“We’re Related” cousins

We’re Related | part 4

~ Lark Dalin Robart ~ Leave a comment

Note: This series on Ancestry’s “We’re Related” app begins here.

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted new “cousin” matches from Ancestry’s “We’re Related” app. But here’s the newest group of fourteen.

ACTORS

AUTORS & WRITERS

BUSINESS MAGNATES

MUSICIANS & COMPOSERS

RELIGIOUS FIGURES

SCIENTISTS & INVENTORS

U.S. PRESIDENTS & VICE PRESIDENTS

All but one of these matches are on my mother’s paternal line. Dr. Spock is on my father’s maternal line.

Based on preliminary research, the most promising matches in this new group are Dick Cheney and Josh Brolin, although additional research is needed to confirm both.

We’re Related | part 3

~ Lark Dalin Robart ~ Leave a comment

Note: This series on Ancestry’s “We’re Related” app begins here.

Five new “cousins” since my last post.

By category, they are:

ACTORS (1)
Cecil B. DeMille1

AUTHORS & WRITERS (2)
Dr. Seuss
Emily Post

POLITICIANS (2)
John McCain
Samuel Adams

Only one of these – Dr. Seuss – is on my Dad’s side. So that makes a total of two matches thus far on his side – Steve Jobs and Dr. Seuss. The remaining 32 out of 34 matches are on my Mom’s side.

The most promising in this new group appears to be John McCain, although additional research is required to confirm this match.

This series continued here.

NOTES
  1. Although Ancestry put him in the Actors category, he was primarily an American filmmaker, acknowledged as the founding father of the Hollywood film industry. ↩

We’re Related | part 2

~ Lark Dalin Robart ~ Leave a comment

Note: This series on Ancestry’s “We’re Related” app begins here.

Since I first wrote about my matches on Ancestry’s new app (click here), I’ve had a two more pop up, both in the Actors category:

Lucille Ball
John Wayne

The John Wayne match made me laugh because when I was a little girl, I always thought my dad was just like John Wayne – only better, of course. But this match is on my mom’s side, not my dad’s. In fact, both are on my mom’s side.

But I digress.

Of these two, the Lucille Ball connection looks like it might be legitimate. I’ll know more after further research.

I also started a WE’RE RELATED tree in Ancestry and have added these four matches (from the “part 1” list) so that I can study them more carefully:

Billy the Kid
Warren Buffett
Abraham Lincoln
Elizabeth Montgomery

Out of these four, the match that looks the most promising at this point is Abraham Lincoln – although I still have more research to do before calling this one a “good” match.

The matches for Elizabeth Montgomery and Warren Buffett will require quite a bit more research – so it’s too soon to tell whether either one is legitimate.

The “Billy the Kid” match is the most problematic, as it’s based entirely on the assumption that he was the son of William Harrison Bonney – which, as far as I can tell, has never been proven.

This series continued here.

Ancestry’s new app “We’re Related | part 1

~ Lark Dalin Robart ~ Leave a comment

Inspired by fellow blogger Russ Worthington at A Worthington Weblog, I decided to create a spreadsheet and begin tracking the matches I’ve received since downloading Ancestry.com‘s new app, We’re Related.

Here’s a list of the matches I’ve received so far, grouped by the categories provided by Ancestry:

ACTORS & ACTRESSES  (4)
Robin Williams
Keanu Reeves
Richard Gere
Elizabeth Montgomery

AUTHORS & WRITERS (6)
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Stephen King
Edgar Allan Poe
e e cummings
Jane Austen
Julia Child

BUSINESS MAGNATES (2)
Warren  Buffett
Steve Jobs

CRIMINALS AND THE INFAMOUS (1)
Billy the Kid

ENTERTAINERS (1)
Ring Lardner

MUSICIANS & COMPOSERS (1)
Meghan Trainor

PHILANTHROPISTS (1)
Johns Hopkins

POLITICIANS (2)
Mitch McConnell
Benjamin Franklin

SOCIAL REFORMERS (1)
Helen Keller

U.S. PRESIDENTS & FIRST LADIES (8)
Abraham Lincoln
Harry S. Truman
George H. W. Bush
George W. Bush
Abigail Powers Fillmore
Thomas Jefferson
John Adams
Calvin Coolidge

Here are a few things I’ve noticed after preparing a simple tracking sheet.

  1. All but one of the 27 matches are on my mother’s side of the family, which is interesting because that particular branch is the deepest branch I have in the United States – going back to the mid 1600s.
  2. The COMMON ANCESTOR as stated by the app is present in my Ancestry tree in only 11 of the 27 matches. In other words, the app has added the COMMON ANCESTOR in 16 cases out of 27. In the screenshot below, you can see the COMMON ANCESTOR is listed as “Edith White”. This is an example of an instance of where Ancestry added the COMMON ANCESTOR – possibly based on another tree that closely matches my own? img_1271
  3. In 9 out of the 11 matches where the COMMON ANCESTOR is in my tree, all the ancestors died in Essex County, Massachusetts. One of the other two died in Connecticut and the other died in England.
  4. Based on a quick review, I have determined that 6 of the 27 matches are “likely” matches. They are: Meaghan Trainor, Helen Keller, both Presidents Bush, Mitch McConnell and Richard Gere. I will need to do additional research to confirm but so far they look good.

My next step will be to create a WE’RE RELATED tree at Ancestry, also inspired by Russ Worthington. I like his idea of using the tree to bring the hints to me so that I can then analyze the validity of each one. It occurs to me this will be a lot of work but worth it if I’m able to make some break-throughs.

Thanks, Russ!

If you’re interested in the app, you’ll find more information here.

This series continued here.