Roots & Branches

In April 20-26, 2008, American Profile (Central Edition), you will find a wonderful article Ancestral Search/Unearthing Your Family’s Roots by Marti Attown, contributing editor.

 The article states:Frankie Carlin Meyer watched in awe as the curator removed a 16^th-century German Bible from a display case at Pennypacker Mills, the summer estate of former Pennyslvania Gov. Samuel W. Pennypacker, in Schwenksville, Pa.  With gloved hands, he turned to pages where her ancestors had recorded important dates such as births and marriages.   “It’s unbelievable that this is still around,” says Meyer, 60, about the Bible brought to American by her seventh maternal great-grandfather Hans Peter Umstat in 1685.  “To trace my family back so many generations and to find artifacts that physically connect me to that ancestor is just thrilling.” According to the article Meyer was able to locate documents such as land deeds, birth certificates, military records and wills.  She was also able to find many very old headstones with etchings and engravings.   She states “I’ve found my great-grandfather’s hair color and eye color on his military records.  I know where he fought on certain days of the Civil War.”  “Genealogy is more than just adding names and dates to a family tree.  It’s learning about the lives of your ancestors, how they lived and the history of the times.” 

I must say I agree the Meyers.  I find it draws me in, when finding new information on a great-grandfather or an uncle or aunt that I never knew.  Just find out what they were like and how they lived, seems to reel me in like a fish on a line.  To find and know that your great-grandmother was tall and had brown eyes, and was a devoted church member, are just more bait to reel me in further.  Beyond just the knowing of facts, are the physical differences that we might wonder about.  Where did I get my brown eyes or why am I so tall or short?  Here just might be a big part of those answers.  The more we know our ancestors, the more we know ourselves. 

 Meyers also said she has found clues to her family’s history in cemeteries, courthouses, funeral homes, newspapers and libraries, and on old home and Civil War battle sites.  Court records can offer insight into an ancestor’s occupation, wealth and lifestyle.  The 1885 will of Meyer’s great-grand-uncle Robert Carlin revealed his possessions and their value, including one hog, $7.50; one washboard, 10 cents; 60 bushels of corn in shock; $15; and on grindstone, 50 cents.  As with many genealogy buffs, Meyer has traveled to Salt Lake City to research her ancestors at the Family History Library, operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The library has the world’s largest collection of genealogical records, with microfilmed documents containing more than 1 billions names.  More than 4,000 branches of the Family History Library are located worldwide.   Among the Family History Library’s vast collection of records, Meyer found a copy of a farmer’s almanac in which someone had written in a margin the names from 10 gravestones in an old family cemetery on a farm in Monett, Mo.   “It was a great-great uncle and his town children,” Meyer says “it’s kind of funny; I had to go from Missouri to Utah to find out about a cemetery 40 miles from my home.  It’s like being a detective,” she adds about her ancestral adventure.   

Family History will bring out the “sleuth” in all of us.  Use your imagination and don’t be afraid to ask for help from your local library or the local branch of the LDS Church Family History Library. 

Do you have any great ideas to share?  We would love to hear from you.

This is one of the most common questions I have heard researchers ask.  With all the famous people in the world past and present, there is a strong chance there will be at least one well known person in your line.   

For instance, a few years ago a distant cousin sent a large amount of information to me about my father’s line.  Included in this information was a simple pedigree listing.  Well to my surprise it states that we are in fact related to the sister of Thomas Jefferson, King Alfred of England, and a Catholic Saint.  Who knew!  I was shocked to say the least. 

 Some time ago I saw a clip on the news about President George W. Bush and it showed just a few of the famous persons he was in fact linked to by family lineage.  Please take a look at the clip and see if you are as intrigued as I was after seeing just who was listed.   CBS News “The Early Show” and the New York Post   http://www.veoh.com/videos/v138895659BzmHbJ .

It is amazing to me to think just how we are connected to so many other people.  If you are from a small town, you probably already know this.  I smaller communities, many families are connected by blood lines or by marriage at least.    Most everyone is somehow connected.  And a word of caution, be careful who you talk about, they maybe someone’s brother. (funny, but true).  In big cities or communities, this is not as common.  Much more research will need to be done to locate your ancestors. 

 Along these lines, I just read a small article in US Magazine April 14, 2008.  

It states Quote, “If you go back far enough, we’re all related to someone famous” says Ancestry.com’s Megan Smolenyak.  After all, if you rewind 10 generations, your family may be composed of more than 100,000 descendants.  And many of these celeb relatives-research by Ancestry.com and the New England Historical Genealogical Society-are cousins once or twice removed.  (A cousin once removed means the child of one’s cousin.  Twice removed means the grandchild.)

  Finding famous kin is mainly a matter of following a paper trail (e.g., land records, wills).  Curious to know yours?  Gather family records, then plug in the info at a site like Ancestry.com or HeritageQuestOnline.com. 

A pictorial Family Tree of sorts is included in the magazine article and theses are  some of the connections:

Hillary Clinton:Madonna-10 cousin, Alanis Morissette-9^th cousin once removed, Celine Dion-10^th cousin, andAngelina Jolie-9^th cousin twice removed. Barack Obama:Brad Pitt-9^th cousin, Gerald Ford-10^th cousin once removed, Lyndon B. Johnson-4^th cousin thrice removed, and George W. Bush-10^th cousin, once removed. John McCain: Laura Bush-6^th cousin Tom Hanks:William Shakespeare-distant relative and William the Conqueror-Distant Relative Oprah Winfrey:Lisa Marie Presley-Distant Cousin Britney Spears: John Edwards-7^th cousin, thrice removed Princess Diana: Jake & Maggie Gyllenhaal-10^th cousins, thrice removed, Andrew Firestone-10^th cousin, thrice removed, Nancy Reagan-10^th cousin, Katharine Hepburn-17^th cousin, twice removed.

To help you find your “FAMOUS PEOPLE”, the Sweetwater County Library System provides two genealogy databases for your use: Ancestry Library Edition and Heritage Quest Online. 

Click on www.sweetwaterlibraries.com and click on Databases. 

For more information contact your local library. 

Who are you related to?  Share with us.