Any famous people in your family tree?

Roonie · 03-10-2008, 10:03 AM

Anyone else have any famous ancestors in their family tree's?

Here is the most famous person in my family history that I know of........

Daniel D. Tompkins - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I come from a long line of lawyers every generation. My great great grandfather was Daniel D Tompkins (1774-1825) who was a lawyer graduating from Columbia University. He was elected member of the US congress. Then he served on the state supreme court (I have had several relatives do this including my uncle). In 1807 he then ran and became the governor of New York. Then he was offered secretary of state but turned it down. He then became the 6th Vice President of the United States of America under James Monroe and served two terms.

Alcoholism also runs in our family ever generation and he was remembered for drinking too much sometimes presiding over the senate drunk. There are a couple of counties named after him and some parks in New York.

WickedLou9 · 03-10-2008, 10:37 AM

Aparently this guy is on my mother's side of the tree

Elijah P. Lovejoy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

He was killed for running an abolitionist newspaper in 1837.

That's all I got.

wanna be drummer · 03-10-2008, 10:47 AM

General George Gordon Meade on my mom's side. My uncle found this out when he went on a search for our family tree, as long as he could make it go.

Wikipedia - George Meade

Commander of the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War. He was the mind behind the victory at Gettysburg. Kinda cool, but no one I know has ever read about him, besides me.

Phantom · 03-10-2008, 10:50 AM

Yes, but I hate to discuss it. Virginia is still run by a good ole boys network who care quite a bit about last names and family histories etc. It's strange to me that people still care about who some King granted land to 3-400 years ago. It also amazes me how many of these same people waste away their lives living on family money thinking they are still somehow superior to the rest of the world.

My father married into the family so I don't have the last name that would make me a part of that network. We don't have family money and I'm happy to achieve based on my own merit, not by any family connections.

Linzyhop · 03-10-2008, 01:05 PM

yup. on my dad's side, one of the signers of the declaration of independence. not a direct descendent, but split off from a sibling like 8 generations ago.

David Octavius · 03-10-2008, 01:11 PM

Originally Posted by Linzyhop

yup. on my dad's side, one of the signers of the declaration of independence. not a direct descendent, but split off from a sibling like 8 generations ago.

Elbridge Gerry?

We have your Dad's family to thank for Gerry Mandering!

Edit - Seriously though that is very cool to have a decedent a signer of one of the most important documents in recorded history

Ardentfrost · 03-10-2008, 01:21 PM

I have none that I know of since on my dad's side, one fork gets annihilated by some courthouse fires about 100 years ago that destroyed a lot of records, and we lost interest in tracing back the other side once we ran into horse thieves and shit...

But, a friend of mine is helping her family clean out her grandmother's house and they found a receipt for a slave. Isn't that crazy?

Linzyhop · 03-10-2008, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by David Octavius

Elbridge Gerry?

We have your Dad's family to thank for Gerry Mandering!

Edit - Seriously though that is very cool to have a decedent a signer of one of the most important documents in recorded history

yeah, i think it's pretty cool!

Stylerod · 03-10-2008, 04:12 PM

I don't think I have anyone really famous. My Grandma showed me a newspaper article from the early 1900's that was about her grandfather. He was a train engineer and apparently had never ran the train late in over 20 years. The article was about him retiring and the Governor of IL gave him a gift and stuff.

Kinda neat. I wish I knew where that clipping was now.

RMNIXON · 03-10-2008, 06:28 PM

Jesse James - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Well Maybe?

It was a claim of my late Grandmother on my Mothers side of the family. Later I did find out "James" was a family name, but I don't have any actual trace to the most famous James.

I was just thinking about it as I watched the movie that came out last year on DVD.

nbiggershaft · 03-10-2008, 11:51 PM

I'm a direct line down from the Bickerstaffs of the battle of Kings Mountain. We were torys

(they are always listed online as bickerstaff though, dunno why, cuz we have documents from our pre-revolutionary family members that say biggerstaff)

RMNIXON · 03-11-2008, 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by nbiggershaft

I'm a direct line down from the Bickerstaffs of the battle of Kings Mountain. We were torys

(they are always listed online as bickerstaff though, dunno why, cuz we have documents from our pre-revolutionary family members that say biggerstaff)

Almost as good as Longshanks!

jimeigh · 03-11-2008, 09:48 PM

i'm related to Jesus on my mother's side, and Alfred Hitchcock on my father's

redwards · 03-12-2008, 08:02 AM

Originally Posted by RMNIXON

Almost as good as Longshanks!

I have Longshanks in my family tree.

Oldest traceable part of my family tree is the Merovingian Dynasty. Once you hit one European royal, you're pretty much related to a fuckton of them. I've heard estimations that some enormous part of the population of people who trace their ancestry to Europe are descended from Charlemagne.

Linzyhop · 03-12-2008, 09:40 AM

Originally Posted by redwards

I have Longshanks in my family tree.

Oldest traceable part of my family tree is the Merovingian Dynasty. Once you hit one European royal, you're pretty much related to a fuckton of them. I've heard estimations that some enormous part of the population of people who trace their ancestry to Europe are descended from Charlemagne.

he did get around.