# Infamous kinfolk!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 31, 2000, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057 "2000-05-31T23:46:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2000, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057/41 "2000-06-02T01:07:35Z")
According to family legend, I’m a great-great-etc. nephew of General George Pickett. According to an ancestral map of Ireland I have (yes, I take this with a grain of salt although some of the references I’ve checked out agreed with various statements on the map), my family is descended from King Niall of the Nine Hostages, the guy who sold a young Succat (St. Patrick) into slavery. I’m also a distant cousin of a guy who achieved local notoriety in Indiana for being a mass murderer or a serial killer (I don’t remember which), and he’d really appreciate it if y’all would refrain from pissing me off. ---
**Author:** ![2nd\_Law](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f475e1/32.png) [@2nd\_Law](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2nd_Law)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2000, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057/42 "2000-06-02T01:52:12Z")
Supposedly on my father’s side, I’ve got a Revolutionary War general as a distant uncle. The only problem with him was that he worked for both sides. Yep, Benedict Arnold. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2000, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057/43 "2000-06-02T02:49:13Z")
Ulysses S. Grant, somehow related to my mother’s father’s father. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2000, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057/44 "2000-06-02T03:00:12Z")
According to family lore, I’m a direct descendant of Anneka Jens, who was “encouraged” to hit the 1600’s road to New Amsterdam by her Royal Dutch father, King O Holland. He disowned her to the seventh generation for marrying beneath her station, although she was given a little starter property that was the area now known as Wall Street. The British takeover negated her ownership in a nebulous rental agreement, but the family actually kept it in legal dispute until the 1930’s. Easy come, easy go, I say. Hee! Guess who’s the 8th generation? My mom, her namesake, is researching this with the intention of writing a book. I’m also supposedly related to Prince Albert (great- whatever great uncle) who seemed to sire with Victoria Regina the whole lot of Euro-Russian royalty. And lives in infamy to children forever for the you-got-him-in-a-can query. I take it with a grain of salt, but my family felt compelled to keep track of those things. ---
**Author:** ![OldBroad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@OldBroad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldBroad)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2000, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057/45 "2000-06-02T03:58:32Z")
Talk about infamous! The proof of the pudding is whether you can qualify for membership at IBSSG: “Join the Black Sheep! A mailing list for the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists (IBSSG) which includes all those who have a dastardly, infamous individual of public knowledge and ill-repute in their family…within 1 degree of consanguinity of their direct lines. This individual must have been pilloried in disgrace for acts of a significantly anti-social nature.” These aren’t off-white sheep, or even charcoal grey sheep. Aunt Freda running off with the village blackmsith doesn’t quite cut it with these folks: [http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~blksheep/](http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~blksheep/) ---
**Author:** ![ChuckSki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@ChuckSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChuckSki)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2000, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057/46 "2000-06-02T14:18:21Z")
Thanks, Fillet!! I think you’ve found me a new sig line. “Sit on a spike and rotate!” Family Dracul Sincerely, Vlad and Radu And Sunshine, thanks for the sympathy 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2000, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057/47 "2000-06-03T20:14:05Z")
To Ukulele Ike and Labdude: I suppose by your replies that you are either 1) Louisianans or 2) related to Long yourselves. I admit I didn’t watch but a minute or two of _All the King’s Men_–Broderick Crawford was something of a (positive) icon to me, because of his starring role in _Highway Patrol._ All the same, my U. S. History teacher in high school, in 1966–an alumnus of SMU–told us that Long was a crooked politician–although he is honored to this day (well, 1966 anyway) in Louisiana. Besides, Long was referred to in _America’s Past,_ a pictorial American history volume assembled by Roger Butterfield. The author shows a picture of the man who fatally shot Long, with this caption: “Dr. Carl A. Weiss put an end to Long’s hillbilly dictatorship before it could spread outside Louisiana.” ---
**Author:** ![Sylence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b19c9b/32.png) [@Sylence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylence)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2000, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057/48 "2000-06-04T06:45:46Z")
I know for a fact that I’m related to Bastille Tarleton, a British general during the American Revolutionary War. He came very close to capturing John Hancock at one point during the war, but he got away. . . According to my parents, I am also related to one of the crewmembers on board the _Enola Gay_ during a certain flight over Japan. I guess I’d call that a black sheep, but I hope it’s not true. – Sylence ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2000, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057/49 "2000-06-04T19:31:25Z")
I am distantly related to Quanah Parker, the famous Comanche chief. According to my mother we are also direct descendants of one of the colonial era governors of Jamestown. I also went to high school with Eva Braun’s great-niece and two girls from a family related to the big H himself. Another friend of mine claims to be a descendant of William the Conqueror’s mistress, but I think she may be confused. ---
**Author:** ![JavaMaven1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@JavaMaven1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JavaMaven1)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2000, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057/50 "2000-06-04T19:44:35Z")
On my mother’s side of the family, it’s President Taft. Infamous for being the fattest president we’ve ever had. Sure, you say, but Clinton may come in second… but Clinton never got stuck in the bathtub. ---
**Author:** ![Rosebud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rosebud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rosebud)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2000, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057/51 "2000-06-04T19:55:06Z")
Many years ago, my dad’s mother paid somebody a bunch of money to do a thorough family tree. I’m told she wanted proof that we ladies of the family could join the Daughters of the American Revolution. While we are apparently elligible for D.A.R. membership, I don’t know through who. But, Granma managed to dig up a connection between us and Brigham Young. What’s cool about it is (and I hope I’m explaining this right) _he_ was a descendent of _our_ family-- his line is an offshoot of ours from way, way, _way_ back. I’ve always wondered if this could have gotten me free tuition at a certain university… ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_c38f64651bbfc0fca993c5b066c30099](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Anonymous\_c38f64651bbfc0fca993c5b066c30099](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_c38f64651bbfc0fca993c5b066c30099)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2000, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057/52 "2000-06-04T20:28:38Z")
I’m related to Napoleon, via cousins in Corsica, but so was everyone born on the island, so we can’t make much conversation out of it. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057/53 "2000-06-07T21:43:43Z")
Further information on Long from _An American Past,_ by Roger Butterfield: “Another depression demagogue was Senator Huey P. Long, who also began by supporting the New Deal [as had ‘Father’ Coughlin, referred to just ahead of Long], and then became Roosevelt’s most dangerous enemy in Congress. The red-haired, puffy-faced, cynical ‘Kingfish’ was an amusing political clown to look at and listen to, but he was also the first modern American dictator. ‘I can buy legislators like sacks of potatoes,’ he had boasted whle Governor of Louisiana, and he fastened his ruthless personal rule on thast state by brazen corruption and sheer gall. His ‘Share the Wealth’ scheme was as potent a doctrine in its way as Hitler’s National Socialism: it promised every American an income of $5,000 a year, to be paid for by confiscating all fortunes of more than $50 million and all incomes over $1 million. Huey seriously worried FDR and Jim Farley as a third-party threat to Democratic success in 1936. But long before the election Huey was assassinated by a public-spirited Louisiana citizen in the state house at Baton Rouge.” ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057/54 "2000-06-07T21:48:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > I’m related to Adam 🙂 > > Zev Steinhardt > \*\* I don’t recall seeing you at my nephews Bar Mitzvah last month 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057/55 "2000-06-07T22:05:59Z")
My family is supposedly related to Andrew “Stonewall” Jackson. My ex says that explains my stuborness. BTW, Mully, I think you have the coolest relative listed so far. 😉 Also, even more infamous, I think I’m related to purplebear. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057/56 "2000-06-07T22:52:16Z")
**dougie:** This Butterfield gent of yours seems to have a serious bone to pick with the Kingfish. If you want to understand your dear old Unca Huey better, get hold of T. Harry Williams’ HUEY LONG (Knopf, 1969; reprinted by Vintage, 1981). It won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Biography and History, so it’s most likely not full of shit. Long is an figure of endless fascination for me. As Dreyfus said about Inspector Clouseau in A SHOT IN THE DARK, “He is a _remarkable_ man.” ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057/57 "2000-06-07T23:11:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*\* > > I’m related to Adam 🙂 > > > > Zev Steinhardt > > \*\* > > I don’t recall seeing you at my nephews Bar Mitzvah last month 😉 > \*\* I didn’t get the invitation ☹ Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057/58 "2000-06-07T23:14:58Z")
According to Benett Cerf in _Try and Stop Me,_ someone once asked Long if the United States would ever have fascism. According to Cerf, Long said, “Sure we will–only _we’ll_ call it anti-fascism!” Oh well–calling a cat’s tail a leg doesn’t make it one… ---
**Author:** ![Catfood\_Purrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Catfood\_Purrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catfood_Purrito)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057/59 "2000-06-08T02:33:20Z")
I’m descended from Charles Jennison, one of the leaders of the Seventh Kansas Calvary Regiment, aka, the Kansas Jayhawkers or the Jennison Jayhawkers. Depending on what source you’re reading, they were either a noble band of soldiers who freed a bunch of slaves, or they were a horrid bunch of really mean guys (ol’ Charlie especially) and they pillaged and plundered along the Missouri border. I recently stumbled upon a picture of him and I could not believe the resemblance between him and my great aunts and uncles, and he looks EXACTLY like my dad. Speaking of great aunts and uncles, my great aunt is Jane Elliot of blue eyes/brown eyes fame, who is not necessarily infamous to you, but she’s not well-liked in my family. While we all respect the message of her lectures, she is not a nice person. I won’t go there. All I have on my mom’s side of the family is a great-great-grandfather who was a grand dragon of the Klu Klux Klan. _shudder_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-kinfolk/21057.md?page=2)