Who's related to historical figures?

[Speck Tater]

Some years ago while researching the family tree I discovered that I am the great-great-great grandson of Andrew Jackson's illegitimate daughter.

(ed sp)

[Lestat]

1. My grandma figured out our family tree...

and waaaaaaaaaaay down the line, we're related to (gasp!) Kaiser Wilhelm and the British Royal Family.

Interesting, eh? I'm like #4385730497509375943 in line for the British throne! :)

[pagerbear]

2. Well, if you believe my crazy old grandmother

...I'm related to one of the kings of England from colonial times. She claims we are descended from a daughter who married beneath her and was banished with hubby to NC.

She also claims we're related to Isadora Duncan.

[On the Road]

3. Supposedly, I am a Distant Relative of Pocohontas

through my maternal grandmother. Goethe is my tenth cousin three generations removed. And my direct male ancestor was Johannes Nevius, the fist mayor of New York under the British.

Also, she's not exactly a historical figure, but the ballet dancer Suzanne Farrell is my second cousing. Our grandmothers were sisters.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

4. I may be a distant cousin of Fidel Castro. (nt)

[lpbk2713]

5. Remotely related to Abe Lincoln

and some Pilgrim settlers on my father's side.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

6. I'm a sorta-distant relative of Edwyn 'A Girl Like You' Collins,apparently

[AlCzervik]

7. Related to Daniel Webster

on my mother's side.

[WLKjr]

53. According to my grandmother and this other lady that did family histories

I am a very distant relative of Martin VanBuren's family. Don't know if it's true or not, never really looked into it.

on edit:

I do know this from my grandpa's cousin that has almost completed a famliy history book over 25+ years and has found that his side of the family(my mothers father) had quite a few relatives that resided in the colonies before 1750 and also quite a few that fought in pretty much every American war from the Revoulution up to Vietnam and Desert Storm. The books he has are very detailed and consists of three volumes that are huge. He really spent a lot of time on this.

[TN al]

8. Aside from my parents and one grandmother...

...all of my ancestors are history now.

[dr.strangelove]

9. Direct descendant of Alexander Hamilton

That and a boat load of money will get me into see Madonna play at the Garden.

[Mr. McD]

10. I am a descendant of Robert the Bruce

[GR]

15. Hey, YouAnd I Are Related....Hello Cousin!

Have you traced back to the 1300s?

[Mr. McD]

25. My father's line has been traced to before 1100

Princess Margaret Stewart granddaughter of Robert the Bruce married John MacDonald Lord of the Isles around 1358.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

20. Descendant of Sir Walter Scott here.......

Please forward all copies of "Ivanhoe" to my address for autographing. :P

[Misunderestimator]

11. Not telling.... TMI.... and too many freepers who'd be able to...

actually add 2+2. :) :bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce:

(After what happened to the radio host that was freeped, no way, no how.)

[GR]

12. Supposed To Be Related to Mary Todd Lincoln And Robert The Bruce...

Tried to trace to Mary Todd Lincoln, crazy wife of Lincoln,and pretty good line. Have no clue as to how to trace to Robert the Bruce who died of leprosy in 1300's. But he was in the Movie Braveheart.. ;)

[Fenris]

13. Hee hee. Benedict Arnold.

Or so we're led to believe.

[Insider]

14. Civil War Medal of Honor: Alfred B. Hilton

HILTON, ALFRED B.

Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company H, 4th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and date. At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at:------. Birth: Harford County, Md. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: When the regimental color bearer fell, this soldier seized the color and carried it forward, together with the national standard, until disabled at the enemy's inner line.
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/mohciv.htm

Alfred B. Hilton - Sergeant, co. H, 4th USCT (Regimental Color-Sergeant) Chapin’s Farm, VA, Sept. 29, 1864. "In the charge when his associate sergeant was killed, caught up his flag also, and carried both until himself shot down, when he held up the flags and shouted: "Boys, save the colors!"
http://www.medalofhonor.com/AfricanAmericanCivilWar.htm

The President of the United States
in the name of The Congress takes pleasure in presenting the
Medal of Honor
to
HILTON, ALFRED B.

Rank and Organization: Sergeant, Company H, 4th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and Date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Birth: Harford County, Md. Date of Issue: 6 April 1865.

Citation:
When the regimental color bearer fell, this soldier seized the color and carried it forward, together with the national standard, until disabled at the enemy's inner line.
http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_1862_cwh/hilton.html

great-great-great grandniece (edit). and every generation has been in the service since. hooah.

[Az]

16. I can trace back to General Stonewall Jackson

Not that I want to mind you.

[Pithlet]

18. Me, too!

Hello, long lost relative :hi:

[scarlet_owl]

17. I'm somehow related to Diego Rivera.

I think he was some kind of cousin or uncle. I come from a long line of Mexican communists.

[Loki]

19. Outlaws run in my family

The Youngers - Cole, Bob and Jim are my great, great , great uncles, and through them the Dalton's ( they all married cousins back then). Probably explains my aversion to authority :evilgrin:

[bratcatinok]

21. James Buchanan

William Henry Harrison and John Tyler. My Dad and my Uncle were interested in genealogy and did all the research. I remember all of the trips they'd take together where they'd go through birth/death/marriage records as well as tromp through cemetaries.

I also have a great, great, great Grandfather who was a prisoner in a Yankee prison camp during the Civil War. While he was there he carved a chess set and stained half of them with blueberry juice. I still have the chess set and only one piece (a pawn) is missing. Somewhere along the line the pieces were stored in an ice cream carton that has the date of 1893 on it.

[No2W2004]

27. Harry Truman was also related to Tyler,

So you might have a connection there too!

[GumboYaYa]

22. My great Aunt was Huey Long's personal assistant.

In his definitive biography of Huey, T. Harry Williams alleges that my aunt and Huey had a long-running affair. My great grandmother vehemently denounced T. Harry's assertions til her death. If you look at the cornerstone of the Louisana State Capital, however, the building is dedicated to my great aunt, Alice Lee Grosjean.

My great, great grandfather founded the Shreveport Times. He ran a series of scathing editorials in the paper denouncing the corruption of the carpet baggers that is credited with running the carpet baggers out of northern Louisiana.

My great, great, great grandfather on the other side owned Winter Quarters plantation where Grant stationed his troups for the winter of 1862-1863 before the invasion of Vicksburg. My ancestor was one of the first southern abolitionists and one of the first Southern landowners to free all the slaves working on his lands. Grant spared the home, one of the few homes in the wole state he spared. When I was a child my grandparents lived in the home still. Later, it was donated to the state and is a museum today.

I am also descended from one of the first justices on the North Carolina Supreme Court on my grandmother's side. On my grandfather's side, we had relatives who were on the boats with Iberville and Bienville when they claimed Louisiana for France.

The YaYas have been involved in politics in the US for a long time.

[noonwitch]

23. Direct descendant of Richard Warren, Mayflower passenger

Through that, technically, I'm related to the Roosevelts, many, many cousins removed.

[methinks2]

24. descendent of Henry Clay

on my mothers side. Henry was Sec. of STate and SEnator. He was also cousin of Marcellus Cassius Clay.

[TrogL]

26. Field Marshall Molitor

He's got a subway stop in Paris named after him.

[dryan]

28. Husband's family

My husband is a direct descendant of George Rogers Clark and Merriweather Clark (George's nephew). George founded Louisville, Kentucky where my husband grew up. The city of Clarksville is named after the family. We are also related somehow to President Zachary Taylor and a former Bishop of the Diocese of Bardstown -- which no longer exists.

[bif]

29. Francis Scott Key

Great, Great Great Uncle or something

[No2W2004]

30. Not famous, but should be....

My Great x5 (I think) Grandmother set out from southern Illinois by herself with 3 kids, joined a wagon train in Missouri, and bought land in Stephen F Austin's colony (Today, Bastrop County Texas). She and her kids set up a household. Later, during the revolution, the two boys joined Sam Houston and were present at San Jacinto. Tough old lady, and one I'm very proud to be related to.

[Maeve]

31. Supposed to be some relation to the Seymours of England

You know, Henry the 8th's third wife and the only one to produce a son? (We don't discuss that with the Irish side of the family!)

Hubby is a descendant of the first governor of Ohio, while my relatives were the last caretakers of his estate...

[Rabrrrrrr]

32. Winston Churchill

and that whole line.

Also, this isn't a relation per se, but I live on Alexander Hamilton's old farm. :-)

[SarahB]

33. The Wright Brothers, Charlemagne....

Some guy on the Mayflower (William was the first name, forgot the last, have to ask my grandma again), some guy who signed the Magna Carta (again, I'd have to ask my grandma).

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

34. Family legend has it that we're related to Cyrus McCormick

For those who've never heard of him, he invented the reaper (apparently a happy one, not a grim one).

[Teddy_Salad]

35. I have a family connection to a former US president

But I'm not saying who.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

37. I have a family connection to a former Australian Prime Minister

Robert Menzies. And my uncle's ex-wife served in the Kennett government in Victoria

[Teddy_Salad]

38. Is that right? Interesting....

Not a great fan of "Pig Iron Bob" though, I'm afraid. :(

I probably wouldn't know the woman in the Kennett Government.
I'm not from Victoria.

So, you obviously have family in Australia still, huh?

Ever been to visit?

[RFKHumphreyObama]

44. Menzies had his good and bad points IMO

His blatant scaremongering and “Reds under the bed” propaganda set the standard for the kind of juvenile garbage coming from Howard at the present time and I do agree with Keating to some extent that the Menzies era was a period where nothing really of great importance or substance in domestic policy was ever achieved. He did provide the foundations for the process with eventually enabled the White Australia Policy to be abolished and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to be enfranchised but he seemed to be quite content to preserve the status quo and leave his successors to modernize the nation.

His “British to the bootstrap” mentality and his gushing adulation of the Queen is not something that appeals to me personally in the modern context but I do think it was probably reflective of his era and time. All the same I’m glad it was Curtin and not Menzies who led Australia throughout most of WWII because I think that was a time when Australia did need strong and visionary leadership and Menzies was too wrapped up in his adulation of the British to provide the foundations for an independent foreign policy. He does seem to have been exceedingly slow to have woken up to the threat of both Hitler and Japan. He also actively lobbied Australia to get involved in Vietnam and –unlike Billy Hughes who at least took the issue to a referendum-introduced conscription through birthday lottery. My dad got conscripted (although thankfully at a time when the war was winding down so he never saw active service) and I think his decision to get us bogged down in Vietnam was abysmal.

At the same time he did have redeeming features. As mentioned above he did go some of the way toward abolishing the White Australia Policy and enfranchising the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders –although it took a lot of lobbying from people like Bill Wentworth to get him to institute those reforms. And he also signed the UN treaty on the rights of the refugee –a treaty that Howard has blatantly disregarded. It was also during his time in office that several of the “wet liberals” came into position of influence and shaped a lot of the socially liberal and progressive policies that changed Australia’s political landscape for the better during the 1960s and early 1970s.

He could have done more to change Australia for the better. But at least he wasn’t like Howard –who has set Australian domestic and foreign policy back several decades.


And I live in Australia:)

ON EDIT: I would definitely have taken Chifley over Menzies in 1949 though. I consider Chifley to be one of the greatest postwar leaders in the western world and I think Australia could have benefited from more of his vision, insight and political courage that he displayed before and during his time in office.

[Unperson 309]

36. Zillionth Cousin FortyLeven times removed from J. P. Morgan.

Well, it's closer than that, but it never did ME any good!

Actually, I'm descended from a long line my mother once heard!

309

[Donkeyboy75]

39. My third great uncle was the first native-born governor of Ohio.

Wilson Shannon. If you Google him, you'll see my family was anti-big business even in the 1830s.

I'm also supposed to be a direct descendant of Tecumseh, being a Shawnee and all. One half of my dad's side of the family has been here since the mid-1600s.

[MirrorAshes]

40. I am a cousin of the Roosevelts

3 or 4 times removed. To be totally honest, I'm not totally sure the lineage, but my mother's maiden name is Delano. I'll have to have her explain the exact details to me but I know its the same Delanos connected to Teddy and Franklin.

[ForrestGump]

41. Lots of British lords, barons, sirs, and all that as well as writers,

diplomats, a poet, artists, politicians, an actor (silent movies), etc. Pretty interesting how many historically significant personages can pop up within a family tree.

[FlaGranny]

42. I'm possibly descended

from a somewhat famous British nobleman/knight from the middle ages. I can't tell you his name, because then you would know my name. ;-)

[Spider Jerusalem]

57. Sir William Marshall, perhaps?

He's (supposedly) my 35x great-grandfather, or something like that.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

43. GW Bush, Bill Clinton and I share a common ancestor. n/t

[PartyPooper]

45. Who?

This sounds interesting.

:D

[BlackVelvetElvis]

46. King John of England

I've heard Barbara Bush thinks she is all that because of it.

[PartyPooper]

50. Have you seen this? If not, you may be intrigued by common ancestors.

http://www.davidicke.com/icke/articles/bushblood.html

Remember, Junior's bloodline is not all Barbara's. And, there are skeletons in every family's closet!

:evilgrin:

[BlackVelvetElvis]

51. Ha! Especially the Habsburg's.

Thanks.

[PartyPooper]

54. You're welcome. I'm still doing research on my own family tree.

I've only gone back to about 1640 in Scotland! And, I haven't run across anything nearly as interesting as your kin!

:D

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

49. The Younger Brothers

of wild west robbery, and Civil War derring-do fame.

[Burma Jones]

47. Hey, you're a cousin

My Mom's side claims Jackson as an ancestor.

[nini]

48. Captain Morgan

arrgh...

I want to stake a clame to the Bahamas and the rum busines but I'm not a direct descendent as he didn't have kids, he's an uncle

supposedly Lady Godiva according to a cousin that has done a huge amount of geneology on the family but I can't imagine she could have traced that far back. don't know for sure.

[ironflange]

52. Not me, but Mrs. Ironflange is related to

John Muir and Sam Steele (famous early Mountie).

All I can claim is a long line of Ukrainian peasants.

[Spider Jerusalem]

55. A distant great-uncle of mine killed Charles II of England...

his name was Sir Charles Scarburgh. He was the Royal Physician, and apparently a total incompetent. (details here... http://www.oradix.com/health/howkingcharlesiiwascuredto.shtml )

[liberalpragmatist]

56. So your Andrew Jackson's great-great-great-great-grandson then

n/t

[Lex]

58. Related to Gen. John A. Logan who started Memorial Day

as a national holiday.

He was a bad-ass General in the Civil War and later a Senator. There are statues of him in Chicago and Washington DC.

http://www.jal.cc.il.us/johnlogan.html

He was a big proponent of public education and this is my favorite quote in one of his speeches on the Senate floor:

The child of the peasant is often as full of genius as the child of the prince, with a stronger body and less tendency to habits of vice or recklessness; and if he can be found and educated, the nation certainly derives the greatest possible benefits; and, if a nation is to be raised to its highest degree of efficiency, every particle of its mind must be utilized.



I know, TMI.

[Tom Kitten]

59. I am...

Great Aunt did the research...related to 3 families from the Mayflower, one directly...related to U.S. Grant and Hetty Green (the most miserly person ever!) Most of the family has spent 380 years in the same area (Taunton MA)
Whoopee! No wonder I'm crazy! But I'll still have nothing to do with them!

[Spirochete]

60. My grandfather once told me

we were from the family of Mary, Queen of Scots. He said he'd had it traced out once.

[lazarus]

61. one of my ancestors

surnamed Dozier (which surname wasn't repeated in the family tree, it's from the distaff side, sometime in the 17th century) is apparently descended from one of the knights who forced John to sign the Magna Carte.

[Maat-hotep]

62. William McKinley

As well as, possibly, the poet Anne Sexton.

One or two of my ancestors were Lord Mayors of Limerick, Ireland in the 17th century. Of course, there's also the "connection" to King Brian Boru, but I think that's one of those Irish-American freebies; ie, if you're descended from Limerickmen, you're allowed to claim kinship to Brian Boru. I'll take it.

Hmm, wonder if I'm distantly related to Frank McCourt?

[laylah]

63. I am related

to Jackson, also, on my Mother's side of the family, and John Severe (Xavier, originally) on my Dad's side...

Jenn

[RebelOne]

64. Edward Teach (Blackbeard) on my father's side.