John Thomas Hames (right) with two cousins, circa 1880
Ancestry's We're Related App
Is it a game to draw new genealogy hunters,
or can it really answer some of those blocked walls?
It works on your cell phone or tablet only. You can download for any device. It is free.
You do have to have a family tree of some type uploaded to Ancestry.com for it to work, but you can also upload a tree for free too. If you don't have a genealogy database program on your computer, like Family Tree Maker, Legacy, Herodis or other type, you can still make a tree for free from Ancestry's online database.
I have an extensive tree with over 40,000 individuals so figured I would at least find one match! I also have one of the biggest requirements for the most hits, deep roots in New England and Virginia. Because so many of our founding fathers lived in those two areas in the 1600-1700's, a lot of them intermarried. Three of my main lines were in New England and Virginia in the 1600's. The other main line came in the late 1700's. This is why I have had so many connections to so many of the "famous" people found in the app.
So far I am related to the following people:
George Herbert Walker Bush--1/2 9th cousins We are from the first husband, he the second. Barker Line
Kurt Cobain-8th cousin 2x removed-Turner Line
Benedict Cumberbach-9th cousin 1 removed-Kneeland Line
Dakota Fanning-8th cousin 2x removed-Webb Line
Walt Disney-1/2 2nd cousin 2x removed-Whitney Line
Thomas Edison-1/2 7th cousin 2x removed-Freeman Line
Benjamin Franklin-2nd cousin 9x removed-Gibbs Line
Bill Gates-8th cousin 1x removed-Billings Line
Helen Keller-7th cousin 1x removed-Faunce Line
John Kerry-9th cousin-Cushman Line
Demi Lovato-8th cousin 1x removed-Frizzell Line
Abraham Lincoln-3rd cousin 5x removed-Harrison Line
Willie Nelson-7th cousin 1x removed-Mosely Line
Sarah Palin-8th cousin 1x removed-Gilbert Line
Elvis Presley-6th cousin 1x removed-Harrison Line
Zachary Taylor-5th cousin 5x removed-Allerton Line and Brewster Line (Pilgrims)
Henry David Thoreau-6th cousin 5x removed-Warren Line
William Rockafeller-7th cousin 3x removed-Harrison Line
Lucy Ware Webb Hayes-4th cousin 5x removed-Sanford Line
As you can see, highlighted in red, three of these people come from the same line. Isaiah Harrison, Virginia in the colonial times.
By really digging into all sorts of data, books, vital records and also checking out family trees, Wickipedia and other historical websites, I am satisfied with the data. I did not just say, "How cool, I am related to...!" I actually took the time to research the app's files against my own many years of work, and then started checking out other sources. Though these may not all be totally correct, they are close enough to satisfy me for now. I am revisiting some of the data as new information arises just like I would do for any type or research.
So, the question was, is it just a game or gambit to draw new people to the world of genealogy? Only if you just take everything as truth without research it could look that way. I have found it to be a new doorway to other sources, names and places I have never seen even though my own work started in the mid-1980's. It has opened some real blocked family lines, allowed me to connect with three genealogy buddies as cousins (I did not include their names here) and has made me dig deeper for more clues to the puzzle of our ancestors.
No comments:
Post a Comment