Any Notorious and Famous Ancestors?



famous-lizzie-bordenThe idea you have a celebrity or infamous person in your family tree is one of the most intriguing aspects of doing one’s family history. Of course, if doesn’t mean you will but it can be fun searching.

A free online site titled; ‘FamousKin.com‘ just might give you a starting point. Here the creator, Rich Hall, has done most of the research on celebrities and historically famous people, going back many times numerous generations. He provides the famous person’s basic information, birth-death, what they were famous as and then traces on each of the person’s parents side and each generation afterward.

famous-meriwether-lewisThe site has categories such as: Presidents, Infamous, Spies, Artists, Business leaders, Space, Military and even Witchcraft, plus many more. A search box for a name is in the upper right corner. This is good for an ancestor check, say 3 or more generations back and see who that individual was related to that was famous. For example, Sally Yates, could be a name on your family tree. As it turns out this Sally Yates (1763-1836) from Kentucky was the 4th great grandmother of the outlaw, Jesse James. So you do need some basic information on your ancestors to see if there is a connection.

For the listings of the famous, there may also be other famous people to the one you are checking are related to known as ‘famous kin’. A pedigree tree is done as well as an ahnentafel tree, family group, surname list and individual name list.

famous-kin-of-stephen-hospkinsSources for the information is provided at the bottom of each find. The direct lineages are shown, not the aunts and uncles, unless the siblings are shown for an ancestor of a famous person. When you see a small arrow, that means there are more generations to view. Not every famous people even known is in the database FamousKin, but thousands are listed. However, it is always being updated with new family trees added. So check it out several times over a year. It is a good starting point but complete your own research to confirm any findings.

Photos: Family tree of Lizzie Borden (accused of murder); family tree of Meriwether Lewis (explorer) and just a few of the famous kin related to Stephen Hopkins (Pilgrim on the Mayflower).

Related FamilyTree.com Blogs:

A ‘Famous’ Ancestor

Famous Ancestors?

Skeletons on the Family Tree?

 

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