Friday, March 10, 2017

This Week's We're Related Relationships - 10 March 2017

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

*  Virginia Taylor -- Facebook friend, 9th cousin, common ancestor is Mercy Prence (1631-1711).

My line to Mercy Prence goes through Bennett Freeman (1671-1711), daughter of John and John and Mercy (Prence) Freeman.  Virginia's line goes through John Freeman (1651-1721), who is in my database as a brother of my Bennett Freeman.  I couldn't find an Ancestry tree that included each generation in Virginia's line to Mercy Prence, and there is a jump from Massachusetts to New Jersey to north Carolina in the 3rd and 4th generations.  My judgment is that this relationship is Possible.

*  Dave Weller -- Facebook friend, 9th cousin, common ancestor is Richard Hildreth (1605-1692).

My line to Richard Hildreth is through son Ephraim Hildreth (1654-1731).  Dave's line is through Persis Hildreth (1660-1698), sister of my Ephraim Hildreth, and several generations of Cleavelands follow.  My judgment is that this relationship is Very Likely.

*  Jana Broglin -- Facebook friend, 8th cousin 1x removed, common ancestor is Benjamin Mead (1667-1746).

My line to Benjamin Mead on the app is through my 4th great-grandfather, William Knapp (1775-1856), whose parents are not known to me.  The app says his parents are Shubel and Rebecca (Mead) Knapp.  My judgment is that this relationship is Unlikely.

*  Taylor Lautner -- Actor, 8th cousin 2x removed, common ancestor is Moses Barber (1652-1733).

My line to Moses Barber is through his daughter, Anna Barber (1717-1800).  Taylor's line is through Daniel Barber (1714-1805), brother of Anna Barber.  My judgment is that this relationship Likely.

*  Shirley Becker -- Facebook friend, 8th cousin 2x removed, common ancestor is James Clark (1608-1674).

My line to James Clark is through Mary (1628-????), the wife of Edward Greenman.  Shirley's line is through Ebenezer Clark (1651-1721).  I can't find an Ancestry Tree that shows my Mary and Shirley's Ebenezer as siblings, or Mary as daughter of James and wife of Edward Greenman.  My judgment is that this relationship is Unlikely.

*  Sara Gredler -- Facebook friend, 7th cousin 1x removed, common ancestor is Jonathan Mead (1689-1754).

My line to Jonathan Mead on the app is through my 4th great-grandfather, William Knapp (1775-1856), whose parents are not known to me.  The app says his parents are Shubel and Rebecca (Mead) Knapp.  My judgment is that this relationship is Unlikely.

*  Jim Henson -- Entertainer, 9th cousin, common ancestor is John Wilson (1639-1687).

My line to John Wilson is through his son John Wilson (1673-1715) of Woburn, Mass.  Jim's line is through daughter Hannah Wilson (1642-1706) who married a Clay.  My records say that Hannah Wilson (1672-1726) married Jonathan Pierce and James Proctor.  The Hannah Wilson (1642-1706) on Jim's line was born three years after her supposed father, John Wilson, was born.  The two Hannah Wilsons are not the same person.  My judgment is that this relationship is Unlikely.

*  Mary Watson -- Facebook friend, 8th cousin, common ancestor is Samuel Hayes (1640-1712).

My line to Samuel Hayes on the app is through my 4th great-grandfather, William Knapp (1775-1856), whose parents are not known to me.  The app says his parents are Shubel and Rebecca (Mead) Knapp.  My judgment is that this relationship is Unlikely.

*  Beyonce -- Musician, 9th cousin, 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 Beyonce's line.  My judgment is that this relationship is Highly Unlikely.

My count is up to 183 famous or Facebook cousins provided by the app.  This week, my judgment is that only 2 of the 9 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 Prence line.  See 

Is There Really an Ancestry.com "Big Tree?"


The app may be right -- I don't know for sure -- and I can't really find out because the app provides 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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