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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.

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I've got lots of regular farmers and housewives in my family tree, and descended of only a few famous folk (Capt. Myles Standish, General John Glover, witchcraft victims John Proctor and George Jacobs) but I came close to a few more who were much more famous. I have many great grandmothers who had sisters who married well, including the mother of Benjamin Franklin, the mother of Count Rumford, the mother-in-law to Queen Lilioukalani and the grandmothers of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne. So close! But I'm not descended from any of these luminaries! It's fun to see how close we can come to some celebrities, but all those regular folks in the family tree have fascinating stories, sometimes even more interesting than the ones in the history books!
Thru my Mayflower ancestors Im related to Princess Diana, The Bush's and tons of others.

My LDS ancestors include Levi Jackman (who's bio is online if ya know where to look), Anthony Edward Ivins (he got a town in Utah named after him. He's also in the Cowboy Hall of Fame).

I am also related to Lizzie Bordon.. Im a member of the Borden Project. A group dedicated to finding all descendents of the first Borden's in America, Richard Borden and his wife Joan Fowle (they are Lizzie Borden's direct ancestors 7 generations from her and my link to Lizzie *lol*)
http://www.thebordenproject.com/

I am also descended from all the royal families of Europe. There's a great cousin site that links all historical folk and celebrities together. I go to it often to see who Im related to. *lol*
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~dav4is/people/index...

I am supposedly related to Princess Diana through her cousin, Winston Spencer Churchill, and then Prince Charles through Queen Victoria. I also have several Presidents, a Mayflower ancestor, Jesse James, Susan B. Anthony, Lizzie Borden, a few of the witches from the Salem Witch Trials and their accusers plus a "judge", members of royal families throughout Europe, including a country or two that I don't think exist any more! What is surprising to me is that most of these come through my mother's side of the family, and she didn't know about them.  It's probably a good thing she didn't..............  :) I think there's a site called famousancestors.com, but not sure.  You can also go to relativefinder.org, which is hosted by familysearch.org.  You will need to create an account with familysearch if you don't have one already (its free and you don't have to be an LDS member to use the site), then you can use your familysearch login information to login to relativefinder. If you don't have a tree on familysearch, you'll need to go back at least 3 generations before it'll pick up on anyone that you are related to.  Sometimes you have to go even further back.

I know what you mean about understanding this fascination and compulsion we all have to be related to someone famous or important. As I got into the use of DNA in genealogy, seven years ago, I began to how insignificant it all really is. The fact is, we are all of the same species and are, therefore, quite literally all cousins - just many, many times removed. By the time you get back to 150,000 years ago, our common ancestors were a handful of people on this earth. So, in that sense, we are ALL related to royalty and to the famous. It's just that some of us are more closely related to them than others are, that's all.

As for any significance to this fact, there really isn't any, save for whatever significance it may have to us, personally. Yes, I'm descended from the royalty of medieval Europe, but so are millions of other Americans who don't have a clue about their ancestry. Meanwhile, I'm still an architectural draftsman from Oklahoma City and I doubt very much that I'll be moving into any ancestral castles any time soon. ;)

Gary

I hear you. Who would want to pay the taxes! Besides, I hear castles can be very drafty and cold in the Winters. ;) I have a fascination with such buildings. Castle Navarre is still standing, although now it's under Spanish rule. Once upon a time it was its own nation, closely associated with France. To the point King Henry II of Navarre, took the French throne at some point. The family name I'm connected to used to be spelled Xavier, pronounced ZA-vere, anglicized to Sevier (pronounced like the English, severe). At one time or another, they would visit the castle. It was said they were close, if not in fact related, to the king. I discount this end of the family, but rather pick things up with Jean Valentine Xavier, a Huguenot. who fled Navarre to England, after the edict of Nantes was rescinded. 

Found out recently that Hillary Clinton is something like 6th cousin twice removed, and that Kenny Chesney and I have the same great aunt in common.
Hi, I new here. so far I like what I see....Regarding "anyone famous", I remember my mom saying that we were related to Ricardo Montalban....That is my maternal surname...I have to find out...will let you know. My name is Macky Lebron-Montalban and was born & raised in Puerto Rico. Now I live in Orange, California.
I am a direct descendant of Edmond Charles Genet first ambassador from the new formed French Republic who came to American in 1794 and created quite a stir here during the French Revolution. His sister was Madam Campan, head of the queens bedchamber - Marie Antoinette. Edmond married Cornelia Clinton daughter of George Clinton and Cornelia Tappan. George was the first governor of the state of New York and fourth Vice President of the U.S. under Jefferson and Madison. The Clintons trace back to England and came with William the Conqueror in 1066. On my Cravath line I am directly related to Elizabeth Hooke who married Ezekiel Cravath. Her great-grandfather Humphrey Hooke was one of the original adventurers in the state of Maine who sent his son, William, her grandfather, to administer his investment. My grand-uncle, Clifford "Gavy" Cravath held the major league home run record before Babe Ruth with 24 hrs in 1915. Most of the family were farmers and moved west as the U.S. expanded to the Pacific Ocean.
There are several links in my lines that go back to famous people. One of the most infamous is Elizabeth of York, the mother of Henry VIII, which is on my direct female line. The link came from other family members who traced the lines back through Wales. The Welsh are believed to have been the original inhabitants of Britain, until the Anglo and Norman invasions. The Royal families merged after battles were fought (regardless of who won). My Lewis (LLewelyn) lines trace back to Wales on my male and female sides. It appears that the Lewis family intermarried with cousin's etc., (not uncommon during those days). This same line also connects to George Washington through his grandmother Mildred Warner Washington. Her mother Elizabeth Lewis Warner is related to the Royal Family in England. One of the persons who also connects to this line is ex Virginia Governor Mark Warner.

Another famous person I have linked to is President James Monroe. The Uncle of President James Monroe, William Monroe married a Mulatto woman (Mary Monroe), sometime around 1730. They resided in Westmoreland County Virginia, in the house of William Monroe Senior and his wife Anna (Babcock) Monroe. In 1730 a child was born to the couple and Mary Monroe was summoned in front of a Grand Jury. The charge against her was bastardy, and the reason was the birth of a Mulatto child. Although William and Mary Monroe believed they were married, the marriage was void. It was against the law for a white man to marry a mulatto woman. However, the Grand Jury threw out the case, because of the ambiguity of the law. However the record of the marriage continues to be stored at the courthouse in Montross Virginia. I don't expect a dinner invitation anytime soon, but I found this very interesting (smile).

There is a some subtle resistance to my making mention of these connections. I requested a reading at the Library of Virginia for my book, Pieces of the Quilt: The Mosaic of an African American Family, and was denied. The other organization that denied me a reading (also in Virginia), is the Black History Museum and Cultural Center. It seems that these organizations want nothing to do with the mixed raced references in my book.
Yes!!!
Dagmar who was famous comedic actor's from the 1950's from Wayne Co. WV. She was Blond and had had big boobs.lol.
She was Egnor and was my second cousin.
I remember her!!
I am related to the actress Ann Sheridan. Her mother was my grand mother's sister. Ann's real name was Clara Lou and she made a few pictures under that name, but then the studio changed it to Ann Sheridan. Lula Warren was her mother and her father was George Washington Sheridan. They had 6 children and Clara Lou was the youngest. An older sister entered her in "Search for Beauty" contest. She won the contest, and that is how she got her start. She is my first cousin, once removed.

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