are you related to someone famous ..........

[LadyDigger]

I agree Ron and Ann. I'm second generation to pick up the family history research. My great Aunt and my dad's brother both did extensive research.....before computers.

They went to the churches and cemetaries discovering who was who and from where.
They even advertised in papers about family reunions and more relatives came out of the woodwork.

I think it's almost natural for those of us into Md'ing. Research! Family Treasures.

This is a good topic.
Al

I started my genealogy after watching Alex Haley's "ROOTS". I was fascinated by his research and thought it would be interesting...and it has been! I too, did it with pen and paper and old xerox copies LOL... it was a chore getting everything into the genealogy program (which those have come along way too!). We recently had a family reunion in Ocean City with our cousins from New York. We have not seen each other since 1982...and it was so great to see everyone again. I thought I was the ONLY ONE in the family doing genealogy and come to find out, my oldest cousin, she has lots of genealogy information. But what is nice about this one, I have, of course my father lineage, but I have my mother's, which Pat and I share my mother's genealogy through her mother. Pat was having a hard time with that, as she was not aware of our great grandmother's name...which I had and found census and immigration papers on her. Pat, however, has her father's and her mother's (my mother's sister) genealogy...which I don't have. This pass week, we have been swapping information and our tree continues to grow!!! So, now I have a relative who loves what I do!!! Now, if I can get her out to metal detect...LOL!!! My mother and my cousin's mother are half sisters and have different fathers, but the same mother.

Oh, forgot to mention....on my mother's father's side, this side is my German Roots from Prussia that came over in 1854....they were horse folks, loved horses. My grandfather was a jockey and spent alot of time at Belmont Racetrack, in New York. My grandfather, I also have a picture of him with MAN O' WAR!!!! (A famous race horse). Well, grandpa's father owned a livery stable in Mankato, MN...he married a THEISSEN, whose father was Nicholas Theissen. He too, was in the horse business, but was a wagon maker and also came from Germany. Story has it, I also have a newspaper clipping telling this story too...that two brothers in my genealogy built the first two wagons for the Ringling Brothers Circus. I contacted CIRCUS WORLD in Florida back in the 80's...they said they had no record of this name. They said, it does not mean they did not build them, as they said, many folks built wagons for them, but they gave me the name of the two brothers. I am still trying to see if they are somehow connected to my family...maybe these are the brothers my family talked about. Grandpa was 98 when he died...and his family memories were awesome!!! I don't doubt my grandfather's word! So, the research continues! Somewhere, I will find the connection to put to rest the truth or falsehood of this family folklore!!! So, until then, I have famous wagon makers on my side

 

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[trish76642]

Supposedly Gen. Robert E. Lee but I don't think so, no one seems to come up with the proof. Everyone wants to be related to someone famous from the civil war so it's a case of wishful thinking amongst my family members I think.

Also the person who wrote "Rock of Ages" the hymn.

And of course my grandfather, who was a police detective. He helped solve the case of a serial killer but it's not really a nationally famous case, more regional.

Tricia? I bout fell outta my chair when i read your post! I was just about to say one of my ancestors wrote Rock of Ages! Have to look to see who it was, great great Uncle? wow! Girlfriend?! lol....and look, your Tricia and Im Trish! WTH?! LOL
Ok we have to investigate this one girl!

 

[Ferrous]

From my Dads' side of the family. French Stewart

 

[LadyDigger]

Supposedly Gen. Robert E. Lee but I don't think so, no one seems to come up with the proof. Everyone wants to be related to someone famous from the civil war so it's a case of wishful thinking amongst my family members I think.

Also the person who wrote "Rock of Ages" the hymn.

And of course my grandfather, who was a police detective. He helped solve the case of a serial killer but it's not really a nationally famous case, more regional.

Tricia? I bout fell outta my chair when i read your post! I was just about to say one of my ancestors wrote Rock of Ages! Have to look to see who it was, great great Uncle? wow! Girlfriend?! lol....and look, your Tricia and Im Trish! WTH?! LOL
Ok we have to investigate this one girl!

That is so cool....I hope you both persue this and that you find out you are related!!! Please, keep us posted (really me...cause I'm just a nosey genealogist that way )

Here's a link for ROCK OF AGES.. http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh361.sht and this one with a bit of history of the hymn.. http://joyfulministry.com/agest.htm

 

[trish76642]

Supposedly Gen. Robert E. Lee but I don't think so, no one seems to come up with the proof. Everyone wants to be related to someone famous from the civil war so it's a case of wishful thinking amongst my family members I think.

Also the person who wrote "Rock of Ages" the hymn.

And of course my grandfather, who was a police detective. He helped solve the case of a serial killer but it's not really a nationally famous case, more regional.

Tricia? I bout fell outta my chair when i read your post! I was just about to say one of my ancestors wrote Rock of Ages! Have to look to see who it was, great great Uncle? wow! Girlfriend?! lol....and look, your Tricia and Im Trish! WTH?! LOL
Ok we have to investigate this one girl!

That is so cool....I hope you both persue this and that you find out you are related!!! Please, keep us posted (really me...cause I'm just a nosey genealogist that way )

Here's a link for ROCK OF AGES.. http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh361.sht and this one with a bit of history of the hymn.. http://joyfulministry.com/agest.htm

Thanks so much for the link! And your not nosy at all! If it were someone else besides me i'd wanna know too! LOL Would be great to find relatives, i dont know anyone on my fathers side of the family, his daddy (my grandfather) was killed when he was 3 years old. The only relatives i've ever known from my daddys side were my Grandmother, his sister (my Aunt) and 2 cousins. Guess thats why i got so excited when i read Tricias post....lol

 

[LadyDigger]

Supposedly Gen. Robert E. Lee but I don't think so, no one seems to come up with the proof. Everyone wants to be related to someone famous from the civil war so it's a case of wishful thinking amongst my family members I think.

Also the person who wrote "Rock of Ages" the hymn.

And of course my grandfather, who was a police detective. He helped solve the case of a serial killer
but it's not really a nationally famous case, more regional.

Tricia? I bout fell outta my chair when i read your post! I was just about to say one of my ancestors wrote Rock of Ages!
Have to look to see who it was, great great Uncle? wow! Girlfriend?! lol....and look, your Tricia and Im Trish! WTH?! LOL
Ok we have to investigate this one girl!

That is so cool....I hope you both persue this and that you find out you are related!!!
Please, keep us posted (really me...cause I'm just a nosey genealogist that way )

Here's a link for ROCK OF AGES.. http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh361.sht and this one
with a bit of history of the hymn.. http://joyfulministry.com/agest.htm

Thanks so much for the link! And your not nosy at all! If it were someone else besides me
i'd wanna know too! LOL Would be great to find relatives, i dont know anyone on my
fathers side of the family, his daddy (my grandfather) was killed when he was 3 years old.
The only relatives i've ever known from my daddys side were my Grandmother, his sister (my Aunt)
and 2 cousins. Guess thats why i got so excited when i read Tricias post....lol

You are so welcomed. I don't know how much you two ladies know of this man, so I was doing abit of genealogical research.

What I can put together from several links I found. This link, however... :
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en...BeSJIQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result

You can download this to your computer...it's the writings of Augustus M. Toplady.
I only found a small portion of his family...but you might find his writings interesting just the same.

Augustus Montague Toplady
B: 4 November 1740, Farnham, Surrey, England
D: 11 August 1778, Kensington, Middlesex, England

Father: Richard Toplady
Mother: Catherine Bate, daughter of Richard Bate

I find he never married ... and it appears he was an only child. One of you mentioned he was alike a great something uncle. Now, to find the genealogy of his mother and father...and see where one of their siblings ties in with your relationship to Augustus. His father died when he was an infant and raised by his mother.

Catherine came from a well to do family. She had two brothers, both where ministers. One was at the rectory of St. Paul's, Deptford. She was married by this brother to Richard Toplady on 21 Dec 1737 in St. Paul's. Catherine and Richard did have two children. One child, a son, Francis, had died in infancy and then Augustus.

Augustus got his name in honour of two gentlemen, who were his godfathers. One name is the Christian name of one them and the other is the surname of the other. The men were Augustus Middleton and Adolphus Montague, both Esquires.

Apparently he keep a diary. It was found after he died with his other manuscripts and was titled: "Short Memorials of God's Gracious Dealings with my Soul in a Way of Spiritual Experience from Dec 6th, 1767."

Story has it, that he wrote ROCK OF AGES while seeking shelter from a thunderstorm in Burrington Coombe. He took shelter between two massive piers of native limestone rock, where he penned the hymn.

Here's a link to his LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT: http://www.btinternet.com/~alan.s.flint/toplady/tpldyswill.htm

Number 8 is quite interesting!!!

This link: http://www.henly.f9.co.uk/history/NTT/Nottingham/mayors.html ...list a Francis Toplady. As mentioned, Richard and Catherine had a son that died in childbirth, named Francis. Could it be possible this Francis could be Richards father or grandfather, not sure of Richard's birth date. It would make sense since their first son was named Richard to be named either after his father or grandfather...just a thought.

Information is scare on him regarding his genealogy...I could only find one newspaper article on him from the 1940's...but nothing to it.

If I find anything else...will post...
Good Luck, this will be a tough case, unless you already have information not found anywhere on the net!!
Annmarie

 

[time4me]

Depends on your definition of famous.

My brother Lou has won around 9 emmy awards for television production / editing work he has done over the years, and my cousin Don writes for Bass Master Magazine - he has been writing the adventures of Harry and Charlie for Bass Master magazine for something like 30 years now.

 

[deepskyal]

Depends on your definition of famous.

Good point...guess I'm famous...participated in a documentaery for Italian TV about the American recession back in 1980.....my dad frequently got published in the "Letters to the Editor" in the Newspaper, and my older brother made it into "Who's who" of colleges after he graduated class valadictorian.

I also have a cousin that authored a book on some history...

"Everyone will have 15 minutes of fame" P.T.Barnum. (Maybe not the exact quote.)

Al

 

[tford62]

My Great Great Grandmother did her family geneology back to two or three generations in England, late 1500's I think.............no royalty, but an Anne Hutchinson that was hanged here in the colonies for being a witch. I believe she is mentioned in some history books. That is on my Mom's side. Her step-father also had 2 former Governors of Maine as ancestors. Nothing on my Dad's side that I know of, wish there was a Henry...............but then I wouldn't need to "prospect" LOL

T. Ford '62

 

[Tricia]

My goodness on all the Rock of Ages "Toplady" stuff. Great research. Heck, I think you put out more info than my relatives even knew. I'll have to dive into this more.

Funny thing about time though, the people who know this stuff are all getting older and passing away. They've written some stuff down but a lot of the information was locked up in memories of names and places.

Did have one cousin who did very extensive research of my Paternal Grandmother's side of the family. He had locked down names and places and dates going back to 18th century. Unfortunately his home burned down while he was in it. Everything was lost including him and I'm pretty sure the other family members never shared his passion in geneology. In fact they thought his hobby was obsessive and tried to talk him out of it. Idiots. So what if someone wants to know about their ancestry and goes full force into the search. It's an honest passionate hobby at least.

Never met my third (or was it fourth) cousin but had planned to meet with him someday and go over all his research. But thanx to the practical shunning he got from his closest relatives, that weren't interested in his hobby, it's all been lost.

It can be found again, if he did, others can but it's not high on my list of priorities at this point in my life.

Guess the lesson here is if Grandma or Grandpa(or whomever) tells you a tale of their past, don't roll your eyes and think...oh no, not again; write down the names and dates. You never know when you'll want to learn more about who you are and where your people came from. And you never know when all that info may disappear because it only existed as a memory.

 

[Mental Granny]

Talked to a family member and was told from my dads side also so many great grandfathers back was a govenor of New York for several terms and there is a museum in NY for him some where in the state ?

 

[PBK]

R2D2

 

[Mental Granny]

VERY COOL!

 

[LadyDigger]

My goodness on all the Rock of Ages "Toplady" stuff. Great research. Heck, I think you put out more info than my relatives even knew. I'll have to dive into this more.

Funny thing about time though, the people who know this stuff are all getting older and passing away. They've written some stuff down but a lot of the information was locked up in memories of names and places.

Did have one cousin who did very extensive research of my Paternal Grandmother's side of the family. He had locked down names and places and dates going back to 18th century. Unfortunately his home burned down while he was in it. Everything was lost including him and I'm pretty sure the other family members never shared his passion in geneology. In fact they thought his hobby was obsessive and tried to talk him out of it. Idiots. So what if someone wants to know about their ancestry and goes full force into the search. It's an honest passionate hobby at least.

Never met my third (or was it fourth) cousin but had planned to meet with him someday and go over all his research. But thanx to the practical shunning he got from his closest relatives, that weren't interested in his hobby, it's all been lost.

It can be found again, if he did, others can but it's not high on my list of priorities at this point in my life.

Guess the lesson here is if Grandma or Grandpa(or whomever) tells you a tale of their past, don't roll your eyes and think...oh no, not again; write down the names and dates. You never know when you'll want to learn more about who you are and where your people came from. And you never know when all that info may disappear because it only existed as a memory.

Tricia, you couldn't be more correct in your last statement. My youngest sister, when I took some pics I had made for her and my other siblings of our grandfather and his grandfather, she said, "Who are these people?" I pointed out our grandfather at approx age 10 with his grandfather. She said, "Why do I want these? I don't know them." I said, "You know your grandfather and they are your kin." She said, "They were dead. She doesn't need to know them." I left her with the pics. My other sisters and brother were so excited to get them ....

I wish I had asked my grandparents more questions. They all died in my early 20's, when I was just starting my genealogical quest and at the time of their deaths, I was away from home (in the Navy). I had started in '74, but not full force, I was just learning how to do it. So there were alot of things I just did not know what to do!!! However, after loosing two grandmothers and a grandfather, I had one left to really talk too. My grandfather was 91 at the time and my mother said if I could have seen from her view the look on my grandfather's face, I would have really known how much he enjoyed our session! He told me about his childhood, how they would set paperbags with dog mess in them on fire and put them on the steps of the victims home, or how they would tip the toilets in the alley (as homes did not have indoor plumbing at the time)....or how he and a brother would go to the neighbors field and eat apples till they felt their tummy bust and go home and could not eat dinner!! How he loved horses and he had left home at 16 and NEVER went back. He served in WWI in France. I have a pic of him in uniform. He worked in Kentucky with horses, in Milwaukee for a luggage/bag company building luggage (when he first got out of the Army), work wor the man who owned Hanover Shoes. That is why granddaddy never wore shoes unless they were HANOVER, only wore long white sleeve ARROW Shirts and black pants. I can't remember the brand of the pants! When I was stationed in DC, I would drive home every other weekend and I would stop in the city on my way to Long Island to pick up Granddaddy and we would always stop for a hot dog and he ALWAYS insisted he pay for it....we would argue about it, but granddaddy always won! I was very close to him, he was the only one I had left!!! He died at the age of 92 of old age. I have his cremains with me, since 1982. When I go, I will be cremated and Granddaddy and I will have a military burial at sea!!! We are both Veterans!

In that short time of my adult life, I really learned so much about my granddaddy and the man he was. When folks say this hobby is needless, worthless, stupid, why should they care...well, all I can say is ... someday you will want to know, someday you may need to know, and medical family history is so very important too! In my opinion....I feel children have that right to know their roots, we are the dreams, the desires, the hopes, the joys of our ancestors and to know them....we learn about ourselves! It's funny though....when money / inheritance is involved, funny how those who don't care to know, suddenly have an interest!!! LOL.

And in the eyes of a child, there is always someone in your immediate family who is their hero, famous person!!! They may not be the Queen of England, a famous politician, an Actor/Actress....but could just be someone who took the time to care, not about themselves, but others! Someone who took time to bring a smile to someone, to give someone something to survive, someone who opened their hearts and homes to others in need. So as TIME4ME stated: "Depends on your defination of FAMOUS!"

I think the range of what everyone wrote is pretty amazing!!! Keep posting!!
Blessings to you all and yours,
Annmarie

 

[Mental Granny]

Annemarie you are so truly blessed to have such wonderful memories, memories for a life time I am happy for you!

 

[LadyDigger]

Annemarie you are so truly blessed to have such wonderful memories, memories for a life time I am happy for you!

Thank You Granny, unfortunately, there aren't that many memories, so I do cherish the ones I do have. And I am sure you have many wonderful memories you will be able to share with your loved ones!

I found an obit of my 2nd great grandmother, who was considered a PIONEER WOMAN of Mankato, MN. Her obit stated that in the title of her obit and was written so nicely. After reading it, I felt I knew her without ever meeting her.

Blessings to you Granny,
Annmarie

 

[rjwmam]

My grandmother's cousin is Wyatt Cooper who is a famous author and actor who was married to Gloria Vanderbilt who is the mother of Anderson Cooper from CNN. My 3rd great grandfather is Wilford Woodruf who was an early Mormon church prophet. There are some others in there from English and European Royalty but I would have to go back into our genealogy and doublecheck it.

 

[garrettfan2]

my uncle,Leon Wilkeson, played bass guitar for Lynyrd Skynyrd. this was my mothers brother. they were from Jax,FL. he was on the plane that crashed in 1977, but was not killed. unfortunately, he has passed now, a few years back. he lived a wild life, but i believe he got things right with the Lord near the end of his life. i have enjoyed reading all of these posts. gf2 in texas

 

[Noodle]

Well, sorta. Lewis & Clark folks. Meriwether Lewis never married. However, his mother had a sister, who turns out to be my 8th-great-grandmother. The Lewis and Clark families were so intertwined, with cousins marrying cousins, it's no wonder I turned out the way I did. -Noodle

 

[gollum]

The Marquis de Lafayette

and

Sir Lord Baltimore (not the one who founded Maryland) a famous Indian Tracker. One of the people Pinkerton hired to track down Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Best-Mike