1) Barack Obama -- U.S. President, 8th cousin 1x removed, common ancestor is Mary Jones (1672-1760).
My line to Mary Jones is through her son Jacob Fitz Randolph, and Barack's line is through her daughter, Prudence Fitz Randaolph. I have researched both lines, and think this relationship is Very Likely.
2) Diane Patricia Gould -- Facebook friend, 9th cousin, common ancestor is Joanna Kitchell (1637-1711)
The app says my line adds 5 generations from my 4th great-grandfather William Knapp to Joanna Kirtchell, but the five generations are not in my tree, for good reasons explained in earlier posts. I don't know about Diane's line. My judgment is that this relationship is Unlikely.
3) Stephen King -- Author, 8th cousin 2x removed, common ancestor is John Norman (1637-1713).
My line does not go through this John Norman. The app shows John Norman (1666-1713) as the son of John Norman (1637-1672), and Eunice Norman (1686-1743) as the daughter of John Norman (1666-1713), but that is incorrect, IMHO. My research says Eunice Norman is the daughter of John Norman (1660-1709), who is the son of Richard Norman (1623-1683). My judgment is that this relationship is Unlikely as stated.
However, since the father of my Richard Norman (1623-1683) and Stephen's John Norman (1606-1672) is Richard Norman (1580-1653), which makes me Stephen King's 9th cousin 1x removed.
4) Rebbecca Caya -- Facebook friend, 8th cousin 1x removed, common ancestor is Mariah Smith (1664-1724).
My line to Mariah Smith is through daughter Ruth Collins; Rebbecca's line goes through William Collins (1712-1812), her purported brother. My records indicate that William Collins (1690-1767) is the son of Mariah Smith, and not the William Collins born in 1712 (when Mariah would have been 48 years onld). My judgment is that this Relationship is Unlikely.
6) Dolly Parton -- Musician, 8th cousin 2x removed, common ancestor is Marretie Hansen Vos (1660-????).
The app extends my line three generations back from Margriet Wies (1726-????), whose parents are unknown to me. My judgment is that this relationship is Unlikely.
7) Emma Stone -- Actress, 7th cousin 3x removed, common ancestor is Anna Maria Drupler (1685-1783)
The app extends my line back one generation from Maria Magdalena Ritter (1706-1784), and I don't have her parents. Emma's line is through a daughter Eva Rosina Ritter (1708-1783). My judgment is that this relationship is Possible, and I will investigate this added generation.
8) Cathy Napolitano -- Facebook friend, 8th cousin 2x removed, common ancestor is Hannah Benjamin (1668-1752).
My line to Hannah Benjamin is through her son Amos Gates (1706-1783), while Cathy's line is through daughter Elizabeth W. Gates (1707-1738), mother of Mary Burton. My records indicate that Elizabeth Gates (1701-1741) was the daughter of Hannah Benjamin, and married Thomas Wheeler. Because of the difference in birth year and spouse's name for Elizabeth Gates, my judgment is that this relationship is Doubtful.
9) Russ Worthington -- Facebook friend, 8th cousin 2x removed, common ancestor is Jacob Warren (1642-1722).
The app indicates that Jacob Warren is the father of Abigail Warren (1707-1748), who is them other of Hannah Colby (1745-????). My research and AMT indicates that Hannah Colby was the daughter of Abigail Worthen (1714-????) who married Joseph Colby in 1736, and Abigail was the daughter of Ezekiel Worthen (1672-1755). Russ's line goes through Jacob Warren's daughter Sarah Warren (1670-1741), who married a Lee. A search showed that there were no Ancestry Member Trees for a Sarah Warren born 1670 whose father was Jacob Warren and whose husband was a Lee. My judgment is that this relationship is Doubtful, although I will further investigate the possibility listed.
My records indicate that Jacob Warren (1642-1722) of Chelmsford, Mass. was the husband of Mary Hildreth (1650-1730), daughter of Richard and Elizabeth (--?--) Hildreth of Chelmsford. I am an 8th great-grandson of Richard Hildreth, so Russ may be a 10th great-grandson of Richard Hildreth.
10) Mickey Mantle -- Sports star, 8th cousin 1x removed, Nathaniel Ambrose (1677-1745).
My line from Nathaniel Ambrose goes through Elizabeth Ambrose (1698-1782) who married Sampson Underhill in 1718 in Massachusetts. Mickey's line goes through Rachel Ambrose (1710-1770) who married a Lea. I don't have Rachel Ambrose in my database, but I could be wrong. Some Ancestry trees indicate that Rachel (Ambrose) Lea was born in Virginia and married there, while my Elizabeth Ambrose was born and lived in New England. My judgment is that this relationship is Unlikely.
11) Annette Kapple -- Facebook friend, 8th cousin 2x removed, common ancestor is Magdalena Jacobs Verdon.
The app adds two generations to Helena (--?--) Putman to get to Magdalena Verdon for my line. My guess is that Annette's line to Magdalena is correct. My judgment is that this relationship is Doubtful, although I will investigate the Brouwer connection it provides.
My count is up to 108 famous or Facebook cousins provided by the app. This week, my judgment is that only one of the 11 cousin relationships are Likely or better.
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 five generations to some of my end-of-line ancestors. They may be right -- I don't know -- and 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 "Doubtful" or "Wrong" relationships have been convincing to me yet.
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Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver
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1 comment:
Randy, I have a question about this app. In your post you said, "..and adds one to five generations to some of my end-of-line ancestors."
Are you meaning that the app goes ahead and adds them to one's tree on Ancestry's website, where you have to then go in and edit your tree to remove the wrong ones? If that's the case, it sounds like a real headache, especially if it adds in a lot of wrong ones. Otherwise, it sounds like an interesting app.
Have a happy New Year!
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