Everyone loves to knows the life and times of the famous, the notables, celebrities and the stars. What is even better to find they are part of your family tree. You can’t go just by a person’s surname, since many celebrities have changed their birth surname to a stage name.
Some are easy to locate with a surname. I located a second cousin, Glenn Russell Kershaw, who is a present-day director and producer of many national network television shows, including ‘Criminal Minds’.
So how do you start? There are a few web sites which are a good beginning point.
The site, ‘FamousKin.com‘ has many notable and famous people divided into categories such a politicians, actors, royalty, presidents, singers or even murderers. There are a full list of names you can click on to view a researched list of their ancestors and descendants.
Another resource is ‘Geni.com‘ which has compiled a list of celebrities with their family lineage. Names such as actor Clark Gable to President Zachary Taylor to Frances Eaton (from the Mayflower) to Harry Warner (movie producer) are profiled.
Review the names and the family trees information on ‘GenealogyAbout.com‘ for additional noteworthy individuals. This will include some fo the vital records and censuses to show the lineage.
Then on ‘GenealogyMagazine.com‘ they have an alphabetical list of the famous over the years. Clicking on an individual such as Wyatt Earp, a biography is available which includes his parents, siblings (their wivies and children), spouse (their parents) and children. These are the names to concentrate on and you have to have a list of your own ancestors to find a match.
In any of the web site, do not expect to find your name as a descendant, it is more likely to be a grandparent, great uncle or a cousin-3 times removed.
A few examples of matches include:
Mark Wahlberg who is Johnny Appleseed is a second cousin, seven times removed.
Amy Poehler is related to Benjamin Franklin as a first cousin, ten times removed.
Lee Harvey Oswald was President Theodore Roosevelt’s third cousin, once removed.
Photos: President Theodore Roosevelt, murderess Lizzie Borden, Wild West lawman Wyatt Earp and scientist Madam Curie.
Related FamilyTree.com genealogy blogs:
Celebrities Learn about their Families
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