Who are your ancestors? Just for fun!

[Sunday21]

I am off to the temple tomorrow to help out more dead Scottish people! We are the McFarlane's. Famous for stealing sheep. The moon was known as McFarlane's lantern because they stole sheep by the light of the moon. I met a genealogist, before I stared to do this work,  who told me to look into the hanging records. I was so insulted. Then I found out he was right!

Our crest has a picture of a man looking into his own armpit. My mother was invited to be clan queen. She turned it down. Possibly expensive! I wandered into the kitchen at a family gathering and came across a cluster of my relatives, who had flown hundreds of miles to be with each other,  carping about the cost of potato pilers. Shocking!

The highest level of profession I have found so far in my family is assistant hairdresser and ladies maid. However there is a graveyard that I have visited near Loch Lomond in Scotland where many graves say ' Robert McFarland, hung', next grave over, same name, also hung, next grave over, same name, hung,  and so on! In every family the eldest boy is called Robert. In my family, my grandfather was.. Rabs ( cute form of Robert), his eldest son, Robert, his eldest son..Robert. We have Robert's Robert, Chrissy's Robert, big Robert (5'5") and little Robert ( his son, 6 foot). 

So let's hear about your ancestors!

 

Edited March 25, 2016 by Sunday21

[zil]

At least two of my ancestors can be found in books: "Outlaw" Bill Mitchell aka Baldy Russell and John Lathrop and another printing, with more detail.  Lots and lots of people are descended from John Lathrop, and his story is inspiring.  The outlaw story is the classic story of a family feud taken much too far.

[omegaseamaster75]

Let the bragging begin. My grandfather's brother was obsessed with genealogy. I can go on family search . org and go w...a....y... back.

A couple of notables:     
John I "Lackland" King of England 1166-1216

My personal favorite: King William I (William the Conqueror) 1028 – 9 September 1087

Once you tap into a royal line you can go as far back as you want 

[Guest Godless]

My mother has traced her lineage to William Bradford, one of the authors of the Mayflower Compact and governor of Plymouth Plantation.

[zil]

28 minutes ago, omegaseamaster75 said:

Let the bragging begin....

My personal favorite: King William I (William the Conqueror) 1028 – 9 September 1087

Dude, one of my dad's ancestors came across the channel with him.  And Prince Charles is either my 14th cousin umpteen times removed or my umpteenth cousin 14 times removed (I can never remember which one is 14 or what the other one is)       And my mom's family was always on the opposite side from dad's - Scots vs English, South vs North, etc. 

[Guest MormonGator]

One of my ancestors was a high up for the Union army in the civil war. Another was lost at sea in the 1600's and his name in on a monument in Gloucester, Massachusetts 

[anatess2]

I'm related to the guy who killed Magellan.

[Guest]

My mom's side goes back to Daniel Boone.  I recently met a family in Houston who is also related.

My dad's side is mainly traced back to our original five brothers and their immediate families who immigrated from Austria around the turn of the previous century.  Although our family name is fairly common in Germany and Austria, I haven't met any with the same name that isn't related to my great-grandfathers.  In fact, I enter my family name into one of those "find your family" searches and it comes up with "Zero people with the same last name".  

No wonder I haven't heard from my family lately.  They don't exist.

Other than that, we're basically a family of nobodies.  Wait-a-minute.  They don't exist!  We really are nobodies.

[Sunday21]

2 hours ago, anatess2 said:

I'm related to the guy who killed Magellan.

 

2 hours ago, anatess2 said:

I'm related to the guy who killed Magellan.

Cool! Tell us the story, please!

[Jojo Bags]

I'm one of the lucky people who have several kings and queens in his blood line.  Some of them I'm not particularly proud of.  My family name changed in the 1500's from the Campbell's to the present name.  I think it was because Lord Campbell's son, my great, great, great, whatever grandfather was illegitimate.  After discovering Lord Campbell was in the family line, the rest of my genealogy was already done. 

I have ancestors like Edward I "Longshanks" and Charles "the Hammer" Martel.  I was clicking on my family name on the Church website, and clicking and clicking and clicking; I clicked for about an hour until I came across a rather famous name: Cleopatra (her temple work is done).  I was blown away. 

I named my son for my great-grandfather who's nickname was, "Tom the Ranger."  He was born in an LDS family, but was abandoned by his mother and lived with a bishop for several years.  The man was brutal and beat granddad with a whip.  Eventually, granddad became an outlaw where he got his nickname.  He used to ride for the Pony Express and maintained contacts with the stations where he changed horses.  When he turned outlaw, he would rob a bank in one town and would show up in another town 40 or 50 miles away in just a few hours.  He did this using his contacts and none of the robberies could be pinned on him because the law didn't think it was possible to be in another town just a few hours later.

Eventually, granddad got caught along with a partner and was given a choice by the federal judge:  hanging or become a U.S. Marshal.  The partner chose to get hung and granddad became a U.S. Marshal.  What is amazing is that last year I was in Cedar City looking for some .22 ammo and wandered into a pawn shop.  I got to talking to the owner about granddad and the owner said, "Tom the Ranger's partner was my great-grandfather."  Small world.

 

Edited March 25, 2016 by Jojo Bags

[pam]

9 hours ago, Godless said:

My mother has traced her lineage to William Bradford, one of the authors of the Mayflower Compact and governor of Plymouth Plantation.

I'm a direct descendant of William Bradford.

[Anddenex]

Let's begin with some interesting facts about my family history.

1) Elliots were sheep and boat thiefs. We have something in common  The record my father read said the Elliots stole sheep and probably stole the boat they carried stolen sheep on.

2) A great grandpa has his signature on the mob that killed Joseph Smith. We do not know if he was there that day, but we know and have record of his signature on the manifest of those that said they will kill "Joe Smith." Since then, through word of mouth, my relatives have passed down a saying that "Insert my last name" are cursed. I met a relative on my mission, distant cousin, he was told the same stories I was told as a child. I thought it interesting that he said, "Ya, we (insert last name) are cursed." The non-fictional/fictinal book about the curses left upon those that murdered Joseph Smith might be true

3) English heritage, we were arms bearers. We have a shield/crest.

4) Jewish ancestry. When the Church asked its members to do genealogy, I have shared before, we discovered (due to genealogy) that one of my grandfather's is of the lineage of Judah, the Saltiel line mentioned in the Bible. That was cool.

5) A DNA test on my mother specifies that we have Iranian blood...very interesting.  I wonder when that genealogy line will show itself, hehe

 

[Guest]

Elder Oaks is my 4th cousin, no removals.

[mirkwood]

Brigham Young, 3rd Cousin 6 times removed.

Larry Miller, 8th Cousin 1 time removed.

Louis L'Amour, 8th Cousin 1 times removed.

Oliver Cowdery, 5th Cousin 7 times removed.

George Albert Smith, 7th Cousin 4 times removed.

Jeffrey Holland, 8th Cousin 2 times removed.

Matthew Cowley, 8th Cousin 2 times removed.

Orville Wright, 7th Cousin 4 times removed    .

M. Russell Ballard, 9th Cousin 1 times removed.

Roger Sherman, 6th Cousin 7 times removed (Constitution signer).

John Adams (US President), 6th Cousin 8 times removed.

Chester Arthur (US President), 7th Cousin 6 times removed.

Gerald Ford, 8th Cousin 4 times removed.

Humphrey Bogart, 8th Cousin 4 times removed.

J. Golden Kimball, 8th Cousin 4 times removed (oh hell yeah baby)!

LeGrand Richards, 8th Cousin 4 times removed.

Lorenzo Snow, 7th Cousin 6 times removed.

Millard Fillmore (US President), 7th Cousin 6 times removed.

Orrin Porter Rockwell (oh yea!), 8th Cousin 4 times removed.

Hugh B. Brown, 8th Cousin 5 times removed.

James Madison (US President), 7th Cousin 7 times removed.

John Quincy Adams (US President) , 7th Cousin 7 times removed.

Thomas S. Monson. 15th cousin

 

There are some English kings in there too, but I just listed notable Americans.

 

[NeedleinA]

Related to the first confederate female spy to be imprisoned. Family members in Tennessee had slaves, learned the gospel, freed their slaves and all of them, freed slaves included all moved to Utah. Family members founded pleasant grove utah. 

[Guest MormonGator]

8 hours ago, NeedleinA said:

Related to the first confederate female spy to be imprisoned.

Odd to think our relatives were on different sides. Now I live in the south, too. 

[classylady]

If you want an easy way to see who you're related to, go to www.RelativeFinder.  You can sign in with you lds account.  Some of my relatives are:

Jeffrey R. Holland - 7th Cousin

Joseph Smith - 4th Cousin 6x Removed

Martin Harris - 5th Cousin 4x R 

W. W. Phelps - 6th Cousin 5x R

LeGrand Richards - 2nd Cousin 1x R

Carlos E. Asay - 5th Cousin

Robert D. Hales - 5th Cousin

Emma Hale - 3rd Cousin 5x R

Peregrine White - 11th G. Uncle (Mayflower); William Brewster - 1st Cousin 13x R (Mayflower)

John Alden - 3rd Cousin 8x R (Salem Witch Trials); Thomas Putnam 2nd Cousin 10x R (SWT); Mary Towne 1st Cousin 11x R (SWT)

Abraham Lincoln - 7th Cousin, 2x R

John Hancock - 3rd Cousin 7 x R (Signer of Dec, of Ind.)

Buster Keaton (Actor) 7th Cousin 1x R 

John D, Rockefeller - 5th Cousin 3x R

Henry VIII Tudor 1st Cousin 16x R

Henry III King of England - 19th Great Grandfather

Louis VII King of France - 22 Great Grandfather

[Guest LiterateParakeet]

I am so close...but not quite...related to Brigham Young.  

One of my ancestors, Edmund Ellsworth, I believe, was married to one of Brigham Young's daughters.  But alas, he was also a polygamist, and I descend from another wife.  So close, and yet so far, LOL!

But hey, Edmund Ellsworth is pretty cool.  He led the first handcart company.   

[theSQUIDSTER]

We're just about all related to kings and/or tribal warlords... and Abraham.  Just follow a line on familysearch and go as far as you can.  If it dead ends, then backtrack to the nearest ancestor and follow the other great grandparent's line.  Keep going as far as you can and you'll hit nobility sooner or later.  You may even be able to claim relationship to fictitious ancestors like Zeus or Gaia, mother of the earth... Even those are on some people's family trees and can be found on familysearch... Which can kinda make one wonder about the reliability of ancestral claims the further they go back.... I guess it's probably a good thing that a record is also being kept in heaven... 

My most famous ancestor, of whom I'm a direct descendant through my mother, (and historically fairly recent) was the great reformer Martin Luther.  He and grandma "Kate" ( Katharina von Bora) were my 12th great grandparents.

Edited March 28, 2016 by theSQUIDSTER
Spelling correction

[Guest]

15 hours ago, classylady said:

If you want an easy way to see who you're related to, go to www.RelativeFinder.

It wasn't useful for me.  I found that it was a pretty convoluted path to find anyone famous.  We went up 15 generations then back 6 generations to someone famous in the church.  I found no relations to anyone famous outside the church.

Like I said.  We're pretty much a bunch of nobodies.

[Guest MormonGator]

8 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

 We're pretty much a bunch of nobodies.

Dude, don't be so hard on yourself or your family. I can assure you, it's probably way more interesting than you think it is. Even the driest and most boring people usually have some interesting stories to tell. 

[Guest]

@MormonGator

I'm not "being hard on myself or my family".  We're talking about being related to famous people.  And we just aren't, not in any practical sense.  As far as "interesting stories", that is another story.  

Three generations ago, our family helped settle a small community in Southern California.  A city park was named after him and originally, so was the public library.  Since then the park turned into a horse trail, now it's a greenspace between lines of subdivisions.  The library has now become generic bearing only the city name.  Recently, a Latino historian and author has said he's "got the goods" on the city's founders and found most of them, including my great grandfather, were members of the KKK.  So, they're considering renaming the park / horse trail.

My grandmother held the state record for the fastest typist in New Jersey for many years.  When the old fashioned hammer typewriters got replaced by the printing ball, she was the only one her boss was willing to spend money on to get one because she was the only one in the office who typed fast enough to make a difference.

My great grandfather (the one who lived to be 102) fought in the civil war, was shot, and met Abraham Lincoln.  While he lay somewhat unconscious on the battlefield, the body movers (thinking he was dead) tried to take a pocket watch from him (a gift before he left for the war).  But his half-wake state realized he was going to lose the watch and grabbed it.  So they realized he was still alive. (I'M NOT QUITE DEAD!!).

My father started a business and was became a minor celebrity in Orange County, CA.  Because of him, it was difficult to go anywhere without someone recognizing me as his son.  Everyone knew he adopted two Korean kids.  

Shortly after I left for college, he was recognized by the city for having gone to the High School and sending six children through the same high school as well as having contributed to the city's commerce and being involved in civic activities.

He's retired now, living in another state.  No celebrity.

My grandmother and grandfather started a small grocery store.  This was my grandmother's attempt to keep him from drinking.  She knew that he was a workaholic and an alcoholic.  As long as she kept him working, he wouldn't drink.  But once he stopped working...  The store stood for over 20 years under different owners.  Today it is defunct.

My brother is one of the most successful lobbyists in DC.  He said that one of the top 10 was a lobbyist from the Church.  That was 15 years ago.  But I'd bet that the Church hires the best with each generation, and they very much have their pulse on the goings on in Washington.

Another brother was the head of IT for Discover card many years ago.  He now works for Monsanto.  I don't know how high up he is in Monsanto, but I imagine he wouldn't have taken the job if it weren't a step up.  And that was 5 years ago.  I'd imagine he's fairly successful.

My sister married money and she knows how to invest it wisely.  She could buy me out 10 times over by now.  Too bad we don't get along.

 

 

Edited March 29, 2016 by Guest

[Guest MormonGator]

23 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

I'm not "being hard on myself or my family".  

 

It was a compliment, not an insult. All those stories are pretty interesting! 

[carlimac]

On 3/25/2016 at 11:21 AM, Sunday21 said:

I am off to the temple tomorrow to help out more dead Scottish people! We are the McFarlane's. Famous for stealing sheep. The moon was known as McFarlane's lantern because they stole sheep by the light of the moon. I met a genealogist, before I stared to do this work,  who told me to look into the hanging records. I was so insulted. Then I found out he was right!

Our crest has a picture of a man looking into his own armpit. My mother was invited to be clan queen. She turned it down. Possibly expensive! I wandered into the kitchen at a family gathering and came across a cluster of my relatives, who had flown hundreds of miles to be with each other,  carping about the cost of potato pilers. Shocking!

The highest level of profession I have found so far in my family is assistant hairdresser and ladies maid. However there is a graveyard that I have visited near Loch Lomond in Scotland where many graves say ' Robert McFarland, hung', next grave over, same name, also hung, next grave over, same name, hung,  and so on! In every family the eldest boy is called Robert. In my family, my grandfather was.. Rabs ( cute form of Robert), his eldest son, Robert, his eldest son..Robert. We have Robert's Robert, Chrissy's Robert, big Robert (5'5") and little Robert ( his son, 6 foot). 

So let's hear about your ancestors!

 

Well, well, well! I am from that same clan. No wonder I have a hankering to start a farm. There is a pasture with sheep right around the corner from me. Hmmm ( taps chin).  A crest with a man looking at his armipit?? I never even noticed that. Depends on which depiction you favor. You must like this one:   

We did have a castle caretaker, too. And after the converts came to America, they spun off Robert LeRoy Parker, AKA  Butch Cassidy. We also had a songwriter and choir director and a young man who jumped off DIXIE rock in St. George, Utah ( and survived, but barely.)  He became a physician. So it just took several dozen generations to rise to that level of accomplishment in life. 

Nice to meet you co ogha!

Edited March 29, 2016 by carlimac

[Blackmarch]

Related to jacob hamblin, to the guy who convinced the judge not to hang brigham young, and related to Gunlock.

Have ancestry of scottish, norwegian, and finnish lines.