Friday, August 4, 2017

Who Knew? Lizzie Borden is my 6th Cousin Twice Removed

I read today that this is the 125th "anniversary" of the death of Lizzie Borden's parents in Fall River, Massachusetts, ostensibly at the hand of Lizzie herself (although she was acquitted of their murder).

Of course, when someone famous in New England pops up in the news, I wonder if I am related to that person.  Am I related to Lizzie Borden?

Here is the relationship chart provided by Geni.com showing my relationship to Lizzie:


The common ancestor is Elizabeth (Mott) (Ricketson) Wing (1659-1723), who married (1) William Ricketson (1636-1691) (and they had six children, including Lizzie's ancestor Elizabeth Wing (1684-1732)) and (2) Matthew Wing (1674-1724) (and they had three children, including my 6th great-grandfather, Benjamin Wing (1698-1776)).

I know that my grandmother, Alma Bessie (Richmond) Seaver (1882-1962), who was Lizzie's 6th cousin, would have been horrified if she had known about her relationship.  My cousins and my brothers will be amused by this revelation.  My children and grandchildren will ask "Who is Lizzie Borden?  There goes grandpa off on another wild-relative chase."  Me?  I'm just glad to find some blog fodder today!  My relative may have been an ax murderer!

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Disclosure:  I receive a complimentary subscription to Geni.com, which I appreciate.  I have received no other material compensation from Geni.com, but have from their current owner, MyHeritage.com. 




Copyright (c) 2017, Randall J. Seaver

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4 comments:

Wendy Callahan said...

How nifty and creepy. ;) I am also distantly related to Lizzie. As a child, her photo and her story always gave me chills. Still do!

Diane Gould Hall said...

Now, why hasn't that shown up in your We're Related app? That's pretty cool, in a creepy sort of way.

Team Spice said...

Oh dear, that means me to, cousin.

We are all the American story, funny, scary, boring, and lovable.

Yep, that's us.

scrapbookangel said...

I am distantly related as well on my Mother's side. When I told her, she just laugh. I like to find the infamous relations more that the famous relations. They make for more interesting stories.