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Famous Relatives of Dennis Mansker

A while back I upgraded my Family Tree Maker software, and one of the enticements for upgrading was a year's free subscription to Ancestry.com.

One interesting feature on Ancestry.com at that time was something called "Find Famous Relatives". This feature used, apparently, the subscriber-submitted family trees to identify relationships between people. I see that this is no longer available, so I can only speculate on the reasons why.

Nevertheless, using that feature, I was able to identify the following individuals who are allegedly related to me. A caveat: As with all genealogy you find on the Internet, you have to take it with a grain (and sometimes a pound) of salt. As always, you have to verify, verify, verify when it comes to genealogical research performed by others.

In fact, on each page of "famous relatives" was the following disclaimer from Ancestry.com:
"Keep in mind--The possible relationship information we show is only as accurate as the member-contributed family tree information found in OneWorldTree. We are unable to verify whether these results are in fact accurate. Of course, that's part of the fun of family history--digging into the research."
'Nuff said...

So, that said, my direct ancestors include (probably) Mayflower passenger Stephen Hopkins, (maybe) English literature giant Geoffrey Chaucer, and (remotely possible) Spanish painter Diego Velázquez.

Note: The " times removed" designation can be difficult for some to understand. For an explanation, see the Cousins on Wikipedia.

    Presidents

  1. William Henry Harrison (1773-1841)
    9th President of the United States
    Relationship: 4th Cousin 7 times removed

  2. Zachary Taylor (1784-1850)
    12th President of the United States
    Relationship: 3rd Cousin 7 times removed

  3. Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822-1893)
    19th President of the United States
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 5 times removed

  4. Chester Alan Arthur (1830-1886)
    21st President of the United States.
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 2 times removed

  5. Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901)
    23rd President of the United States
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 4 times removed

  6. Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)
    26th President of the United States
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 4 times removed

  7. William Howard Taft (1857-1930)
    27th President of the United States
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 7 times removed

  8. Lyndon B Johnson (1908-1973)
    36th President of the United States
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 5 times removed

  9. Gerald Ford (1913-2006)
    38th President of the United States
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 9 times removed

  10. Jimmy Earl Carter (1924-)
    39th President of the United States
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 3 times removed

  11. George Herbert Walker Bush (1924-)
    41st President of the United States
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 2 times removed

  12. Bill Clinton (1946-)
    42nd President of the United States
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 6 times removed

  13. George Walker Bush (1946-)
    43rd President of the United States
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 2 times removed

    14. First Ladies

  14. Angelica Van Buren (1818-1877)
    First Lady
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 5 times removed

  15. Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison (1775-1864)
    First Lady
    Relationship: 5th Cousin 6 times removed

  16. Julia Gardiner Tyler (1820-1889)
    First Lady.
    Relationship: 5th Cousin 6 times removed

  17. Margaret Mackall Smith Taylor (1788-1852)
    First Lady
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 6 times removed

  18. Jane Means Appleton Pierce (1806-1863)
    First Lady
    Relationship: 5th Cousin 7 times removed

  19. Lucy Ware Webb Hayes (1831-1889)
    First Lady
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 3 times removed

  20. Lucretia Rudolph Garfield (1832-1918)
    First Lady
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 7 times removed

  21. Frances Folsom Cleveland (1864-1947)
    First Lady
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 6 times removed

  22. Mary Harrison McKee (1858-1930)
    First Lady
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 3 times removed

  23. Ellen Louise Axson Wilson (1860-1914)
    First Lady
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 4 times removed

  24. Florence Kling Harding (1860-1924)
    First Lady.
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 3 times removed

  25. Grace Anna Goodhue Coolidge (1879-1957)
    First Lady
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 1 times removed

  26. Elizabeth Virginia Wallace Truman (1885-1982)
    First Lady
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 6 times removed

  27. Mamie Eisenhower (1896-1979)
    First Lady.
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 6 times removed

  28. Jacqueline Kennedy (1929-1994)
    First Lady
    Relationship: 10th Cousin 8 times removed

  29. Claudia Taylor "Lady Bird" Johnson (1912-2007)
    First Lady
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 3 times removed

  30. Barbara Pierce Bush (1925-)
    First Lady
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 1 times removed

  31. Hillary Rodham Clinton (1947-)
    First Lady
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 2 times removed

    32. Founding Fathers

  32. Stephen Hopkins (1582-1644)
    Mayflower Passenger
    Relationship: 12th Great Grandfather

  33. John Hancock (1737-1793)
    Massachusetts Representative
    Relationship: 2nd Cousin 8 times removed

  34. Caesar Rodney (1728-1784)
    Delaware Representative
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 9 times removed

  35. John Parker (1729-1775)
    Revolutionary War Hero
    Relationship: 3rd Cousin 6 times removed

  36. Francis Lightfoot Lee (1734-1797)
    Virginia Representative
    Relationship: 2nd Cousin 8 times removed

  37. William Whipple (1730-1785)
    New Hampshire Representative
    Relationship: 5th Cousin 7 times removed

  38. George Ross (1730-1779)
    Pennsylvania Representative
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 7 times removed

  39. Robert Treat Paine (1731-1814)
    Massachusetts Representative
    Relationship: 3rd Cousin 8 times removed

  40. Button Gwinnett (1735?-1777)
    Georgia Representative
    Relationship: 10th Cousin 6 times removed

    41. Writers

  41. Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400)
    English Author.
    Relationship: 19th Great Grandfather

  42. John Milton (1608-1674)
    English Poet
    Relationship: 1st Cousin 9 times removed

  43. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
    American Author
    Relationship: 5th Cousin 4 times removed

  44. Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888)
    American Novelist
    Relationship: 5th Cousin 4 times removed

  45. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
    American Author
    Relationship: 5th Cousin 5 times removed

  46. William Faulkner (1897-1962)
    American Author
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 2 times removed

  47. Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
    American Poet
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 5 times removed

  48. Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)
    American Author
    Relationship: 4th Cousin 10 times removed

  49. Agatha Christie (1890-1976)
    English Author
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 2 times removed

  50. John Steinbeck (1902-1968)
    American Author
    Relationship: 9th Cousin

  51. George Eliot (1819-1880)
    English Author
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 3 times removed

  52. L. M. Montgomery (1874-1942)
    Canadian Author
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 3 times removed

  53. Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)
    Scottish Novelist and Poet
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 4 times removed

  54. Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)
    English Poet
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 5 times removed

  55. James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937)
    Scottish Novelist
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 1 tunes removed

  56. Willa Cather (1873-1947)
    American Author
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 2 times removed

  57. Edgar Lee Masters (1868-1950)
    American Writer
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 2 times removed

  58. Jane Austen (1775-1817)
    English Author
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 10 times removed

  59. Elizabeth Browning (1806-1861)
    English Author and poet
    Relationship: 11th Cousin 3 times removed

  60. Mark Twain (1835-1910)
    American Author
    Relationship: 5th Cousin 5 times removed and 8th Cousin 3 times removed

  61. Stephen Crane (1871-1900)
    American Author
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 5 times removed

  62. O. Henry (1862-1910)
    American Writer
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 3 times removed

  63. F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)
    American Author
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 4 times removed

  64. Truman Capote (1924-1984)
    American Author
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 9 times removed

  65. George Orwell (1903-1950)
    British Author
    Relationship: 10th Cousin 3 times removed

  66. Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)
    English Author
    Relationship: 10th Cousin 4 times removed

  67. T. S. Eliot (1888-1965)
    American-born British Poet.
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 6 times removed

  68. Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957)
    American Author
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 6 times removed

  69. Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
    American Poet
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 6 times removed

  70. Robert Frost (1874-1963)
    American Poet
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 6 times removed

  71. Gore Vidal (1925-2007)
    American Writer
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 2 times removed

  72. Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949)
    American Author
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 13 times removed

  73. Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870)
    French Author.
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 15 times removed

  74. Jack Kerouac (1922-1969)
    American Author
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 12 times removed

  75. Helen Adams Keller (1880-1968)
    American author and activist
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 7 times removed

    Entertainment

  76. Mae West (1893-1980)
    American Actress, Screenwriter, and Playwright
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 8 times removed

  77. Lillian Gish (1893-1993)
    American Actress
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 5 times removed

  78. William Holden (1918-1981)
    American Actor
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 1 times removed

  79. Elvis Presley (1935-1977)
    American Entertainer
    Relationship: 7th Cousin

  80. Judy Garland (1922-1969)
    American Actress
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 2 times removed

  81. John Wayne (1907-1979)
    American Actor
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 1 times removed

  82. Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957)
    American Actor
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 3 times removed

  83. Freddie Prinze (1954-1977)
    American Comedian
    Relationship: 11th Cousin 1 times removed

  84. James Dean (1931-1955)
    American Actor
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 4 times removed

  85. Ruby Dee (1924-)
    Actress
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 2 times removed

  86. Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993)
    British-American Actress.
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 11 times removed

  87. Bette Davis (1908-1989)
    American Actress
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 4 times removed

  88. Shirley Temple (1928-)
    American Actress
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 3 times removed

  89. Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003)
    American Actress.
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 5 times removed

  90. Charles "General Tom Thumb" Stratton (1838-1883)
    Circus Performer.
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 4 times removed

  91. Lucille Ball (1911-1989)
    American Actress and Comedian
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 6 times removed

  92. James Stewart (1908-1997)
    American Actor
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 6 times removed

  93. Raymond Massey (1896-1983)
    Canadian Actor
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 1 times removed

  94. Marlon Brando (1924-2004)
    American Actor
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 2 times removed

  95. Eric Morecambe (1926-1984)
    English Actor
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 6 times removed

    Science and Invention

  96. Isaac Newton (1643-1727)
    Scientist, Mathematician
    Relationship: 4th Cousin 9 times removed

  97. Robert Boyle (1627-1691)
    Irish Physicist.
    Relationship: 5th Cousin 8 times removed

  98. B. F. Skinner (1904-1990)
    American Psychologist
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 1 times removed

  99. Edwin Hubble (1889-1953)
    American Astronomer
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 2 times removed

  100. Edward Jenner (1749-1823)
    English Physician.
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 9 times removed

  101. Robert H Goddard (1882-1945)
    American Inventor
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 4 times removed

  102. Eli Whitney (1765-1825)
    American Inventor
    Relationship: 3rd Cousin 9 times removed

  103. John Logie Baird (1888-1946)
    Scottish Inventor.
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 6 times removed

  104. Sir Frederick Grant Banting (1891-1941)
    Canadian Scientist and Doctor
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 2 times removed

  105. Wilbur and Orville Wright (1871-1948)
    American Inventors
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 9 times removed

  106. Frank Whittle (1907-1996)
    British Inventor
    Relationship: 10th Cousin 3 times removed

  107. Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838-1917)
    Zeppelin Airship Founder.
    Relationship: 13th Cousin 12 times removed

  108. Wernher von Braun (1912-1977)
    Rocket Scientist
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 12 times removed

  109. William Thomson (1824-1907)
    Irish-Scottish Scientist.
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 20 times removed

    Wild West/Criminals

  110. Frank James (1843-1915) and Jesse James (1847-1882)
    American Outlaws
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 1 times removed

  111. John Peters Ringo (1850-1882)
    American Outlaw
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 4 times removed

  112. John Wesley Hardin (1853-1895)
    American Outlaw
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 4 times removed

  113. James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickock (1837-1876)
    American Outlaw
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 7 times removed

  114. Joe Ball (1896-1938)
    American Serial Killer
    Relationship: 9th Cousin

  115. John Browning (1855-1926)
    Gunsmith
    Relationship: 3rd Cousin 3 times removed

  116. Oliver Winchester (1810-1880)
    Gun Company Owner
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 3 times removed

    Composers

  117. Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
    Bohemian/Austrian Composer
    Relationship: 12th Cousin 6 times removed

  118. Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
    Hungarian Composer
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 11 times removed

  119. John Cage (1912-1992)
    American Composer
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 1 times removed

    Artists/Painters

  120. Diego Velázquez (1599-1660)
    Spanish painter
    Relationship: Distant (40) Great Grandfather

  121. John Trumbull (1756-1843)
    American soldier, diplomat, author, painter
    Relationship: 4th Cousin 8 times removed

  122. Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863)
    French Artist
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 5 times removed

  123. Edward Hopper (1882-1967)
    American Painter
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 15 times removed

  124. Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)
    American Painter
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 6 times removed

  125. Georgia O'Keefe (1887-1986)
    American Painter
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 9 times removed

  126. Winslow Homer (1836-1910)
    American Painter.
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 11 times removed

    127. Politics

  127. John Glenn (1921-)
    Astronaut and Politician
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 1 times removed

  128. William Lamb (1779-1848)
    Politician
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 8 times removed

  129. John F. Kennedy, Jr. (1960-1999)
    American Icon
    Relationship: 11th Cousin 6 times removed

  130. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1809-1894)
    American Supreme Court Justice
    Relationship: 4th Cousin 11 times removed

  131. Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier (1841-1919)
    7th Canadian Prime Minister
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 19 times removed

  132. Richard Bedford Bennett (1870-1947)
    11th Canadian Prime Minister
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 1 times removed

  133. Louis Stephen St Laurent (1882-1973)
    12th Canadian Prime Minister
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 10 times removed

  134. Pierre Elliot Trudeau (1919-2000)
    15th Canadian Prime Minister.
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 12 times removed
    Misc

  135. Elizabeth II (1952-present) (1926-)
    Windsors -- Queen of the Commonwealth Realm.
    Relationship: 6th Cousin 6 times removed

  136. Booker Taliaferro Washington (1856-1915)
    American educator, political leader, author.
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 1 times removed

  137. Mary Edwards Walker (1832-1919)
    American Activist and Surgeon
    Relationship: 7th Cousin 3 times removed

  138. William Charles Wentworth (1790-1872)
    Early Australian Settler
    Relationship: 11th Cousin 4 times removed

  139. Charles Kingsford Smith (1897-1935)
    Australian Aviation Pioneer
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 3 times removed

  140. Emily Stowe (1831-1903)
    Canadian Physician
    Relationship: 8th Cousin 11 times removed

  141. Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) Religious Leader
    Relationship: 5th Cousin 9 times removed

  142. J.P. Morgan (1837-1913)
    American Banker
    Relationship: 9th Cousin 3 times removed

  143. Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
    French Philosopher
    Relationship: 10th Cousin 13 times removed

  144. Sam Walton (1918-1992)
    American Businessman
    Relationship: 4th Cousin 13 times removed

And there you have it. One surprising result was the cousin relationship to 12 United States Presidents, and 18 First Ladies. Not to mention all of the writers -- 34 of them! As one who always considered himself a writer first (even from early childhood), it makes me wonder if there isn't something in the gene pool that accounts for this.

Or not...

So...after I got over feeling "special" from identifying all these cousins, I started doing the math.

If you go back in time, the population gets geometrically smaller and smaller with each generation. Conversely, as you go back in time, the number of your ancestors doubles with each generation.

Eventually you come to a point where all of the lines converge, and we are all related.