Friday, December 9, 2016

This Week's We're Related Relationships, 9 December 2016

I have received 9 new cousin relationships on the We're Related mobile app this week, which is based on Ancestry Member Trees.  The new relationships, and my initial evaluation of them, are:

1)  Jimmy Carter - U.S. President, 9th cousin, common ancestor is Jonathan Prescott (1646-1721).




My line to Jonathan Prescott through Samuel Prescott (1674-1758) in eastern Massachusetts is well documented.  The Carter line back to Jonathan Prescott goes through Pennsylvania and to Sarah Prescott (1680-1770), who is not in my tree as a daughter of Jonathan Prescott.  My judgment is that this relationship is Unlikely.

2)  Sue Fitzpatrick - Facebook friend, 8th cousin 2x removed, common ancestor is Joseph White (1640-1706).

My line back to Joseph White is through son Joseph White (1662-1757) in Massachusetts.  Sue's line is through daughter Mary White (1674-1758), who is in my database married to Evenezer Hill.  I judge this relationship to be Probable.

3)  Kyle Betit - Facebook friend, 8th cousin 2x removed, common ancestor is Simon Gates (1666-1752).

My line back to Simon Gates is through son Amos Gates (1706-1783).  Kyle's line is through daughter Elizabeth Gates (1701-1741), who married a Wheeler.  I have her in my database married to Thomas Wheeler.  I judge this relationship as Probable.

4)  Jim Morrison - Musician, 9th cousin, common ancestor is Mary French (1624-1697).



The app says that Mary French is the mother of my ancestor Samuel Smith (1641-1691) of eastern Massachusetts.  My Samuel Smith (1641-1691) is the son of Henry and Elizabeth --?--.  Morrison's line is through a daughter Elizabeth Smith (1665-1767) who married a Crawford.  There is an Elizabeth Smith who married David Crawford, but they were both born and lived in virginia.  I judge this relationship to be Wrong.

5)  Franklin Pierce - U.S. President, 4th cousin 5x removed, common ancestor is William Fletcher (1618-1677).



My line to William Fletcher is through Samuel Fletcher (1652-1723), while Pierce's line is through son William Fletcher.  My judgment is that this relationship is Probable.

6)  Concetta Phillipps - Facebook friend, 8th cousin, common ancestor is Conrad Keller (1695-1742).

My line to Conrad Keller is through daughter Marytje Keller (1729-1789), while Concetta's line is through Christian Keller (1726-1790).  I judge thisd relationship as Probable.

7)  Laura Prescott - Facebook friend, 9th cousin, common ancestor is John Freeman (1626-1719).



My line to John Freeman goes through Bennet Freeman (1671-1716), while Laura's line goes through daughter Hannah Freeman (1644-1744) who married John Mayo.  I judge this relationship to be Probable.

8)  Charles Darwin - Scientist, 6th cousin 5x removed, common ancestor is Thomas Healey (1588-1652).



I have Thomas Healey in my database as the father of William Healey, but with no other children.  Darwin's line goes through a daughter Mary Healey who marries a Darwin and has a son William Darwin (1620-1675).  So Thomas Healey was 32 when his grandson was married?  Possible, but Unlikely.  I judge this relationship to be Unlikely.

9)  B.F. Skinner - Author, 8th cousin 1x removed, common ancestor is Elizabeth --?-- (1625-1693).



Elizabeth --?-- was the wife of Richard Hildreth (1605-1693), and my line is through their son Ephraim Hildreth (1654-1731).  Skinner's line is through Mary Vaughan (1660-1727) who married a Washburn.  Several Ancestry Member Trees show that Mary Vaughan is the daughter of George Vaughan and Elizabeth Hinchman.  I judge this relationship to be Unlikely.

My count is up to 87 famous or Facebook cousins.  

I will say it again:  My biggest problem with this We're Related app is that it thinks it knows my ancestral lines better than I do, and adds one to three generations to some of my end-of-line ancestors.  They may be right, I don't know, and I can't really find out because they provide no source material to back up their assertions.  If there was authoritative information for my end-of-line ancestors, I would add it.  None of the additions have been convincing to me yet.



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Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

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1 comment:

Gary said...

I have been reluctant to add Facebook friends to the app because it is not clear to me what the app sends to Facebook friends once it decides there is a relationship. Have you gotten any feed back? Can you address the topic?