We're Related....Maybe...

I've had the We're Related app installed on my phone and hooked to my tree at Ancestry and my Facebook account for a few weeks.  As of today, I've had about 42 suggestions.   Some of them I know up to the point of the Most Recent Common Ancestor.  My favorite suggestions are those who are Facebook friends.  I will actually look into their side of the tree up to the MRCA or have them check it out.  I think when you get to the 7th cousin point, if your family has been in the country(USA)  since the early 1700s, then you are going to be kin to almost every other famous person with colonial lines.

Are any of them correct....who knows. I am way more interested in the Facebook Friends because those are(for the most part) real people.  I did get a bit excited about Jimi Hendrix, Stephen King, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.  The Miley Cyrus connection...not so much.  I would say..take them with a grain of salt....or a block.  If they help you to make a break thru in your research, that's great.  However, I feel they are more for entertainment and a way of advertising.

Person	Cousin	Side	MRCA	Surname Connection	Notes
Zachary Taylor	3C5R	PGF	William Strother III	Elizabeth Putman
Rachel Reeves	4C3R	PGM	Reuban Manley	Reuban Manley	FB Friend
Benjamin Franklin	4C9R	MGM	Sir Wm. Jones	James P Hitchcock
Abraham Lincoln	5C4R	PGF	Hancock Lee	Nancy Tyler
Henry David Thoreau	5C5R	PGM	Richard Church	James Morrow
Ralph Waldo Emerson	5C5R	PGM	Giles Hopkins	James Morrow
Blake Sheldon	6C	MGM	Cain Acuff	Jonathan Acuff
Theodore Roosevelt	6C1R	PGF	Thomas Carter	Nancy Tyler
Christinia Aguilera	6C2R	PGF	John Carter	Elizabeth Putman
Jimmy Hendrix	6C2R	MGM	Elizabeth Ingo	Jonathan Acuff
Helen Keller	6C3R	PGF	Thomas Todd	Elizabeth Putman
Mark Twain	6C3R	MGF	Owen Griffith	Keziah Rigsby
Bill Clinton	7C	MGF	Beatrice Spier	Mary Pitman
Brad Pitt	7C1R	MGF	Elizabeth Blair	Frances Bolling
Luke Bryan	7C2R	MGF	John Bolling	Frances Bolling
Kate Upton	7C2R	PGM	Hannah Hopkins	James Morrow
Jessica Simpson	7C2R	MGF	Mary Crawford	Keziah Rigsby
Barack Obama	7C2R	MGF	David Lewis	Keziah Rigsby
Jeannie S.	7C2R	PGF	Frances Armistead	Nancy Tyler	FB Friend
Ann Coulter	8C	MGF	Robert Bolling	Frances Bolling
Carol W.	8C	MGF	John Redford	John Redford	FB Friend
Whitney Houston	8C	MGF	Patience Cotton	Mary Pittman
Kristen Stewart	8C	MGM	Thomas Nelson	Mason Combs
Carrie Fisher	8C1R	PGF	William Strother	Elizabeth Putman
Miley Cyrus	8C1R	PGF	Thomas Carter	Elizabeth Putman
Marilyn Monroe	8C1R	MGF	Anne Stith	Frances Bolling
Melinda B.	8C1R	MGF	Elizabeth Smith Crawford	Keziah Rigsby	FB Friend
Kurt Cobain	8C1R	MGF	John Lewis	Keziah Rigsby
W.C. Fields	8C1R	MGF	Jane Crawford	Keziah Rigsby
Britney Spears	8C1R	MGF	John Lewis	Keziah Rigsby
Winston Churchill	8C1R	MGF	Kathrine Kennedy	Margaret Lauderdale
Lady Gaga	8C1R	PGM	Edward Richards	Nancy Harger
Eminem	8C1R	PGM	John Merryman	Nancy Harger
Stephen King	8C1R	PGM	Elizabeth Spring	Nathan Frizzell
Matt Damon	8C1R	PGM	John Gale	Nathan Frizzell
Blake Lively	8C2R	MGF	Robert Bolling	Frances Bolling
Demi Lovato	8C2R	MGF	Anne Bette	Frances Bowles
Walt Disney	8C2R	MGF	John Crawford	Keziah Rigsby
Megan Z	9C	PGF	Thomas Todd	Elizabeth Putman	FB Friend
Johnny Depp	9C	MGF	William Randolph	Frances Bolling
John F. Kennedy	9C	MGF	John Randolph	Frances Bolling
Sharlene Woodley	9C	MGF	Julian Jarrell	Mary Pittman Luna

A plan for helping to identify my 3rd and 4th cousins DNA matches

I've been working on mapping out my chromosomes to specific ancestors.  It has not been an easy process.  I have researched since 1990 but I had not gotten much info beyond the 1950s(outside of my 1st cousins) for the cousins on farther back.  This has made it difficult to tell where someone matches me especially if there is a daughter in their line of decent from the ancestor we have in common.  Too they may not have their lines back to that ancestor.   Bear in mine that 3rd cousins will share a set of 2nd great grandparents and 4th cousins will share a set of 3rd Great Grandparents.   So my plan is to select one of the 8 couples that are my 2nd great grandparents and work on them each week until I complete all 8 as much as I can. Once that is done as best as possible I will move on to the 3rd Greats and start working on them.

This weekend's couple is William Benton King(1819-1901) & Eliza Jane Manire(1818-1896)

I chose to do them first as I have many 4th cousin which are matching known King cousins who have tested but we cannot find how the tie on the King/Manire tree.  So I'm hoping this will get some answers and once I get back to 3rd Greats(I have identified and researched all but 1 of the 16) and start finding their descendants which I don't have listed yet..that should help even more.  Hopefully this will combat some of the frustration of not being about to identify the connect AND put me on the path to finding it.

2nd Great Grandparent Couples

• Cook/Putman
• King/Manire
• Jakes/Morrow
• Frizzell/Manley
• Luna/Rigsby
• Pittman/Adcock
• Acuff/McElroy
• Hale/Hitchcock

3rd Great Grandparent Couples

• Cook/Unknown
• Putman/Tyler
• King/Upshaw
• Manire/Jackson(which is really Lambert by DNA & Blood)
• Jakes/Harger
• Morrow/Sutton
• Frizzell/Kennedy
• Manley/Frizzell
• Luna/Lenox(Enoch)
• Rigby/Lewis
• Pittman/Hatfield
• Adcock/Bowles
• Acuff/Curvin
• McElroy/Webb
• Hale/Elzie
• Hitchcock/Fleming

Not only will this give you a better sense of the many surnames that the descendants of each couple have but it will also make you more familiar with the areas where they settled.  I tell most people that the majority of my line stayed in Tennessee...which is true.. yes my direct line did but many of my cousins went to Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and California.

If you decide to do this and need help to keep on track, I suggest putting an event on your calendar and blocking out a time to work on each couple.  I use Google Calendar to keep track of appts, programs, sports events and projects because it lets me detail the event or project and set reminders.

Please let me know if you try this and find it helpful.  I'd love to hear your results.

Lessons & the search for something positive among the negatives

Things I think Ancestry should have done before launching the New Ancestor Discoveries.

• Proofread all press releases and ad banners twice.  Proofread them again for good measure.
• Checked terminology.  An Ancestor is a person from whom one is descended
• Not assumed that the researchers didn't want to research to discover....some of us like the thrill of the chase and finding the documents to prove or disprove our theories.
• Be realistic in what you can deliver.  I love enthusiasm about a new product or service..but overstating what can be done...and adding more detail than necessary makes me doubt any future products or services..moreso if that detail actually shows the shortcomings of the product.

If there is anything positive coming out of Ancestry's New Ancestor Discoveries campaign, I think that it forces me to examine my research more closely which is always a good thing.  I'm reminded of the Logic Puzzles that used to be in the Dell Crossword Puzzle books.  What do the New Ancestor Discoveries tell me.

• My Mom shares a good bit of DNA with Descendants of Alfred Patton Fleming & Nancy Hitchcock Fleming(because their children were double cousin with her GG Grandparents) This would be Hitchcock and/or Fleming DNA.
• I share a good bit of DNA with Descendants of Milton  M Rushing because my GG Grandparents are both kin to him.  This would be Frizzell and/or Weaver DNA.

I will be looking forward to new discoveries.  I can't wait until it scans the Eoff, Jakes, Sutton, Craig, Knox and Morrow families.  I know that I have DNA from those as I had an X segment match with 6 distant cousins from those families.

Maternal Ancestors listed at DAR Website

A follow-up  to my post of last weekend.  I have checked my Maternal lines and found 3 lines that served in the Revolutionary War.  This gives me a total of 10 lines I could use for DAR membership.  There are several of my Mom's lines that I do not have back beyond late 1700s

Rev. War Ancestors from Mom's side

• Peter Luna Ancestor # A071518(4th Great Grandfather)
• William Lewis Ancestor # A070175(4th Great Grandfather)
• John Mackleroy Ancestor # A203230(5th Great Grandfather)

 If you are interested in checking to see if any of your ancestors are listed visit DAR Website.