by Pleasuredome 17 Replies latest jw friends
it wasn' so long ago that i found out about the genealogy of america's past and present leaders.
genealogical sources, like the new england historical genealogical society and burkes peerage, have shown that 34 of the 43 presidents to g.w. bush are related to charlemagne and 19 are related to england's edward III.
the bush-windsor bloodline easily goes back to alexander the great, and beyond as far as ramesses II.
did you really think that the american's got rid of the royal family?
I remember reading that Princess Diana was related somehow to seven American Presidents, Humphrey Bogart and Al Capone.................somewhere in my family's background, we're related to Bertrand Russell and Queen Elizabeth I (who lived in the 1500's).
Anyone else here related to someone famous, past or present?
Yes, I am. Lots of them too.
In my genealogy, I have Benedict Arnold, a third cousin to my 4th great grandmother. Aaron Burr, Jr., Vice President of the United States under Thomas Jefferson, and who killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel, was a 5th cousin to me. Roger Conant, the founder of Salem Massachussetts, is my 9th great grandfather. Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President of the United States is a distant 4th cousin. Nathan Hale, is a cousin in the family line of my mother, as is Diana Spencer, the late Princess of Wales. Diana's maternal grandmother is a 2nd cousin to my mother. Frank Gifford is a 6th cousin.
It seems I am a direct descendant of the Plantagenet King John of England (my 21st great grandfather), the one who signed the Magna Carta, under threat of death, and who was the brother of Richard the Lionhearted. John is also famous for being Prince John at the time of the Robin Hood tales. So.....another "not so good guy". I can also claim King Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitane (parents of John and Richard), William the Conqueror (famous for defeating King Harold at the Battle of Hastings and was my 25th great grandfather), as well as the ancient Celtic warrior-kings of Britain, like Cerdic who was born in 455, Egbert born in 775, Aethelred II, born 968, etc, all of whom have descendants in current royal houses of Europe. Queen Victoria was a 14th cousin of mine, and the current Queen of England, Elizabeth II, is my 18th cousin, so not a close relationship.
But, here are the true facts (a quote from my genealogy web site): According to the book "In the Blood: God, Genes, & Destiny", 25% of the population of Britain is descended from William the Conqueror. Consider you need two parents, four grandparents, etc. Assuming an average of about 25 years per generation, you only need go back to 1200, quite within historical times, to need more separate ancestors than the population of the world.
Therefore we all must descend from cousin marriages, many times over, even within the last few hundred years. Davenport claimed "no people of English descent are more distantly related than 30th cousins". So if you go back in time far enough, nearly everyone with English ancestry is going to find some bits of royalty, so I am not unusual, in that regard.
Another man I am related to is Wyandanch, Grand Sachem of Montauks (high chief of the Montauk Indians). He lived 1571-1659, and was my 9th great grandfather.
wow, thats great mulan. i've never done any genealogy on my family. it would be very interesting to do so though.
Edward I was a great king ;
Colin Powell is just a hyperactive Orangatang with a serious vitamin D deficiancy.
The farther back you go, the greater the odds that you are a descendent of someone. For someone alive today of English ancestry, the odds are that they are related to many of the medieval kings through multiple lineages. There would literally be millions of descendents of Edward I or King John or whoever.
I doubt that the geneology can genuinely be traced back to kings and also to egyptian rulers !
It's hard enough going back to the 17-1800's (but interesting)
I think our family has a history of backing the wrong side in a civil war
I'm a mutt, but my wife is related to the Kennedy's (her fam even looks like them), her great-great-great something aunt or grandmother was Betsy Ross.
My fam came from poland when Hitler Invaded. No big lineage.
ash
Once you get past the 1600s or so, it becomes extremely hard to find genealogical records. Even for the 17 and 1800s, you can come to dead-ends in research, due to records being lost/destroyed. Many family records such as births, deaths and marriages were held in churches, written on paper. If the church had a fire, those records were lost. It then becomes much harder to be able to prove family relationships.
Once you do go back a dozen generations or so, of course everyone starts being related to someone along the line. Populations weren't as huge as they are today, so it was a smaller world, and the chances of being in the same bloodline as someone else increases.
So Mulan......I guess you're not related to anyone famous then!! That was really fasinating!!
