Home 

About Me

Orchard

Mysteries

Museum

Mysteries

Short

Stories

Single Titles

Genealogy

The more time I spend hunting for New England ancestors, the more I become convinced that they all knew each other, and half of them married each other's brother or sister. 

It's become a challenge for me:  I can walk into any gathering in Massachusetts and show that I'm related to at least one person in the room.  Usually it's more than one.  It seldom fails.

I'd love to see genealogy lose its "snooty" stigma--I research my ancestors not to prove I'm better than anybody else, but because it makes me feel connected to the past.  As I keep telling people, if any one of those people back up the line had been someone else, I would not be who I am today.  Besides, it's fun!  Not to mention great training for a mystery writer.

Here's what I've got so far--and it's an ever-growing list. (In case you're curious, there's not a Cabot or a Lodge in sight--but I'm working on it.  Not a a lot of rich people or power-brokers, either, although I can point to a few who went broke rather publicly.)

Go back to Genealogy page

Emily Dickinson

Sixth cousin five times removed

Ethan Allen

Third cousin eight times removed

John Greenleaf Whittier

Fourth cousin seven times removed

John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed)

Third cousin five times removed AND

Fifth cousin five times removed AND

Fifth cousin six times removed

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fifth cousin five times removed AND

Half sixth cousin five times removed

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Half fourth cousin five times removed AND

Half fifth cousin five times removed

Half second cousin eight times removed AND

Third cousin seven times removed

Fourth cousin five times removed AND

Fifth cousin five times removed

Fourth cousin eight times removed

Clara Barton

Third cousin six times removed

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Sixth cousin four times removed

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Seventh cousin three times removed AND

Eighth cousin once removed AND

Eighth cousin twice removed

And let us not forget those relatives accused of witchcraft in 1692:

     Nehemiah Abbot

First cousin nine times removed

     Elizabeth Bassett

Eighth great-grand-aunt

     Mary Bridges

Eighth great-grand-aunt

     Edward Farrington

First cousin ten times removed

     John Floyd

Eighth great-grandfather

     Rebecca Nurse

First cousin ten times removed

     Mary Osgood

Ninth great-grandmother AND

Eighth great-grand-aunt

And if you want something really weird,

my daughter is

Daughter AND

Ninth cousin once removed AND

Half ninth cousin once removed AND

Tenth cousin once removed AND

Half tenth cousin once removed AND

Eleventh cousin AND

Half eleventh cousin once removed

Home | About Me | Orchard Mysteries| Museum Mysteries | County Cork Mysteries | Short Stories | Single Titles |

 Genealogy |

Contact