Relatively Fun

My Family's Famous Ancestors

Heber C. Kimball, Cyndy's 8th Cousin, 6 times removed.

This week I went to the BYU famous relative site…(See article:  http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865621752/BYUs-Relative-Finder-a-website-that-helps-find-famous-ancestors.html?s_cid=Email-1 ) to find out who are some of my famous ancestors.

The welcome page says:

"Relative Finder:  
Discover how you are related to Prophets, Presidents, and friends."

https://roots-fb.cs.byu.edu/ 

I don’t know how important this discovery is, but it is fun to ponder one's genetic makeup.

My husband, Mark Weiss, is related to of the current 12 LDS apostles and is 12th cousins with Jeffrey R. Holland, James E. Faust, Bruce R. McConkie and Spencer W. Kimball.

Cyndy (this blogger) is related to 10 of the current 12 apostles  and 16 of the modern-day LDS prophets.

Joseph Smith

Both Mark and Cyndy are related to Joseph Smith (6th cousin 8 times removed) and Emma Hale (6th cousin 4 times removed).

Mark is related to Thomas Jefferson and 7 of the signers of the US Constitution. 

Butch Cassidy-Robert LeRoy Parker

Cyndy has Butch Cassidy as an infamous relative and Mark is 14th cousin to Gov. Lilburn W. Boggs.

Amelia Earhart

Mark claims Wilbur Wright and Eli Whitney as relatives and Amelia Earhart is Cyndy’s 14th cousin.

Buffalo Bill is Mark’s 14th Cousin.

Mitt Romney is related to both of us through a common ancestor, Henry Smith.

Eliza R. Snow

Eliza R. Snow is related to Mark through Margaret Whitleigh and to Cyndy through John Scrope.

Mayflower ancestors on Mark’s lines include John Alden and Edward Winslow.

Cyndy has Samuel Clemens and Nathaniel Hawthorne as famous relatives.

Herbert Hoover (10th cousin) and Harry S. Truman (14th Cousin) are among the 14 US Presidents related to Mark.

George Washington

George Washington is Cyndy’s 4th cousin 10 times removed through Lawrence Townley and related to 17 other US Presidents.

Other famous “Mormon cousins” include Thomas E. Ricks, Joseph Knight Senior, Jacob Hamblin, WW Phelps, Orrin Porter Rockwell, Parley P. Pratt, Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, Martin Harris, and Orson Hyde.

I could go on and on and just for fun I have printed out an Excell spreadsheet listing my famous relatives.

Here's an excerpt from the Church News article by Ryan Morgenegg of Feb 13, 2015:

"When doing family history research, people often get excited discovering that a relative or ancestor is someone famous. It’s also interesting to find out a coworker, spouse or member of the ward is a relative too. The challenge is having enough time and knowledge to devote to research, but a 15-year project at BYU makes this type of relative finding a whole lot easier."

"A BYU-developed website called “Relative Finder” enables users to find out how closely related they are to not only historical figures but also friends, neighbors, spouses, or even the mail carrier. “This website allows you, in three minutes of time and effort, to discover how you are related to all these people,” said computer science professor Tom Sederberg, a leader of the project. “It is fun and informative, and can stimulate interest in family history work.”

So what does it prove to say we are related to a famous person?  Probably nothing.

We can more easily see that we are all God’s children and we should love one another as brothers and sisters!  Of course, easier said than done.

It may be significant to ponder our relatives and their many accomplishments.  If they can do such great things, maybe I am more capable than I thought!

It is even more amazing to realize that we are only one pedigree line removed from God the Eternal Father.  Indeed, these are all God's children and our brothers and sisters.