Genealogy Wise

The Genealogy & Family History Social Network

I'd be interested to hear anyone's story or stories about being linked to someone famous. I think these stories are facinating and love to hear how it all came about.

Views: 1269

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Hello,, I am new..Im Styles,,Moon,Proctor, Cobb,,Slade,, Knight,,French,, Lincoln,,,Boone?? The story was told to us,,but looking thru the story we find different.. Its very upsetting when your told one story then being older as in 30 you start searching with that small stoary that makes no sense..Ive had help with several  people who helped me a lot..sent me to several free sites that have helped me..  Windhall,vt,,,,,Maurce R Cobb& Pearl B Slade..He was married to Olive M Herrick 1931,,

I hear you. One of the things I first read about as I began this genealogical journey (for that's what it is, a journey) was that until you find out the specifics and/or proof, it's only a family story. I had an unfortunate story that I thought was untrue when I was first digging, and wondered why my paternal grandfather would say such a thing. Then, I discovered, he had the dates wrong. The marriage year wasn't 1889, it was 1890. And my great-grandfather's wife's child was born just a few days before he married her. The whole thing was, he shouldn't marry her before the child was born, in order to prove it wasn't his. They had very different values then.

As for my connection to my sixth great-grandparents I doubted it all the way up until I found our link. My paternal grandfather said we were related, but he made it sound as if our branch was from a sibling of his. As for the information he had on John, he had everything correct (his year of birth, death and the years he served as Governor of TN and, if memory serves, the years he spent in Congress of the U.S.) The information he had way, way off, is that he stated John NEVER MARRIED. Sheesh. John had one child who never married. I keep wondering if that's where the mix-up occurred.

It was also suggested we had a connection to the Crocketts, which turns out to be untrue. The Rebecca (Sullivan) Hawkins who was David's mother, was NOT the sister of my sixth great-grandmother, after all. I first grew suspicious when I saw Rebecca was born somewhere else from the rest of her siblings. After a little more research, I discovered she was the wrong Rebecca.

It can be disconcerting and disappointing. Happy hunting!

While I understand the suspicions, unless she was a "middle" child, I would consider the possibility that her parents had moved from the original area, and after a few years and no success, moved back to where they started or perhaps even a totally new location. My 3x g grandparents, as an example, married in TN, had about 4 children there, then moved to KY.  Had a couple more, then moved to IL. Had one or 2, lost one or 2, then moved into southwest WI, where my 3x g grandmother passed and about 14 years later my 3x g grandfather passed. In researching another branch (it turned out to be completely wrong!), the family started in NY, went to OH, then to NY, then to OH, for about 20 years before making the long trek to WI. And had children born in OH and NY each time they moved! 

I hear what you're saying, however, Rebecca Hawkins (in my line) was the second child. All the other children were born in the very same area as the eldest child, my sixth great-grandmother. Also, Rebecca Sullivan Hawkins has different parents, that's also a HUGE clue.

I'm finding all kinds of names in the various children's list that don't belong. I think some wish it to be so hard, that they make false connections. It's totally ridiculous when the child is born when the mother was only seven years old, for instance. :O

On one of my lines, it was so totally messed up that several trees had a brother listed as the father. The brother was born about two years after the would be child. I finally ferreted out a tree that had it correct. Once I saw the Shawnee 'Chief' was the brother, then I accepted this as more 'correct.' If this is, indeed my family, I've got a minuscule amount of Shawnee blood in me. Which is amusing, for its irony.

This line is my fourth great-grandmother's family, and my sixth great-grandfather (her husband's  paternal grandfather) fought the Shawnee in Virginia Colony. 

Had they ever sat table together on Thanksgiving, you can imagine the conversation, or lack thereof.

Families are crazy, but that's how they got me. :P 

Like Gary and Ryan, I have several famous folks in my family tree (41 U.S. Presidents - closest being Thomas Jefferson), Authors, Actors/Actresses, Scientists, Singer-Songwriters, etc. I love having them in the family tree, heck I even like the um, shadier characters in the family tree. Perhaps, that is why I want to teach history.

When I was young, my parents didn't know of our family history, because they never kept track of "the family." I was lucky to find a cousin who had done some genealogy and was willing to let me in on the research. Now, I pay tribute to my cousin by giving information to those who what to know, so they can keep track. It's pretty cool there are famous folks in the family tree. Though I'm pretty sure the famous people won't invite me to Thanksgiving, its just cool that they are there.

This is an interesting discussion. Yes i have those famous ancestors, including back to Charlemagne. My granddaughter got in trouble at her school because she told her classmates that she was related to George Washington and they thought she was lying. We are related through Samuel Ball, wonder what they would have said if she told them she was related to Jesse James? the interesting thing about genealogy to me is placing your ancestor in history. I am such a history geek.  Famous,infamous, or unknown placing your family history in the historical context is the fun reason to keep on searching for those ancestors I haven't found yet. Iv'e found one ancestor hanged for killing a friendly Indian after King Phillip's War in early colonial New England, another involved in the politics in New York during the time of Leisler 's rebellion, another who was a forty niner, and one who was defended in a lawsuit by Abraham Lincoln. Not all ancestors will be well known, but they all have a history that will relate to the history of the world. You may have to search a little but you find those things as you search for records. That is the interesting part of the search.

C

RSS

Members

© 2024   Created by IIGSExecDirector.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service