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A Family Story

Some days find me on my computer wasting time. Shocking, I know.

Today, however, I was looking up some of my well-known family relations. It is super simple to do--thank you, technology!

Relative Finder uses my family tree information from Family Search to tell me who and what my relation is to famous people.

I have discovered that some of my closest relations are known for bad things.

Benedict Arnold? I did a research project on him in sixth grade. The one thing I remembered about that whole thing? His name became synonymous with treason. Well, he's my 4th cousin, 8 times removed. ...so distant, but still there.

Then there's John Hathorne. He's from the days of the good ol' Salem Witch Trials. In fact, he was the leading judge. He's my 1 cousin, 11 times removed.

...along those lines, two of my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-aunts (that's 10th great aunts) were accused and killed during those "trials."   Thank you, cousin! 😒

It's not all bad skeletons in my closest, though there are a lot. I tried to balance it out by seeing how many eagle scouts I'm related to...and they're all diiiiiiistant! Like 13th+ cousins, distant. Haha

Other fun ones: My 12th great-grandfather came across on the Mayflower, and my 1 cousin, 5 times removed has a town named after him in Ohio. (Ever heard of the western author Zane Grey? Zanesville, Ohio? Yeah, we're related. 😏)

If you ever find yourself indoors, looking for an adventure, you should see who all is hanging out in your family tree. It's kinda fun.

Oh, I've got some royals in there, too. But don't we all? You should find out!
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