You could have knocked me over with a feather when I discovered 2 years ago that my bloggy friend Sonya Ann and I are related. We are 9th cousins.
She and I are descended from Captain Samuel Snead(my 10th Great Grandfather, her 9th Great Grandfather).
He was our first Snead to immigrate to American. Samuel came to the Virginia Colony with his wife, Alice Gallimore Snead and their son, William, in 1635.
Our most recent shared ancestor is Samuel Sneed's grandson, John Sneed, who married Alice Tinsley.
From there our ancestor's branch off, Sonya's line being the son William Sneed of New Kent, Virginia and mine, the son Samuel Sneed of Hanover, Virginia. Back then, name spellings were quite fluid, Snyd or Snead one time, Sneed the next time. Over the years the spelling of the name got standardized in her line to SNEED, my line to SNEAD, but it's the same family line.
One of the famous cousins we share--Golfer Sam Sneed. My 6th cousin 3x removed.
Anyway, who would have thunk it, that I'd find a long lost cousin in blogland?
So imagine my surprise when I had my last giveaway and the winner, chosen at random, had the same last name as the maiden name of one of my 3rd Great Grandmothers!
I emailed her if she knew anything about her family history and after some back and forth we discovered that we share an ancestor in Abraham Stapp II who married Dorothy Moss 1678. Abraham was 2nd generation of that family born in America. We are 8th cousins 2x removed(I am straight 8th cousins with her grandfather).
One of the famous people we almost share, Scott Stapp of the grunge band Creed. He took his stepfather's surname so genetically we aren't cousins.
But we do share this guy.....
Kentucky legend & frontiersman Moses Stepp. That's his grave in Martin County, KY.
I find this happening every time I turn around. I find ancestral connections to people I meet in my life.
More recently I was talking to another blogger buddy, Jay, and he said he was related to Roy Rogers(Roy's real name was Leonard Franklin Slye).
Well I went to look up Roy's parents and Leonard's mother was named Mattie Womack. Gee, I have a line of Womacks in my family lines. I traced Roy's maternal side Womack line back a bit and wouldn't you know, it flows back to Prince Edward County, Virginia, where my Womack's were too.
I feel confident that once I do some more digging I'll find the actual link to Roy Rogers maternal line of Womacks to mine.
So far on the paternal side of Sly family I haven't done enough research to connect Jay but he says it is there.
So while Jay and I aren't cousins we are both probably each related to Roy Rogers, Jay through the paternal line and me through the maternal line, so we are from allied families.
It sure is a small, small ancestral world we live in.
Have you done any genealogy research that led you back to famous or infamous people in your family tree?
Sluggy
She and I are descended from Captain Samuel Snead(my 10th Great Grandfather, her 9th Great Grandfather).
He was our first Snead to immigrate to American. Samuel came to the Virginia Colony with his wife, Alice Gallimore Snead and their son, William, in 1635.
Our most recent shared ancestor is Samuel Sneed's grandson, John Sneed, who married Alice Tinsley.
From there our ancestor's branch off, Sonya's line being the son William Sneed of New Kent, Virginia and mine, the son Samuel Sneed of Hanover, Virginia. Back then, name spellings were quite fluid, Snyd or Snead one time, Sneed the next time. Over the years the spelling of the name got standardized in her line to SNEED, my line to SNEAD, but it's the same family line.
Anyway, who would have thunk it, that I'd find a long lost cousin in blogland?
So imagine my surprise when I had my last giveaway and the winner, chosen at random, had the same last name as the maiden name of one of my 3rd Great Grandmothers!
I emailed her if she knew anything about her family history and after some back and forth we discovered that we share an ancestor in Abraham Stapp II who married Dorothy Moss 1678. Abraham was 2nd generation of that family born in America. We are 8th cousins 2x removed(I am straight 8th cousins with her grandfather).
But we do share this guy.....
I find this happening every time I turn around. I find ancestral connections to people I meet in my life.
More recently I was talking to another blogger buddy, Jay, and he said he was related to Roy Rogers(Roy's real name was Leonard Franklin Slye).
Well I went to look up Roy's parents and Leonard's mother was named Mattie Womack. Gee, I have a line of Womacks in my family lines. I traced Roy's maternal side Womack line back a bit and wouldn't you know, it flows back to Prince Edward County, Virginia, where my Womack's were too.
I feel confident that once I do some more digging I'll find the actual link to Roy Rogers maternal line of Womacks to mine.
So far on the paternal side of Sly family I haven't done enough research to connect Jay but he says it is there.
So while Jay and I aren't cousins we are both probably each related to Roy Rogers, Jay through the paternal line and me through the maternal line, so we are from allied families.
It sure is a small, small ancestral world we live in.
Have you done any genealogy research that led you back to famous or infamous people in your family tree?
Sluggy
Thank you for the linky love. And thank you for doing all of the genealogy stuff that I'm not smart enough to do. I'm glad that we are family.
ReplyDeleteSo far only a few drunkards (see, we could be related:), a bigamist and a few child abandoners. Good people.
ReplyDeleteOh wow! A shout out from a famous blogger!
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother's maiden name was Slye, and from the exact same region of KY as Leonard's family. I've done the research to confirm it! I love that I have one famous relative!
Peace <3
Jay
I still say my relatives were somehow related to Andy Griffith. Those ears, shock of hair, and toothy grin are telling. And, my North Carolina ancestors were close enough to have connected. You should see the pictures of my mother's cousins and my uncles.
ReplyDeleteI probably have a bunch of ne'er-do-wells in my family tree.
Well they may be....I have just not found the connection yet. This genealogy stuff sometimes takes a very long time.
DeleteAnd I'd hazard to guess we ALL have lot of ne'er-do-wells in our trees. lolz
Using the information that you gave me about working out relationships here is one that is quite interesting this side of the pond.
ReplyDeleteDH's 1st cousin 2 x removed married a lady who was a renowned children's author and I have been steadily collecting her books. They are usually about Girl Guides (Girl Scouts) and illustrated with her own black & white photographs. She also wrote lots of those school stories (think Chalet School) that were popular in the 1940s & 1950s.
Her grandfather however was Frederick Doulton founder of the Doulton Lambeth Pottery - part of what is now Royal Doulton China.
Interesting findings! I have never heard of the Chalet School before.
DeleteIt's amazing what relationships you find back in your ancestry once you start digging. 8-)