At just about 100,700 people in my family tree on Ancestry - you can say I've done a *bunch* of branching out over the years. I first started my Ancestry tree in 2008 when I was just fifteen years old. I'd already been doing genealogy for eight years at that point. This year makes twenty-two years for me.
A handful of years ago - oh, around 2011 or 2012 - I started on a personal mission to figure out how I was related to every person buried in Henderson County, Kentucky. Realistically, I got about 45% of the way there. I extensively worked on every cemetery in the county except for the biggest ones -- Fernwood, Fairmont, St. Louis, and Roselawn.
My most extensive project came in August/September 2021 when I decided to thoroughly go over each and every person buried in the two Gibson cemeteries in Corydon, Henderson County, Kentucky. Yes - I'm related to each person in those two cemeteries, and it was definitely a rollercoaster ride in figuring out how.
I know some people like to keep their family trees for 'direct ancestors' only but... where's the fun in that? Sometimes the 'juicy' relatives are your collateral lines. Look at Ed Singleton - the man who started John Dillinger into his road of mischief and debauchery... Ed was my 5th cousin 3x removed.
President Abraham Lincoln, with whom I share a birthday, is the husband of the sister-in-law of my 3rd cousin 5x removed. The midwife present during his birth was Margaret "Peggy" (LaRue) Walters -- her Grandparents were my 7x Grandparents... but she was also the wife of my 5th Great-Granduncle, Conrad Walters.
President James Madison was my 2nd cousin 8x removed. President George Washington was the Great-Granduncle of the wife of my 5th Great-Granduncle.
Pocahontas was a wife of my 13x Great-Grandfather, John Rolfe Jr. I descend through his wife, Jane Pierce, and their daughter Elizabeth Pierce Rolfe. (I will be able to prove this 100% once I (or my Mom) does our mtDNA testing since it'll go back much further than autosomal.)
Governor Lazarus Whitehead Powell Jr was the nephew of the husband of my 2nd cousin 5x removed. Politician John Y. Brown was the husband of my 7th cousin 7x removed. General Samuel Hopkins, our towns founder, was the Uncle of the wife of the paternal grandfather of the husband of the wife of my 8th cousin 6x removed. Now that's distant!
It's those "rabbit holes" we go down when doing genealogy that can really prove the most fun and interesting!
Look at the neat people I've figured out I'm related to via DNA that are distant cousins -- Scott Porter from the Tennessee Wraith Chasers (TV shows like Ghost Asylum & Haunted Towns) is my 3rd cousin 1x removed through the Mefford's. Ryan Upchurch is my 4th cousin 2x removed through our Burgess lines that's *if* I have my Burgess mystery solved.
Hugh Hefner was the 4th cousin 1x removed of the husband of my 7th cousin 2x removed.
I'm telling ya -- branch out! You never know who or what you might discover. I grew up with the folklore that I was descended from Daniel Boone -- that wasn't true... but we are related. 3rd Great-Granduncle of the husband of my 3rd cousin 3x removed. I think we *might* have a slightly closer relationship because my 4x Grandmother was indeed Rosella (Boone) Blandford.
So take that chance sometime. Work on that random sixth cousin that sounds interesting. Heck, I've got a Wilder line and y'all have no idea how badly I wanted to be kin to Almanzo Wilder and thus related to Laura (Ingalls) Wilder, one of my favorite authors of ALL time.
Go. Down. The. Bunny. Holes!
See y'all on the other side.
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