genealogy report in school, I simply embellished the tales of failure and continued optimism of my ancestors in their attempts to achieve their dreams, no matter what stumbling blocks stood in their way.

    Secretly, I’m still hoping for a rich distant relative somewhere with no heirs that wants to give me money.

    posted by Stephanie on 10-26-2007 at 9:00 am

26. For christmas a few years ago, my family bought a few of the National Geographic Genographic kits–basically they test your DNA and add you to a big database, and also give you info not on who you’re related to, but how your genetic line came out of Africa. It was pretty cool to see the path from Africa, into central asia, then into Eastern Europe–landing, 12,000 years ago, in the area of Poland and the Balkans–exactly where my family remained until 150 years ago. Pretty cool to see.

    Famous people I’m related to? General Meade (cival war general), William Bradford (head honcho of the Plymouth Colony), a German Princess, several Navy bigwigs, and a really cool western lawman in Oklahoma who brought the Dalton Boys to justice.

    posted by Jenny on 10-26-2007 at 9:51 am

27. Hey #21 – Im another Johnny Appleseed descendant! The Chapmans married the Holcombs and the Holcombs married…..

    Interestingly – I got an F on my family tree in 8th grade because my teacher didnt believe that he really existed. Ignoramus!

    jen

    posted by Jen Smith on 10-26-2007 at 10:05 am

28. Spent more than a year researching my tree on line at the ancestry site and found, to my amazement, several well known ancestors and famous cousins. I am a direct descendant of Edward I of England through his daughter Elizabeth (who married Humphrey De Bohn). This tree finally comes across the Atlantic in the mid 1600′s and ends up in the Norwich, CT area. That family was the Lathrops. The descendants of that line include…Benedict Arnold (The black sheep of the family), U.S. Grant, FDR and Shirley Temple Black.

    My mother had stated that we were related to King Louis of France (check, the 7th), at least 1 president (check) and a horse thief that was hung (not found yet but I did find one man that was shot and killed breaking into a house in the 1890′s). She said we were also related to Robin Hood (ya, right Mom, he was fictional.)

    It is a wonderful journey to take. I started with only knowing my grandparents names and where they were in 1930 and 1920. Now I find that King John of Robin Hood fame is a many times over (something like 28x) great grandfather.

    My Great Grandmother on my fathers side is a McCarty and I’m still trying to hook her up with ‘Billy the Kid’

    Owen

    posted by Owen on 10-26-2007 at 12:10 pm

29. I was enlisted by my Mother to do the research on our family tree. I always liked finding the characters that had a little more narrative about them than just cold documentation. My favorite bit is about an ancestor called Aaron Stark. He was so well known for being mean and no good that someone wrote a poem about him:

    “Withal a meagre man was Aaron Stark, –
    Cursed and unkempt, shrewd, shrivelled, and morose.
    A miser was he, with a miser’s nose,
    And eyes like little dollars in the dark.
    His thin, pinched mouth was nothing but a mark;
    And when he spoke there came like sullen blows
    Through scattered fangs a few snarled words and close,
    As if a cur were chary of its bark.

    Glad for the murmur of his hard renown,
    Year after year he shambled through the town, –
    A loveless exile moving with a staff;
    And oftentimes there crept into his ears
    A sound of alien pity, touched with tears, –
    And then (and only then) did Aaron laugh.”

    – Edwin Arlington Robinson

    posted by LeEtta on 10-26-2007 at 12:24 pm

30. My (4 or 5x) great uncle is Benjamin Rush. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence; he was also an innovative physician and has been dubbed the “Father of American Psychiatry.” His portrait is on the emblem of the American Psychiatry Association.

    posted by tej on 10-26-2007 at 3:14 pm

31. My family tree links me to Margaret “Peggy” Shippen Arnold, Benedict Arnold V’s second wife. My grandmother had all my families’ information on my father’s side, but I would love to start the research on the family from my mother side.

    posted by Leah on 10-26-2007 at 3:41 pm

32. Davy Crockett directly and Joe Perry of Aerosmith by marriage.

    There’s a possibility of being a cousin somehow of Sir Francis Drake, too.

    posted by Alex on 10-28-2007 at 2:30 pm

33. Well, by marriage, I’m related to a German architect who designed some really lovely chapels.

    But blood-wise? I’ve got Lyman Hall, one of the guys who represented Georgia on the Declaration of Independence, and William Attaway, who wrote the Banana Boat Song (“day-oh! me say day me say day…”). He also wrote some books we have in our house.

    posted by Aya on 11-2-2007 at 5:33 am

34. Pochohantas (sorry about spelling), Woodrow Wilson’s wife

    think that’s it

    posted by Katrina on 11-2-2007 at 6:31 am

35. Sorry- remembered another one:

    Daniel Boone (cousin)

    posted by Katrina on 11-2-2007 at 6:34 am

36. I WOULD LOVE TO DO THIS, BUT HAVE NO CLUE HOW!!!!!!!!!!!Anyone willing to help me??? I think my mom was German, my daddy was Irish and American Indian.. THANK YOU and GOD BLESS++++ LYLA

    posted by LYLA on 11-2-2007 at 10:32 am

37. I just found out a couple of years ago that I can trace my ancestry back to one of the knights that came over with William the Conqueror.

    No one was more surprised than me because based on the relatives I know, I would have bet we were decended from convicts.

    Go figger.

    posted by chieromancer on 11-2-2007 at 10:54 am

38. Started to do some research a few years ago. Maternal grandfather Usselton had Bluebeard the pirate as a direct line. My proper English gentile southern-plantation raised grandmother would go through the roof every time he would mention it. He was tough street- raised Scotch-Irish. On his maternal side the name is O’Connor from the Belfast area. He was a wrestler before it became fake. Think it was because he had to learn how to fight. He was only just above 5′ and very rotund. Didn’t keep him from getting a good looking woman. My grandmother was tall and svelte. Both very intelligent. She has 2 claims to genealogical “fame”. Her maiden name was Yates. Her great-great grandfather John C. Yates was a “guard” spy for George Washington. And, secondly she is somehow linked to the bloodline of Phochohontas, the famous American Indian Princess. My mothers brother looked almost purebred Indian but nobody ever really talked about it. There was a lot of predjudice then. They are all dead now. Clark is my paternal name. Too common to research.

    posted by Dianna Lynn Smaltz on 11-2-2007 at 12:00 pm

39. Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661), author of “Lex, Rex” (The Law is King). This book expounds the principle of rule by law rather than an arbitrary king, and formed the basis for Hobbes’ and Locke’s philosophies, social contract theory, and most of modern Western government. In general, he was a pretty cool guy. Click my name for the wiki.

    posted by sfs on 11-2-2007 at 12:03 pm

40. My favorite family legend has it that my maternal grandfather, one Alpha Beta Large, was purported to have owned a truck company in Cadillac, Michigan. He sold it in the early days of the 20th century to a young man from Lansing named R. E. Oldsmobile. Whoopee.

    posted by Mr. Michigan on 11-2-2007 at 1:21 pm

41. John F. Kennedy

    My great grandfather Kennedy claimed that we were the “honest” side of the family since we were not involved in running for office!

    posted by Mark on 11-2-2007 at 2:12 pm

42. Post #21, I am also realted to Johnny Appleseed. His sisters married someone on my father’s side of the family.

    I am also realted to the outlaw, Jesse James, and Betsy Ross.

    This has nothing to do with me, but I know Perry Como’s(singer) grandson.

    posted by Cait on 11-2-2007 at 2:26 pm

43. Jesse James
    Francis Scott Key

    Unfortunately, I have no cool stories to go along with it.

    posted by Lisa on 11-2-2007 at 4:23 pm

44. I hate to admit it, but on my father’s side,I am not only kin to William Rutledge, the signer of the US Declaration of Independence who was the only other signer who owned more slaves than Washington, but also I am kin to Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy.

    It’s a family skeleton.

    posted by Lin H. on 11-2-2007 at 4:57 pm

45. The good news? I am related to President John Adams through his son, also president, John Quincy Adams.

    The bad news? As far as presidents go, they were not exactly the coolest ones. Oh, and about half of America is descended from the JQ line.

    The ugly news? I am descended from them through both my mother AND my father. Eurgh…

    posted by Allison on 11-2-2007 at 6:37 pm

46. Giles Corey. He was the last person killed at the Salem Witch Trials. They stacked stones on him, hoping to get a confession (waterboarding doesn’t seem so bad, I guess). When he wouldn’t “name names” they continued with the rocks. Supposedly, his dying words were, “More stones”.

    posted by gewurz03 on 11-2-2007 at 7:39 pm

47. My great-great Uncle is Joseph Marshall, the first man to commercially farm potaoes in Idaho.

    Recently, my grandmother died, and when my family and I were going through her apartment we found all these newspaper clippings of “Uncle Joe”, as my mom called him. Mom remembered Uncle Joe (and his brothers: Uncles Frank, Sebastian, Jule, and Michael. My mom’s grandfather was the fifth brother, William.) but she had no idea that Uncle Joe was so famous! Uncle Joe was known as the ‘Potato King’ or ‘King Spud’ from the east coast to the west coast. He donated tons (literal tons :)) of potatoes to hundreds of charaties, and even managed to send two special boxes of his best potatoes out to my mom’s family and to the White House. Yeah… everyone in the family is pretty proud of Uncle Joe!

    As far as the rest of my family, the Marchals (Uncle Joe changed the family name to Marshall to make us seem less French) were the first French Pioneers to America, coming over sometime in the 1770′s. I’ve changed my sur-name to the original French spelling to match my first name, Jacqueline Marie.

    posted by Jacqui Marchal on 11-3-2007 at 3:37 pm

48. It is very clear in my fathers side of the family that we are related to Jeese James. that is not the onlycrimal in history that is connected to our family. The thayer’s around 1820 fought over some land with a man named love will love was killed and 2 or 3 was to be hung in buffalo, new york this being the first execution in that part of the state. It attacted a very large crowd and it was often repeated remark for more than a 100 yr. afterward there was never such a crowd sincne the thayer whee hung. that is why there is no death penlthy in new york.
    ALL THE CHILDREN IN MY DAD’S SIDE OF THE FAMILY HAS GONE TO PRISON MY DAD JUST GOT OUT HE DIED 3-18-07 SO HE WILL NEVER GO BACK. sorry for tha capps but didn’t realize it until I lokked up and I’m not re typing My one uncle stole a mail truck and parked it outside my grandpas houes. so we are very much jeesey james

    posted by kim on 11-3-2007 at 6:02 pm

49. where are all of you finding out all of this awesomely astonishing bits of your past????

    i have wanted to explore this uncharted territory for quite some time now but am entirely clueless as to wear to start?x

    what are the most extensive ones? the ones that reach back far in history as those you have claimed ancestry to?
    PLEASE HELP! :)

    posted by SilverPixie on 11-4-2007 at 4:15 am

50. Isn’t this fun?

    I too, have some long and distant relation to Rob Roy.

    Far cooler, though: my grandpa (like Jeannie’s relative) was a chemical engineer for General Mills. He invented Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs, Bugles, Total, and a few others.

    I bet Will and Mangesh’s relatives will brag about them someday…”thanks to them, we have a one-stop nerd extravaganza of trivia, t-shirts, and famous scientist finger puppets.” (Ole Albert and I chat daily while I make my supper and he hangs out on my fridge.)

    posted by Mindy on 11-5-2007 at 4:56 pm

51. to sliverpixie to begain with you start with you mom’s parents then her parents ect. then you do you dad’s side If you want you can contact me at cookikim@aol.com and put family history in the information line. so I don’t delete it you can also find information in the libray forgive spelling 6am

    posted by kim on 11-7-2007 at 5:44 am

52. You wrote.
    « Previous Post – Next Post » Sign up to find the luminaries lurking in your past
    by Becky – October 25, 2007 – 4:32 PM A NYtimes article published today discusses DNA testing as a “family history research tool.”
    Among the famous whose DNA has been tested is Marie Antoinette, who belonged to maternal Haplogroup H (along with about half of all Europeans).
    Katie Couric (maternal Haplogroup K) is genetically linked to a 5,000-year-old iceman whose body was recently discovered in the Alps. And Jesse James? T2, a subgroup of maternal Haplogroup T.
    Whether you’ve mapped your family’s taproots or would rather forget them, you’ve probably had to at least consider those who came before those who came before you—for scholarships, or medical histories, or perhaps to rationalize some quirk or talent. I have to say I’ve never been that interested in the fame or foibles of my own genetic line backwards; maybe I’m a hopeless solipsist, maybe I’m banking on reincarnation; my lazy historical eye aside, there are a few notables who’d stand out whether I was wrought from their blood or not. Namely, my saloon-operating great-great grandmother who partied & patrolled in Buffalo, NY. And I’d love to be able to regale you with gypsy rock stars who flanked the Vltava River on my mother’s side, but the results aren’t in yet, so I’m going to hand this one over to you: who is the most fascinating, mysterious, or just plain irreverent person occupying a box seat in your family tree? Or: would you (or have you) shed some blood to find out more about your ancestry?
    Send this Post » Suggest a Topic/Link » « Previous Post – Next Post » Comments (51)
    Robert E. Lee

    I used to be somewhat ashamed to admit that, but since the extended family made me read up on the man, I’ve had my illusions dropped, and find him to be all around noble. I don’t want to start a Lee debate here, but he was a leader before anything, and treated those who worked for him as equals.

    My Mom, her sister and all of my ancestors use Lee as a middle name because of it.

    posted by Johnny Cat on 10-25-2007 at 5:35 pm

    Lord Baltimore, the first governor of Maryland, back before it was a state.

    had a reputation for playing cards and once bet the govenorship in a game. he didn’t lose.

    posted by Patrick B on 10-25-2007 at 5:57 pm

    I started doing some research on this in the last few months and found King John of England. You know, the one played by the sniveling lion in the Disney version of Robin Hood. And thereby his brother Richard Lionheart.

    I have uncovered a couple other notables, but only John was in the direct line.

    posted by Bo on 10-25-2007 at 6:46 pm

    My 5th Great Grandfather is John Howland. He fell off of the Mayflower, but the captain casted a rope over for him and he got back on.

    posted by Emily on 10-25-2007 at 6:50 pm

    On my dad’s side a convict sent to Australia named Thomas. And on my mother’s side Dutch Dukes and French aristocracy (some who managed to escape slaughter). Apparently there’s still a place in France named for my grandmother’s family. haha

    posted by Ashe on 10-25-2007 at 7:04 pm

    A man from England who killed a man in a duel, ran to America, and changed his name from Lucas Thomas to Thomas LucasT. Years later, when approached by the government, Thomas denied the previous events, thereby giving up his (and mine, I suppose) claim to the Lucas paint company fortune.

    Also on that side of the family, a man from what is now Slovakia who stole horses and sold them on the black market.

    posted by jzimm on 10-25-2007 at 7:28 pm

    Close but not quite,

    He was born Thomas Edgar Lucas and changed his name to Thomas Edgar Lucas after arriving in the US. He was more commonly know as Dr T. He was a brother to John Lucas of the Lucas Paint Co.

    He was also the first company Dr being employed by the Edward P Allis Mutual Aid Society. I’m guessing you much be a decendant of Alfred?

    posted by Eddy on 3-16-2009 at 10:23 am

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