My father is the great, and greatly underappreciated, artist Ed Gafford. There was a vague story about how my brother-in-law was named after Ralph Ellison because he was some sort of relation. We asked my father-in-law for more specifics. As it turned out, it was something like the ex-husband of his grandmother later married Ellison's ex-wife, or something like that. In other words, no relation.
I too am related to Daniel Boone-- indirectly. But Daniel Boone VII (or thereabouts) lives in my community. I need to meet him someday. I'm also distantly related to Shirley Temple, playwrite Tennessee Williams and John Sevier (governor of Tennessee).
Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, mother of John Quincy Adams, - who, my youngest sister is named after. So I suppose that means I'm related to all those Adamses... No wonder I'm a feisty number!
True...Also, start this thread 100 years from now, and it would be poster after poster claiming "I'm related to Shawn Kemp"
How do you guys find out your ancestry? Talking to your grandparents? ooh I could be related to Salma Hayek or Jessica Alba!
You make something up and tell the story over and over. Eventually, you'll start to believe it. Then, tell your children before they're old enough to be skeptical. Then, you'll have a famous ancestor!
A great Aunt and Uncle spent years tracing our family back. In fact they wrote a book about our family tree too. I don't think it was widely published but instead like an independent type publisher in the early 80's.
hehe. nah, they sold the rights to Ingersol-Rand back in like the 70s. Also following up what DaDa said, My Grandfather is the person I look up to the most. He was involved in the Battle of the Bulge and then went on the be the CEO of Steiger Tractor back in the 70s.
If you are from Houston, Kleb Intermediate School is named after my family. It was dedicated to my great grandmother because the Kleb family was partially responsible for founding the area around Tomball and Klein. There's even a really great park/nature preserve in Tomball named after my grandmother's cousin, who used to own the land. Not much, but it's something.
Thats an interesting piece of information. I went to Klein Forest, Klein Intermediate and Nitsch Elementary.
My aunt and uncle (on my mother's side) did a extensive and expensive genealogy of our family tree before they passed away of old age. In their pursuits they traced it all the way up to Augustine Washington and Mary Ball Washington who are the parents of George Washingon. Now while our bloodline didn't trace back through George Washington's line it did trace back through his sister Elizabeth Washington Lewis (who is somewhat famous too) and then back into Augustine Washington and Mary Ball Washington. They (my aunt and uncle) stopped researching after that as they were getting up into their late seventies and wanted to pursue other things in life.
