Archives for Are we related?
Are we related to Barack Obama?
The short answer is: sort of. President Barack Obama's maternal GGGG grandfather Thomas L. Clark settled in Canton, Missouri around 1835. All of Thomas' 11 children were born there and they lived there at the same time our family (Surnames: Wagner, Eckert, Hetzler, Giegerich, Vesper). Obama's ggg grandfather Christopher Columbus Clark is buried in the same cemetery (Forest Grove) in Canton as our ancestors. By searching through the Canton newspaper, I found multiple connections that…
We’re All Connected
It turns out that my half siblings and a close friend and his mother and my mother are all distant cousins, at least by marriage. It wasn’t some deep dark secret the family had kept hidden. I only just stumbled on it. Sometimes I think that instead of a tree, my family works better as a spirograph or vines that twist and tangle onto themselves as they grow in all directions. READ:
Are we related to John Philip Sousa?
Yes! We ARE related to the famous American conductor and composer John Philip Sousa (1854-1932). Sousa is best known for composing the marches "The Stars and Stripes Forever" (National March of the USA) and "Semper Fidelis" (official march of the United States Marine Corps). John Philip Sousa was born in Washington, , the third of ten children of João António de Sousa (John Anthony Sousa) who was born in Spain, though of Portuguese ancestry, and…
Are we related to Daniel Boone?
As I entered names on my Thornton side, I noticed a few Boones popping up. They weren't in my direct line, so I made a mental note and moved on. My ancestors came from Southwest Virginia, not that far from North Carolina. So I knew it was possible, even likely. But when I started entering the name Bertelot for my direct ancestors, I started paying a little more attention. Daniel Boone lived near Bertelots in…
Are we related to Richard Wagner, the composer?
Probably not. There has always been some curiosity in our family as to whether we are related to the German composer (1813 – 1883). I’ve never found any connection, and he was born after our ancestor John Wagner was born in 1805. It is possible they have common ancestors. However, Wagner is a very common German name. Richard was from Leipzig, about 300 miles to the east of where our Wagners lived in Elleringhausen. I…
Thornton DNA Update
For years, many people (including me) have assumed our Thorntons descended from William "the immigrant" or Luke (spoiler alert - we aren't). William and Luke immigrated from England in the 1600s and settled in Virginia. Their descendants were connected to some famous names - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and others out of America’s history book. They owned huge plantations, and had many children. It made sense that these Thorntons were our ancestors - the time,…
Are we related to Matthew Thornton?
There is a rumor in our family that we are descended from Matthew Thornton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Our Thorntons came from England and Matthew Thornton immigrated from Ireland. Sorry