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Friday, January 27, 2017

This Week's We're Related Relationships - 27 January 2017

I 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)  Jimi Hendrix -- Musician, 7th cousin 2x removed, common ancestor is William Terrell (1659-1743).


My line to William Terrell goes back to his purported son, John Terrell (1680-1748), who was born and died in Somerset, England.  The William Terrell (1659-1743) was an immigrant from England to Virginia, and he apparently did not have a son John born in 1680.  So the app added one more generation to my confirmed line.  I did not search on Jimi's line.  My judgment is that this relationship is Highly Unlikely.

2)  Karen Smith -- Facebook friend, 8th cousin, common ancestor is John Pray (1653-1733).

My line to John Pray goes back through Richard Pray (1683-1755) of Rhode Island.  Karen's line goes back through Sarah Pray (1681-1728), who married John Brown in Rhode Island.  My judgment is that this relationship is Likely.

3)  David Hankinson -- Facebook friend, 8th cousin 1x removed, common ancestor is Franz Janszen Bloetgoet (1630-1676).

My line goes through son Jan Bloetgoet (1672-1716), while David's line goes back through Isabel Bloetgoet (1662-1716), a sister of my Jan Bloetgoet.  My judgment is that this relationship is Likely.

4)  William Wallace Tabbot -- Facebook friend, 8th cousin 1x removed, common ancestor is John Wilson (1673-1735).

My line back to John Wilson is through Joanna Wilson (1701-1786) who married Hezekiah Sawtell in Massachusetts.  William's line goes through Susanna Wilson (1679-1749) who married a Richardson.  Unfortunately, the father John Wilson would have been 6 years old when Susanna was born, so this is an error on someone's part (the app?).  The father of John Wilson (1673-1735), John Wilson (1652-1735),  had my John Wilson (1673-1717) and a daughter Susanna Wilson (1679-1749) who married Stephen Richardson.  So the relationship is probably 9th cousin 1x removed.  My judgment is that the latter relationship is Likely.

5)  Blake Shelton -- Musician, 9th cousin, common ancestor is William Terrell (1659-1743).



My line is as stated in Jimi Hendrix.  Blake's line goes through a William Terrell (1685-1755).  When I put the younger William Terrell into the Ancestry Member Tree search, the elder William Terrell and his wife Susannah Waters are the parents, residing in Virginia.  My judgment is that this relationship is Highly Unlikely.

6)  Demi Lovato -- Musician, 7th cousin 3x removed, common ancestor is Anna Maria Newin (1687-1727).

My line back to Anna Maria Newin is through a son, Henry Carringer (????-????) who is the father of Martin Carringer (1758-1835) of Pennsylvania.  I have no records that show Henry Carringer is the father of Martin Carringer.  So the app has added two generations on my line.  Demi's line goes back to Anna Newin through Johann Jacob Keisel (1708-1778).  According to a number of Ancestry Member Trees, Anna Maria Newin married a Johan George Kiesel (1679-1762) before 1706 and had six children in Rhineland-Pfalz in present-day Germany.  I really doubt that Anna (Newin) Kiesel had a son Henry Carringer - out of wedlock?  Myu judgment is that this relationship is Highly Unlikely.

7)  David Taylor -- Facebook friend, 7th cousin 2x removed, common ancestor is Richard Cutter (1682-1756).

My line back to Richard Cutter is through his son William Cutter (1722-1780) by his second wife, Mercy Kelsey.  David's line is through Sarah Cutter (1707-1758), the daughter of Richard Cutter and his first wife, Mary Pike.  Sarah married Samuel Jacques.  My judgment is that this relationship is Likely.

8)  Shelley Murphy -- Facebook friend, 8th cousin 1x removed, common ancestor is Mary Tucker (1640-1710).

My line back to Mary Tucker is through daughter Deborah Church (1676-1772) who married Samuel Gray.  Shelley's line goes back through Abigail Church (1680-1720) who married William Simmons.  My judgment is that this relationship is Likely.

9)  Lisa-Dawn Crawley -- Facebook friend, 8th cousin 2x removed, common ancestor is Hannah Mott (1663-1730).

My line back to Hannah Mott, who married Abraham Tucker, is through her daughter, Content Tucker (1695-1738) who was born in Dartmouth, Mass.  Lisa-Dawn's line goes through Hannah's son, Nicholas Tucker (1700-1768).  I don't have Nicholas Tucker as a child of Abraham and Hannah (Mott) Tucker.  A look at Ancestry Member Trees shows that some trees have Abraham Tucker as a father, and others have Nicholas Tucker as a father.  The birth of the son Nicholas Tucker is shown in Bucks County, Pennsylvania at the time that Hannah Mott, wife of Abraham Tucker, was having children in Dartmouth, Mass.  There were probably two different Hannah Motts married to Tuckers at this time.  My judgment is that this relationship is Highly Unlikely. 

My count is up to 137 famous or Facebook cousins provided by the app.  This week, my judgment is that only five of the nine 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.  The second biggest problem is that many of the lines of the famous or Facebook persons have colonial lines that jump from one region to another, as with the Jimi Hendrix line.

They may be right -- I don't know for sure -- 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 "Unlikely" or "Wrong" relationships have been convincing to me yet.

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Copyright (c) 2017, Randall J. Seaver


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