Thursday, July 31, 2008

Chopped Liver is related to Wild Bill Hickok too

I see that the news media has discovered that Barack Obama is related to James "Wild Bill" Hickok, thanks to research done by Christopher Childs and Gary Boyd Roberts at the New England Historical and Genealogical Society. That's cool.

Ho hum- me too! Me too! Related to both of them, I mean. I traced my Obama cousinship here last year.

How? Wild Bill's descent from Thomas Blossom is here:

1) Thomas Blossom (1580-1632) married Ann Elsdon (1584-???)
2) Peter Blossom (1627-1706) married Sarah Bodfish (1638-1704)
3) Thomas Blossom (1667-1726) married Fear Robinson (1676-1708)
4) Elizabeth Blossom (1705-1734) married Israel Butler (1696-1756)
5) Benjamin Butler (1727-1800) married Susannah Whiting (1734-????)
6) James Butler (1763-1830) married Eunice Kingsley (1761-????)
7) Polly Butler (1804-1878) married William Alonzo Hickok (1801-1852)
8) James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok (1837-1876), died too young.

My descent from Thomas Blossom and Ann Elsdon is:

1) Thomas Blossom (1580-1632) married Ann Elsdon (1584-????)
2) Elizabeth Blossom (1620-1713) married 1637 Edward FitzRandolph (1607-1685)
3) Nathnaiel FitzRandolph (1642-1713) married 1662 Mary Holloway (1638-1703)
4) Samuel FitzRandolph (1668-1754) married Mary Jones (????-1760)
5) Jacob FitzRandolph (1708-1779) married 1730? to unknown
6) Samuel Fitz Randolph (1730-????) married 1750 Martha Gach (1729-????)
7) Tabitha Randolph (1761-1841) married 1769 Stephen Cutter (1744-1823)
8) Sarah Cutter (1785-1878) married 1804 William Knapp (1775-1857)
9) Sarah G. Knapp (1818-????) married 1844 David Auble (1817-1894)
10) Charles Auble (1849-1916) married 1898 Georgianna Kemp (1768-1952)
11) Emily Kemp Auble (1899-1977) married 1918 Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1892-1976)
12) Betty Carringer (1919-2002) married 1942 Frederick w. Seaver (1911-1983)
13) Randy Seaver - ME!

So Wild Bill and I are 6th cousins five times removed. My kids and cousins will be impressed that they're related to Wild Bill. Does this qualify me for the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists?

Of course, almost anybody with Plymouth Colony ancestors are cousin to Wild Bill Hickok, and to Barack Obama - they just don't know the connections. Almost anyone can check the family trees at Rootsweb WorldConnect and find famous or infamous cousins. This took me all of ten minutes once I read the article!

Why doesn't Obama claim he's a cousin to me? What am I, chopped liver? Oh well, I'm in good company.

Genealogy IS a lot of fun!

4 comments:

Unknown said...

randy,
as you have stated we can all boast of being related to wild bill and what ever obama ends up being, but I will bet there are not many who will admit there grt grandfather was tarred and feathered, in Martintown,
Ont. Canada guess I am always looking for the unusual,
bob

Elizabeth O'Neal said...

You're certainly NOT chopped liver, Randy... just not famous. Maybe you need to run for office?

Terry Thornton said...

"Wild Randy" writes again. What fun!
TERRY

wendy said...

I think one way to figure out our ancestry is to run for President and then somehow we find out we are related to people we didn't know existed! Thanks for sharing!