My interest in family history began at the age of twelve. A distant relative was doing the family history on one of our lines and determined we were related to Davy Crockett. {His 2nd wife, Elizabeth Patton Crockett, was the sister to my 4x-Great-Grandfather, George Patton}.
From that point on I was interested in my family roots and heritage. Several years later, I began researching my other family lines.
So what do you do if you’re related to a famous person?
- Learn all you can of his/her life—both the good and bad
- Know the facts
- Decide to either embrace the fact or distant yourself
- Realize that you can’t force a family connection if there isn’t one {for instance you really want to be related to George Washington. He had no children. You can’t make yourself a descendant.}
- Understand that more than likely you’re not the only person related to this person.
- Learn from the person and the lessons s/he left
- Don’t lie about the relationship
- Determine how s/he affected the lives of your direct ancestors and others in the family
- Be proud of your heritage
What famous people are you related to?