It's a small world, after all. At least that's what we've been told.
With the rise of social media, we are more connected than ever before. At least that's what we are being told.
But there are some connections that neither the population of the world nor your number of followers on Facebook can influence. Those are your family connections.
It's true that you can pick your friends, but you cannot pick your family. I find it interesting to look through the family tree (not passing by the woodpile) and discovering people with some or a lot of notoriety.
I am connected to a person that was "born to be wild."
My mother's name is Sheila Simkin. You might know her from her wonderful travel site, TravelsWithSheila.com.
Her maiden name was Monarch. Her father (my grandfather) was named Harry Monarch. I loved my Grandpa Harry and wished he would have lived to see his grandchildren.
Harry had a brother named Al, and Al had a son. The son's name was Michael Monarch.
Michael is my First Cousin Once Removed. I never understood how this worked until I read about it on Wikipedia.
In this example, I would be in the position of Frank and Michael would be in the position of Emma. There is one generation between us, therefore, "cousins once removed"
So who is Michael Monarch?
He's this guy.
A guy with a guitar? Yup. And you've heard him play before.
From 1967 - 1969 he was the lead guitarist with the band Steppenwolf. According to his Wikipedia page, he played on the hits "Born to Be Wild", "Magic Carpet Ride" and "Rock Me" while still in high school. He also played on Janis Joplin's album "I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!". He later went on to record for the SwanSong/Atlantic recording group Detective.
Monarch performs with other 1960s and 1970s rockers in the supergroup World Classic Rockers.
So how about you? Please tell me me and my readers who you are related to, or suspect you might be related to. And none of that "I was Queen Isabel in a former life" nonsense, please. Use the comments field below.
And Michael Monarch, if you ever read this please drop me a line. Would be great to meet you. Rock on!
I am the 7th great grandson of Patrick Henry (Famous for "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death Speech").
I remember playing "Born To Be Wild" in band...lol! Good song!
I'm actually related to 2 famous people. The 1st was Captain John Ratcliffe who was a captain on one of the first 3 ships that sailed to America. Disney made a villain out of him in the animated movie "Pocahontas".
The second one is Elvis Presley who is a 3rd cousin. I never met him but my dad knew him.
I'm related to the founder of the Kraft Cheese company, now Kraft foods.
But it was several generations back, there were 13 kids in one generation, 4 of them adopted, the records burned in a church fire, and though there is a relation, it's down a family tree a ways back.
Thanks for the meeting yesterday, and for the info-session on 1st cousin once removed!
Jonathan
I'm related to Adam and Eve. They ran a garden shop in Eden till some snake in the grass stole their lease.
They are not famous but my first ancestry to America were the the Shaws and the Sleepers. My great-grandfather changed his name to Gifford.
This couple were two of the twelve families to settle New Hampshire, in a town call Sleepertown, in the 1630s. They had like 15 children so just about every Shaw and Sleeper you meet must be a cousin.
Interesting post.
I am Canadian but anyone with my (maiden) last name is related to me somehow. One such person is Colonel Fletcher Prouty who was Chief of Special Operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President John F. Kennedy. He maintained that there was a conspiracy involved in JFK's death.
there was also a relative who was an outlaw and road with the Dalton gang.
And I have no verification of this, but an ancestor here in Canada is thought to be the first murder victim (outside of war) in the 1700's.
Well now I'm going to be at the computer all day, I see...
On my mother's side, I'm a direct descendant of John Adams. His great-granddaughter, Lucy Adams of Boston, met Jeff Davis' brother or 1st cousin in Washington circles (our family's merger of north and south!)...and my maternal grandmother (Dannie Davis Maples) was their youngest daughter (20 years younger than her oldest sister!). Her husband was descended from the Maples in Wales for whom the maple tree was named, and came very close to winning Georgia's gubernatorial election.
My father's family... traced the Jordans (3rd wave Jamestown 402-1/2 years ago) and Hamptons (will celebrate 400th anniversary of coming to America in 7-1/2 years) in detail since their arrival here... and included Civil War General, Wade Hampton's, first cousin, William Wade Hampton Senior, who later became the first president of the forerunner of the Florida Bar Association and, with his buddy the Governor, was probably most responsible for bringing the University of Florida to Gainesville (among many other things).
Many New England families from the early 1600's dot my family tree. And because of this, I am a cousin to 26 US President's, in one way or another. But I like to talk about Edward Rawson, Secretary of State for the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and his descendants. Even here of the Rev. Grindal Rawson? Yep, he is an XXX-Great Grandfather!
My new book is just released. See how genealogy has played a role in my career path.
I can't recall the name, and I loaned my copy of the family tree to my mother-in-law (just now remembered that, need it back!), but one ancestor on my father's side was an accused witch in Salem. She refused to confess.
I'm related to the first bishop of Upper Canada, Bishop Alexander MacDonell, obviously through one of Alexander's brothers. Dad showed us the statue of him in Kingston, Ontario when we were kids. In the Catholic encyclopedia Bishop Alexander MacDonell is described as the Apostle of Ontario (linked to my name above). It's also believed that Alexander MacDonell was the brother of the chief of the MacDonell's of Glengarry, Scotland. We don't know the birth date, marriage date or death date of our great grand father. He was a great lake ships captain. He went down with his ship off of Oswego, New York and his grave is somewhere up by former Glengarry County, Ontario (now the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry). So a trip to eastern Ontario and western Quebec are in store. In 2002 the new government in Scotland abolished feudalism, which was ratified in 2004. Since then the question that is being asked is "who owns Scotland?" So when we find our great grand father's and our connection back to Scotland we may have to stake our claim to a large portion of Scotland. (wink)
I don't pay any attention to which famous people I'm related to. I let them boast about being related to me.
In the early '70's, my Oberlin College history professor, the late Geoffrey Blodgett, encouraged me to contact Alex Haley before Roots ever appeared on television to learn the origin of my family name -- Ming. I was too busy trying to graduate.
Since then, I've traced my name as far as the islands of Bermuda and Trinidad -- not to China. But I learned recently that I share great grandparents with Gloria Hendry, who was 007's first African American romantic interest in "Live and Let Die," where she played opposite Roger Moore. In my mind, that's way cooler than finding a link to China.
I'm related to Davy Crockett on my mother's side of the family. He is an great great ... uncle. :) That's where the red hair comes from in my family.
It appears that Stew and I are cousins once removed as well. I am also related to the same Adam and Eve that lost their lease. :-) Steppenwolf was one of my fav bands back in the day btw. Thanks for a fun and interesting post Joel.
Cheers,
Dr. John
This surely an interesting topic that I don't want to miss
the comment section. I am related to Anthony who is the
son of my third older brother.He has just finished his education
from a Bible college and started to serve Jesus as a youth pastor
last year and I feel happy for him.:-)
My Grandfather's last name when he came from Russia just before the Bolshevik Revolution was Tomen-Tolstoy. He dropped the Tolstoy when he got to Montreal. Not sure why ... :-)
My ancestor of note was Captain Henri Mouzon. A surveyor by trade, he drew the first accurate maps of North and South Carolina. He also was a plantation owner, and was apparently the model for Mel Gibson's character in The Patriot. I don't know this for a fact, but the stories match almost perfectly.
I'm related to Zeke Proctor, an Indian outlaw. Larry McMurtry wrote a book about him - Zeke and Ned.
Hi Joel,
Miss seeing your E-mails as regularly these days :-(
Not sure I'm linked to anyone quite as awesome - just loved Steppenwolf in the 60's and particularly 'Born to be Wild' - it's regularly playing in the car when I go for drive-a-bouts :-)
(Maybe where your DJ-ing talent sprang from?)
Cheers ------ Pete
I see we have two different Mikes in a row.
Related to Jesse James on my dad's side. My mom has done hours and hours of family tree research. It has been interesting.
I haven't tried tracking my family tree. Hmmm, this seems a good idea to do over the weekend.