In another thread, Qadgop the Mercotan informs us that his 9x great-grandmother was hung as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692.
So, now I am wondering what other fascinating connections y’all have. My own genealogical research has disclosed no claims to fame in my own family tree, but my husband’s family has connections to the Spalding sports equipment magnate, President Grover Cleaveland, and Laura Ingalls Wilder. (As I said to him, hmmmm - a industry leader, a US President, and an author beloved by generations: what the hell happened to you?)
Who else can claim a connection - however tenuous - to fame or infamy?
I have royalty out the wazoo in my family. And I have the documentation to prove it.
When I was younger, I was always told that we’re in the direct line of desendancy from Erik the Red, Viking conquerer and all around bad-ass dude.
Really? I’m related to Erik the Red as well. That’s the only famous ancestor I have. I am related to a Southern Confederate from the Civil War, but I don’t think he was famous.
The Geldings are all the decedents of one of four brothers who came to Pennsylvania in 1683, as part of the first import of German artisans for that colony. They were all weavers. Only one of the brothers had children, but a whole bunch of them. Otherwise the ancestors are all dispossessed peasants form Northern Europe and the British Isles. There wasn’t a famine or a failed revolution or an economic panic that didn’t in its own way contribute to the Gelding gene pool.
Let’s see… 4th cousin, once removed…
Ha ha…just kidding.
My grandmother’s first cousin was Virginia Axson, who was married to Woodrow Wilson.
And my mom’s second cousin, Clelia Dunaway,is somehow related to Faye Dunaway, but the details are really obscure. I think it’s a marriage-related thing.
Hell, no one in my actual family is famous, but we all seem to marry well!
My old roommate has his family tree drawn all the way back to Charlemagne. He was born and raised in France, and apparently geneology is VERY important there, still. He has all these really cool, old documents in a sealable tube that his mom gave him when he turned 21.
I have a direct ancestor, Robert Kasson, who was court-martialed during the Revolutionary War. Got the sentence commuted later though. Another Kasson, John Adam Kasson, is a third cousin five times removed(tenuous) who was Postmaster General of the United States, was an ambassador to Austria-Hungary, and wrote the official government history of the US Constitution for the Constitutional centennial.
I don’t know if this makes them famous or not, but my great grandmother has always told me that we had cousins that were survivors of the Titanic. I don’t know if they were wealthy travelers or poor folks in steerage, but they survived.
My great great grandfather was the founder of the City of Croydon, a suburb of Melbourne. I usually try to keep it quiet, as I get sick of all the adulation.
7,000 people in my family tree, and THAT’S my claim to fame. Sigh.
On the other hand, if any Dopers out there carry the surname Wilton and are from families originally from Cornwall, there’s a good chance we’re cousins!
Cool. My 10th great grandfather, John Beauchamp, was one of the London merchants who invested in the Plymouth Colony. He was a silent partner as Mr. Sherly did all the work. Although Sherley was a real scoundrel and cheated the colonists on many occasions. When the entire thing ended up in the courts John Beauchamp could have cared less, he just wanted his money, even though the colonists felt that he had already made enough money off of them. Long story short (too late eh?) he was the last person the Plymouth colonists owed money to … um Sorry
As for being decended from European royalty, it’s not such a big deal, pretty much anybody could trace their ancestry to Charlemagne and such. The impressive thing is proving it, bravo to those who did, that’s quite a feat.
Here’s the long story of the Beauchamp - Plymouth affair.
Before 1625 Plymouth sent one of their own, a Mr. Allerton, to London. While there he contacted a Mr. Sherley who was a goldsmith. Goldsmiths were the bankers of the day. They were who you saw when you needed a loan. Mr. Sherley in turn contacted a Mr. Andrews and a Mr. Beauchamp to invest in the Plymouth Plantation. Beauchamp paid £1127 and Andrews £1136. It is said "Mr. Sherley pretendeth that hee did alsoe add the some of £1190 for his share." As part of the agreement Sherley would receive shipments of skins and sell them. Then he would share profits with Beauchamp and Andrews. He would also pay the bills of the Plymouth colonists. These treaties were signed in 1625, 26 and 27.
In 1636 there was a plague epidemic. Everyone who could was spending as much time as possible outside of the city. Sherley would only spend 1 day a week there. It was during this bout of pestilence that Sherley received a shipment of beaver skins. What would in good times fetch up to £24 per pound was now less then £8. So Sherley decided to sit on the skins till the market went up. In the meantime he had to pay some bills run up by the colonists. He owed money to a Mr. Hall who was out of town. When contacted he said he could not pay. So Sherley went to see Beauchamp and Andrews. He told them they should each pay a third. They both refused. This all comes from a letter from Sherley to Plymouth.
In Plymouth the colonists were worried because in the 10 years of doing business with Sherley he had never once sent them an account of what he had been doing. They decided to halt all shipments till they got a full account. After doing so they received letters from Beauchamp and Andrews complaining about not receiving and furs and being £1100 in the hole. The colonists were shocked, they wrote back that they had been sending furs for a long time, and that they should see Sherley about their share.
Sherley refused to pay up. Apparantly he was mad about their refusal to pay the bill to Mr. Hall earlier. Beauchamp sued Sherley in Chancerie but apparantly lost.
Andrew and Beauchamp again wrote to the colonists and blamed them. The colonists took all their furs and sent them to Beauchamp and Andrews. They sent 1325 pounds to be divided equally among them. Beauchamp made £400, apparantly over the £1127 he invested. Andrews however was still down £40. This was in 1637.
Apparantly Sherley had been receiving furs for a long time and had been pocketing the profit without giving any to Beauchamp or Andrews. Finally in 1641 the colonists became so fed up with the lying cheating Sherley and tried to terminate their contract with him. On Oct 15, 1641 they wrote up a termination contract and had it sent to each of the three merchants, Sherley, Andrews and Beauchamp.
Beauchamp refused to accept their terms believing he was owed more. He demanded either an extra £400 or £400, I'm not clear on this. In April 7, 1643 Sherley sent a letter to the colonists arguing against Beauchamps claims. Apparantly what happened was that when the coalition fell apart each man tried to get as much out of it as he could and Sherly and Andrews turned on Beauchamp.
Finally in 1645 Beauchamp received £210 10s and I guess was satisfied. He was the last person to whom the colonists owed money. From this point on they were in the black. He apparantly had no further dealing with Plymouth.
Wel… I don’t really have anyone famous that I know of… Dad’s side is all Farmer’s and we can barely go back a few generations though Grandpa is working on it… Mom’s side Grand-daddy traced back to about 1801 when we first came over from Scotland to be servants to the Prince of the Isle… most famous people in my history would have to be Grand-daddy himself who was a Supreme Court Judge of Canada the Honourable Hugh J MacDonnell. Other than that the closest we come would be one of my ancestors… my Mom’s Great Uncle I think who could have been an Olympian except he chose to go into the Priesthood rather than train in the javelin.
When an Uncle that I never knew; my Aunt died when my father was only 17, was cut down on the streets of Chicago during the Roaring 20s it was banner headlines the next day in the Chicago Tribune. He was a driver for the guy that coined the phrase “take em for a ride”. REAMS of facinating stuff printed about his family.
