Friday, March 17, 2017

This Week's We're Related Relationships - 17 March 2017

I received 7 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:

1)  Vincent Price - Actor, 7th cousin 2x removed, common ancestor is Lydia Copeland (1661-1727).

My line to Lydia Copeland is through daughter Lydia White (1686-???) of Mendon, Mass.  Vincent's line is through Benjamin White (1701-1741), brother of my Lydia.  My judgment is that this relationship is Very Likely.

2)  Betty White -- Actor, 7th cousin 2x removed, common ancestor is Samuel Carpenter (1638-1683).  

My line to Samuel Carpenter is son Solomon Carpenter (1677-1750) of Rehoboth, Mass.  Betty's line is through a son Josiah Carpenter (1664-1727), who I don't have as a brother of my Solomon.  Most of the first 50 Ancestry Member Trees for Josiah say his father is William Carpenter, not Samuel Carpenter.  Only 3 of the 2,726 trees show Samuel as Josiah's father.  My judgment is that this relationship is Unlikely.

3)  Richard Gere - Actor, 7th cousin 2x removed, common ancestor is Elizabeth Arnold (1684-1758).

My line to Elizabeth Arnold goes through daughter Ruth Hawkins (1711-1789) of Providence, R.I.  Richard's line goes through Joseph Hawkins (1709-1753), brother to my Ruth.  My judgment is that this relationship is Very Likely.

4)  Shelley Bishop -- Facebook friend, 9th cousin, common ancestor is Benjamin Samborne (1668-1740).

My line to Benjamin goes through daughter Mary Samborne (1690-1790) of Hampton, N.H.  Shelley's line goes through Sarah Sanborn (1694-1756), who I have as a sister of my Mary.  My judgment is that this relationship is Very Likely.

5)  Jack Keruoac -- Author, 9th cousin, common ancestor is Mary Snow (1630-1704).

My line to Mary Snow goes through John Paine (1660-1731) of Eastham, Mass.  Jack's line goes through Mary Oben (Paine) (1670-1703).  My John Paine has a sister Mary Paine (1650-1704) who married James Rogers and Israel Cole.  My judgment is that this relationship is Unlikely.

6)  Stevie Nicks - Musician, 8th cousin 2xc removed, common ancestor is Moses Barber (1653-1733).

My line to Moses Barber goes through daughter Anna Barber (1717-1800) of Kingstown, R.I., while Stevie's line goes through Mercy Barber (1708-1790), who I have as Anna's sister.  My judgment is that this relationship is Very Likely.

7)  Stephen Harper -- Politician, 7th cousin, common ancestor is Mary Goble (1693-1734).

My line to Mary Goble is through daughter Abigail Fletcher (1720-1783) of Concord, Mass, while Stephen's line is through David Fletcher (1726-1785), who I have as a brother of my Abigail.  My judgment is that this relationship is Very Likely.

My count is up to 190 famous or Facebook cousins provided by the app.  This week, my judgment is that only 5 of the 7 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. 


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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