Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Genealogy Good Luck

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

 It's Saturday Night again - 

time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music):
1)  When have you had a dose of good genealogy luck? What document or resource did you find just by happenstance or chance? By being in the right place at the right time? By finding a family history treasure in your family's attic or basement? By finding a helpful document or reference without even looking for it? 

2) Tell us about it in Comments to this post, in Comments on Facebook or Google Plus, or in a blog post of your own.

Here's mine:

Read Treasures in the Closet for my extreme good luck after I thought that all family treasures had been found. This was certainly a case of being in the right place at the right time. 

I'm still working my way through all of these items! I wonder where I put some of them? Hmmm, probably the file cabinet! I need to scan them and get them archived somewhere.

John Milton originally said "luck is the residue of design" (and Branch Rickey is often credited with the saying). However, the definition of "luck" is "the chance happening of fortunate or adverse events."

Here's another bit of good luck:  Somehow I fell into this blogging gig eight years ago, and because of good fortune I've managed to be involved in Geneabloggers where there are hundreds of interesting, smart and fun genealogy writers sharing their family history and their experiences with readers.  Then I started going to conferences and on genealogy cruises and meeting many of my readers, and also the VIPs in the genea-world.  That expanded my horizons a bit, and I enjoy the camaraderie when I'm on the road.  Blogging has sort of taken over my genealogy life for some reason - and I feel very lucky!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/10/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-genealogy.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Surname Saturday - WHEELER (England to colonial Massachusetts)

It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week.  

I am in the 8th great-grandmothers and I'm up to Ancestor #1049 who is Elizabeth Wheeler (1636-1704) [Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 8th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].

My ancestral line back through two generations in this WHEELER family line is:

1. Randall J. Seaver

2. Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002)

4. Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942)
5. Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962)

8. Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922)
9. Hattie Louise Hildreth (1857-1920)

16. Isaac Seaver (1823-1901)
17. Lucretia Townsend Smith (1827-1884)

32. Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825)
33. Abigail Gates (1797-1869)

64. Benjamin Seaver (1757-1816)
65. Martha Whitney (1764-1832)

130.  Samuel Whitney (1719-1782)
131.  Abigail Fletcher (1720-1783)

262.  John Fletcher (1692-1749)
263.  Mary Goble (1694-1734)

524.  Samuel Fletcher (1657-1744)
525.  Elizabeth Wheeler (1664-1744)

1048.  Francis Fletcher, born about 1630 in England; died about 1704 in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  He was the son of 2096. Robert Fletcher and 2097. Sarah.  He married 11 October 1656 in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
1049.  Elizabeth Wheeler, born before 03 January 1636 in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England; died 14 June 1704 in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  

Children of Francis Fletcher and Elizabeth Wheeler are:
*  Samuel Fletcher (1657-1744), married 1682 Elizabeth Wheeler (1664-1744).
*  Joseph Fletcher (1661-1746), married (1_ 1688 Mary Dudley (1666-1705); (2) 1705 Elizabeth Carter (1687-1710).
*  Elizabeth Fletcher (1663-1762), married 1683 Samuel Stratton (1660-1717).
*  John Fletcher (1666-????), married 1690 Hannah Hunt (1670-????).
*  Sarah Fletcher (1669-1744), married William Wheeler (1665-1752).
*  Hezekiah Fletcher (1672-1747), married 1703 Mary Wood (1686-1748).
*  Hannah Fletcher (1674-1752), married 1702 Obadiah Wheeler (1673-1718).
*  Benjamin Fletcher (1677-1703).

2098.  George Wheeler, born before 23 March 1606 in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England; died 02 June 1687 in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  He was the son of 4196. Thomas Wheeler.  He married 08 June 1630 in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England.
2099.  Katherine Pin, born about 1611 in England; died 02 January 1685 in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.

Children of George Wheeler and Katherine Pin are:
*  William Wheeler (1631-1683), married 1659 Hannah Buss (1642-1693).
*  Thomas Wheeler (1633-1686), married 1657 Hannah Harwood (1632-1707).
*  Elizabeth Wheeler (1636-1704), married 1656 Francis Fletcher (1630-1704)
*  Sarah Wheeler (1640-1713), married 1665 Francis Dudley (1638-1702).
*  John Wheeler (1643-1713), married 1663 Sarah Larkin (1648-1725).
*  Mary Wheeler (1645-1679), married 1665 Eliphalet Fox (1644-1711).
*  Ruth Wheeler (1647-1703), married 1665 Samuel Hartwell (1645-1725).
*  Hannah Wheeler (1649-1697), married 1672 Samuel Fletcher (1652-1723).

Information about this Wheeler family was obtained from:

Myrtelle W. Molyneaux, The Wheeler Family of Cranfield, England and Concord, Massachusetts and Some Descendants of Sgt. Thomas Wheeler of Concord (Long Beach, Calif. : M.W. Molyneaux,  1992).

John Brooks Threlfall, 50 Great Migration Colonists in New England and Their Origins (Madison, Wis. : the author, 1990)

Dean Crawford Smith, edited by Melinde Lutz Sanborn, The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton, 1878-1908; Part III: The Ancestry of Henry clay Bartlett, 1832-1892 (Boston : New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004)

The URL for this post is:

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

My Top Genea-Discoveries - Devier J. Smith Was Adopted

Betty on the Betty's Boneyard Genealogy Blog wrote My Top Ten Genealogical Discoveries--So Far! on 31 August 2014, and I've been meaning to write about my own genea-discoveries ever since.  

I'm not going to rank them all, and I'm going to do them one at a time so I can describe them in some detail - perhaps my experience will help others.

Genea-Discovery:  Devier J. Smith Was Adopted

1)  Based on everything I knew until about 2010, Devier J. Smith (1839-1894), my second great-grandfather, was the biological son of Ranslow and Mary (Bell) Smith of Henderson, New York and Dodge County, Wisconsin.  I had a Family Bible, his wife's handwritten family dates and relationships, census records, a newspaper biography, his daughter's scrapbook, and much more.  I had searched his father's Smith line back two more generations, and his mother's father's Bell line to Scotland, and his mother's mother's Bresee line back five or six generations.  

2)  In 2010, I was at the Family History Library, and was browsing the book shelves for Andrew County, Missouri.  I knew that my third great-grandparents, Samuel and Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux, parents of Devier's wife, Abigail Vaux, had lived there during the late 1860s and early 1870s, and I did not know where they had died.  

On the shelf at the FHL was a book index of Wills in Andrew County, Missouri.  I was excited, and looked for Vaux but found no listing.  Since I didn't know where Ranslow Smith had died, I looked for him in the Will Index book for him also.  And there he was!  He died in 1873.

Since I was at the FHL, I immediately went to the U.S. Microfilm floor, searched the catalog for Andrew County, Missouri, quickly found the index with the probate file number, then the microfilm with the probate proceedings, and finally the probate court minute book with the actual will.  Quick, like a bunny, I went to the microfilm reader/scanner machine, and scanned the pages onto my flash drive.  

3)  Back on the microfilm machine, I started reading the will, and had a genea-gasm (think a thrill in my brain!) when I read the words:

"Third. I hereby give, devise and bequeath unto
Devere J. Lamphear, Commonly called Devere J.
Smith, my adopted son, all the rest and residue
of my real and personal property of every name
and nature whatsoever, except the above named
Legacy: To have and to hold the said real estate
and personal property by the said Devere J.
Lamphear and his Heirs and assigns forever: and
I also give and bequeath to the said Devere J. Lamphear
my life insurance in the North Western Life Insurance
Company,which was formerly secured
to my deceased wife, and as she is dead now,
I will that the said sum shall be paid to him
after my decease."

Adopted?  Devier was adopted? It says it very clearly.  His father should know.   Ohmygosh...who knew?  And now I have to find a Lamphear birth family for Devier.

4)  Just browsing!!  My reward, a major find (and a genea-gasm...).  It changed my whole research strategy too.  I had to excise a really nice Hudson River Dutch pedigree out of my family tree, but I kept it in my database.  Shoot, no recent Scotland ancestry either.  Now I had to find the biological parents, who I am still looking for four years later.

This is also a pretty good example of my Forrest Gump Principle of Genealogical Research, which is  "Genealogy research is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to find, but you have to look everywhere your 'genealogy gem' might be hiding."

So that's this week's Genea-Discovery.  I have some more!

The URL for this post is:

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

My "Suggested Records" Lists Are Back on Ancestry.com, But That's Not "All There Is"

I wrote "What Happened to the 'Suggested Records' on Ancestry.com?" on 8 September 2014 after noting that they had disappeared, at least for many of my searches, from the record summary pages, and the "Related Content" link when viewing a record image.

I am pleased to report that these features have been returned as of yesterday.  I emailed Ancestry.com soon after I noticed it, and they told me that the problem was fixed a week later.  But it wasn't, and I emailed again showing them the continuing lack of "Suggested Records."  They said they would look into it, and I received an email yesterday that said:

"...they thought they had fixed the problem a week ago but that it wasn’t working on his computer either still. He mentioned that because it was cached, it kept showing up wrong. If you experience that, just clear cache and cookies."

So maybe clearing my cache and cookies would have fixed this?  I didn't do that...so Ancestry.com did something to fix it.  Good, I'm a happy camper.

Here's the evidence that it's fixed:

The "Suggested Records" are on the right-hand side of the page for this 1900 U.S. Census entry.  There are 11 "Suggested Records," and they all pertain to Isaac Seaver (1823-1901), including:

*  1850 U.S. Census
*  1860 U.S. Census
*  1870 U.S. Census
*  1855 Massachusetts State Census
*  Find A Grave record
*  Massachusetts Death Records, 1841-1915
*  3 entries in Massachusetts Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
*  2 U.S. City Directory entries

While all 11 of those records pertain to Isaac Seaver (1823-1901), they are not ALL of the records available on Ancestry.com pertaining to Isaac Seaver.  There may be other records found in a search for Isaac Seaver, born 1823 in Massachusetts, searched with "not exact" parameters.  Some of the other records found in a search for Isaac Seaver (1823-1901) include:

*  1880 U.S. Census
*  1865 Massachusetts State Census
*  Massachusetts Marriages, 1633-1950 marriage entry
*  Massachusetts Town and Vital Records entries for his three marriages
*  Massachusetts Town and Vital Records entries for births of his four children
*  Massachusetts Town and Vital Records entries for militia lists
*  Civil War Draft Registration entry
*  Civil War Soldier Soldier Records and Profiles
*  Civil War Pension Index
*  Several other Civil war related indexes
*  Fitchburg Sentinel newspaper
*  Massachusetts City Directories entries
*  Leominster, Massachusetts City Directories, 1883-1895 entries
*  I probably missed some!

The point is that the "Suggested Records" are really helpful to find the obvious "low hanging fruit" for a person.  But users still have to do a search to find everything that Ancestry.com has for a specific person.  The user needs to narrow the search by using "not exact" searches to capture spelling variations, and with ranges for birth years, and a state for birthplace, and perhaps spouse names.  

By adding the birth year and birth state, you drive the best results to the top of the "Records" tab list.  Here is a screen shot of my narrowed search for Isaac Seaver, born 1823 in Massachusetts.  The sliders at the top of the left-hand column show how I narrowed the search:

My settings for this search were:

*  First Name:  Exact, sounds like, and similar
*  Last name:  Exact, sounds like
*  Any year:  plus-minus 5 years
*  Birth place:  state and adjacent states
*  Historical records and Stories and publications, but not Family Trees or Photos and Stories

There were 171 matches for this search.  The first four, and a total of 32, records in the first page of 50 matches pertain to my Isaac Seaver (1823-1901).  The others are for other persons named Isaac Seaver that match the Any year and Any birth place.  It might not find a record that does not have the correct first letter of the surname, or an indexed  Birth year or Birth place entry.  

There is, I think, a better search technique on Ancestry.com that finds almost all records for a person (assuming the name in the record is close to correct).  I will write about that in another post.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/10/my-suggested-records-lists-are-back-on.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks -- Week 40: #47 Amy (Champlin) Oatley (1798-1865)

Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" in her blog post Challenge: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog.  Here is my ancestor biography for week #40:

Amy Champlin) Oatley (1798-1865) is #47 on my Ahnentafel list, my third great-grandmother.  She married in 1813 to #46 Jonathan Oatley (1790-1872). 

I am descended through:

*  their daughter, #23 Amy Frances Oatley (1826-1864), who married #22 Henry Arnold White (1824-1885)

*  their daughter, #11 Julia E. White (1848-1913) who married #10 Thomas Richmond (1848-1917)

*  their daughter, #5 Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962), who married #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942), 

* their son, #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983), who married #3 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002), in 1942.

*  their son, #1 Randall J. Seaver (1943-....)

 =====================================================

1)  PERSON (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

*  Name:                          Amy Champlin [1–2]   

*  Alternate Name:       Amy Oatley [3-7]
*  Sex:                              Female   
*  Father:                        Joseph Champlin (1758-1850)   
*  Mother:                      Nancy Kenyon (1765-      )   
  
2)  INDIVIDUAL FACTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
  
*  Birth:                         March 1798, South Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island, United States [2-3]   
*  Baptism:                   20 February 1813 (about age 14), Exeter, Washington, Rhode Island, United States [1]   
*  Census:                     1 June 1850 (about age 52), Killingly, Windham, Connecticut, United States [4]   
*  Census:                     1 June 1860 (about age 62), East Killingly, Windham, Connecticut, United States [5]   
*  Will:                          18 January 1863 (about age 64), Killingly, Windham, Connecticut, United States [6]
*  Death:                      8 February 1865 (about age 66) , of phthisis; East Killingly, Windham, Connecticut, United States [7-8]   
*  Burial:                      after 8 February 1865 (about age 66), Bartlett Cemetery #1, Killingly, Windham, Connecticut, United States [3]   
*  Probate:                   14 February 1865 (about age 66), Killingly, Windham, Connecticut, United States [6]      
  
3)  SPOUSE AND CHILDREN (with source citations as indicated in brackets):   
*  Spouse:                    Rev. Jonathan Oatley (1790-1872)   
*  Marriage:                 29 May 1813 (about age 15), Exeter, Washington, Rhode Island, United States [1]
*  Child 1:                     John Alfred Oatley (1815-1863)   
*  Child 2:                     Joseph H. Oatley (1816-1898)   
*  Child 3:                     Almira O. Oatley (1817-1903)   
*  Child 4:                     Nancy E Oatley (1818-1892)   
*  Child 5:                     Lorenzo Dow Oatley (1821-1900)   
*  Child 6:                     Stephen Hazard Oatley (1822-1863)   
*  Child 7:                     William Henry Oatley (1824-1899)   
*  Child 8:                     Benedict Oatley (1825-1891)   
*  Child 9:                     Amy Frances Oatley (1826-1864)   
*  Child 10:                   Jonathan Oatley (1828-1884)   
*  Child 11:                   Mary Eliza Oatley (1831-1907)   
*  Child 12:                   Hannah H. Oatley (1832-1907)   
*  Child 13:                   Olive F. Oatley (1836-1891)   
*  Child 14:                   George Whittier Oatley (1837-1837)   
  
4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):   

Amy Champlin was the daughter of Joseph and Nancy (Kenyon) Champlin, born in 1798 in South Kingstown, Rhode Island.[2-3]  

 Amy Champlin was baptized at Baptist Church in Exeter, Rhode Island on 20 February 1813.[1]  She met Jonathan Oatley, who was baptized in the Exeter church on 6 February 1813.[1]  They married in Exeter on 29 May 1813.[1] 

Jonathan and Amy (Champlin) Oatley had 14 children, and 13 lived to adulthood, and 11 survived her passing.

In the 1850 US Census, the Jonathan Oatley family resided in Killingly Township, Windham County, Connecticut.[4] The household included:

*  Jonathan Oatley - age 59, male, stone cutter, born S. Kingston RI
*  Amey Oatley -- age 52, female, born S. Kingston RI
*  Olive Oatley -- age 14, female, born Killingly CT

In the 1860 US Census, the Jonathan Oatley family resided in East Killingly, Windham County, Connecticut.[5] The household included:

*  Jonathan Oatley -- age 70, male, mason, $1000 in real property, born CT
*  Annie Oatley -- age 62, female, born CT

Amy Oatley died 8 February 1865 in Killingly, Conn., at age 66.  She was a housekeeper, married, born in Kingston RI, the cause of death was pthithisis, with Dr. E.A. Hill presiding.[7-8]  

The gravestone of Amy Oatley in Bartlett Cemetery #1 in East Killingly, Connecticut is no longer readable.[3]  The Find A Grave memorial notes her birth date as March 1798, her death as 8 February 1863, and that she was the wife of Jonathan Oatley.

Amy (Champlin) Oatley wrote a will on 18 January 1863 and left an estate to ten of her children:[6]

"In the Name of God Amen.  I Amy Oatley of Killingly in the County of Windham and State of Connecticut, of sound disposing mind and memory do constitute and ordain this my will and testament in manner and form following (to wit), that is to say imprimus I will that all my debts and funeral charges be paid and discharged by my executor hereinafter named.

"Item.  I give and devise unto my ten children for love and affection I have for them, All my Real Estate situated in said Killingly with a dwelling house and barn therein standing together with all rights and privileges thereunto belong to them equal that is to say: my son Joseph Oatley one tenth part of all the above described premises - to Almira Taft one tenth, to Nancy Edson one tenth, to Lorenzo Oatley one tenth, to William Oatley one tenth, Benedick Oatley one tenth, Jonathan Oatley one tenth, to Mary E. Pray one tenth, to Hannah Chace one tenth and to Olive Burton one tenth, to them and each of them and their heirs forever.

"Lastly, I do make constitute and appoint my son Joseph Oatley Executor of this my last will and testament.

"In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 18th day of January A.D. 1863.

her
Amy x  Oatley
mark"

"Signed sealed and declared by the said Amy Oatley as her last will and testament in presence of us, who in her presence and in the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our names.  Samuel A. Chace, Henry G. Arnold, Franklin Preston, witnesses."

The executor, Joseph Oatley, presented the will to the probate court in Killingly on 14 February 1865.  The court decreed that six months be allowed and limited to the creditors of said estate to exhibit their claims against the estate to the executor, and directed that public notice of the order be made by advertising in a newspaper published in Killingly and by posting a copy on the public sign post in Killingly nearest the place where the deceased had dwelt.  The court appointed Samuel A. Chace and John White, disinterested persons, to appraise the real and personal estate of the deceased and to make a true and perfect inventory.

On 23 March 1865, Joseph Oatley, under oath, presented an inventory, made by Samuel A. Chace and John White,  showing the real estate, consisting of a house, barn and other buildings together with the land, was valued at $850.  The court accepted and recorded the inventory.

On 22 August 1865, the executor alleged that it would be necessary to sell certain real estate belonging to the estate for payment of debts and charges against the estate, and that the estate cannot be beneficially divided.  The application was accepted, and the executor was directed by the court to give public notice of the order at least three days before the day of the hearing, set by the court as 26 August 1865.

On 26 August 1865, the hearing was held by the probate court.  The real estate was described as bounded to the north by lands owned by Leonard Bartlett, east by lands owned by Waldo Bartlett, south by lands owned by Joseph Oatley, west by the highway leading from the old Providence Turnpike to Miller's Village, lying and situated in Killingly, containing about one fourth of an acre.  The court approved the application and directed that the whole real estate be sold.  The executor was directed to give at least 20 days notice of the proposed sale by advertising in a Killingly newspaper and on the public signpost nearest to the estate to be sold.

On 2 October 1865, the court ordered that the administration account of the estate be presented for adjustment, allowance and settlement on 7 October.  On 2 October, Joseph Oatley gave notice to the court that he had sold the property to William H. Oatley for $950 and executed a conveyance thereof.

On 7 October 1865, the executor presented his account of his administration of the estate, as follows:

To inventory:                850.00
additional                       132.00
                                      -----------
                                     $ 982.00

The costs included:

expense of last sickness   21.00
funeral expenses               15.00
debts                                  471.74
repairs                                   1.38
taxes                                      2.70
settling estate                      6.75
executor's services           10.00
probate fees                         9.66
                                         ----------
                                       $ 538.07

The balance of $443.93 was in the hands of the executor.  No record of the distribution was found.[6]

5)  SOURCES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
 
1. Harry J. Oatley, The Oatley Family in America and Their Descendants (Providence, R.I. : The Oatley Family Association, 1970), page 38.

2. Robert R. Champlin, Champlin Families in America (Newmarket, Ontario : the author, 2011, provided by email to Randy Seaver), Joseph Champlin Family sketch.

3. Jim Tipton, indexed database, Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com), Bartlett Cemetery #1, Killingly, Conn., Amy Oatley (1798-1863) memorial #13157993.

4. 1850 United States Federal Census, Windham County, Connecticut, population schedule, Killingly town, Page 358, dwelling #548, family #601, Jonathan Oatley household, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, Roll 51.

5. 1860 United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, Windham County, Connecticut, East Killingly, Page 553, dwelling #584, family #606, Jonathan Oatley household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Series M653, Roll 92.

6. "Probate Records, 1849-1920" (Killingly District, Connecticut,  Probate Court), on 11 FHL Microfilm reels, Volume 3, Pags 468-470, Amy Oatley probate papers, on FHL Microfilm 1,451,111.

7. Killingly, Connecticut, "Killingly Births, Marriages and Deaths" (Register at Killingly Town Hall, Danielson, Connecticut), Volume 2, 1849-1885, Deaths, page 514, Amy Oatley entry.


8. Connecticut, Windham County, Killingly. Town Registrar's Office. Certified Copy of Death Record, Amy Oatley, 8 February 1865; Registrar of Vital Statistics, Killingly, Ct. (certificate dated 24 January 1992).

=================================

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/10/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks-week-40-amy.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

My Relationships to United States Presidents - Post 1: 39 to 44

I can't seem to stay away from Geni.com and their search capability to find relationships with living persons.  I spent a little time today working backwards in time looking for my connections to the Presidents.  I'll do six here and do more later (blog fodder!):

1)  Barack Obama, 44th President is my 8th cousin once removed:

The common ancestors in the relationship above are Samuel Fitz Randolph (1668-1754) and Mary Jones (1672-1760).  I am fairly confident that this relationship is correct.  I have several other relationships that are somewhat more distant with him.

2)  George Walker Bush, 43rd President of the U.S., is my 8th cousin once removed:

The common ancestors above are John Horton (1672-1752) and Mehitable Garnsey (1673-1742).  I am fairly confident that this relationship is correct.

3)  William J. Clinton, 42nd President of the U.S., is my 8th cousin twice removed:

The common ancestors in the line above are George Soule (1593-1680) and Mary Bucket (1603-1676).  I am confident about my trail back to George Soule, but I'm unsure of the line from George Soule to Clinton.

4)  George Herbert Walker Bush, 41st President of the U.S., is my 8th cousin:

The common ancestors in the line above are John Horton (1672-1752) and Mehitable Garnsey (1673-1742).  I am fairly confident that this relationship is correct.

5)  Ronald Wilson Reagan, 40th President of the U.S. is my 14th cousin:

The common ancestors in the line above are John Sutton Lord Dudley (1495-1553) and Cicely Gray (1500-1554).  This relationship is questionable, in my opinion, due to the distance back to the common ancestor.

6)  James Earl Carter, 39th President of the U.S., is my 11th cousin:

The common ancestors in the line above are the parents of Elizabeth (Tuttle) Paine (1584-1658).  I don't have them in my database.  This relationship is questionable, in my opinion, due to the distance back to the common ancestor.

7)  I did not check the records for each relationship shown in the charts above.  I am confident that my lines back to the immigrant ancestors from England are correct, but I have no idea how accurate the lines are from the common ancestors to the Presidents.  Some are well researched, and have entries in the book by Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents (1989).  The lines for Clinton and Obama are not in the edition of the book I have.  There is a pedigree for Clinton at  http://www.wargs.com/political/clinton.html that does not include many of the ancestors in his line.

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Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver