Why 14-year-old-girls everywhere are begging for genealogy lessons

Why 14-year-old-girls everywhere are begging for genealogy lessons

Just in time for the release of yet another Twilight movie, Ancestry.com announced an exciting discovery about heartthrob and leading star Robert Pattinson.

Apparently America’s most tweeted vampire is distantly related to Vlad the Impaler, yes, the infamous Romanian Prince who inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Meaning Pattison has more than just natural talent for acting sulky, sultry and undead. He does in fact have bloodsucking in his, well, bloodline.

But other than the obvious publicity this announcement gives to the Twilight saga, perhaps it will also act as a catalyst for tweens everywhere to get more involved in genealogy. Along with this revelation came the announcement that the Pattinson-Dracula connection extends to the British royal family as well. Dracula, Prince William and Prince Harry? Be still my heart!

Perhaps it was fate that Pattison accepted a role that runs in the family, or maybe it was just a really lucky break. But either way, we’re hoping this creates even more awareness in a younger generation about the “cool” factor of genealogy.

So what about you? Have you found any startling discoveries in your past that explain some of the life choices you’ve made? Do you think it’s just a coincidence, or do you think it runs in your [enter Dracula cackle] blood?

Geography Lessons

Geography Lessons

Want to learn your family history? Get a degree in geography.

Many beginning researchers believe that the most important documents they can find on their family are birth certificates, marriage licenses, and burial records. While all of these are vital, don't overlook another crucial family history document—the hard-to-fold but indispensable map.

When doing family history research, it's important to put your ancestors not only in their place in time, but also in their place in geography. Our ancestors, just like us, were going actual places. If you have never been to those places yourself, looking at a map gives you a better understanding of how your ancestors lived their lives.

If family legend relates the story of Great-Grandpa going to visit Great-Grandma every Friday before they were married, one learns a lot more about their dedication to each other if the two towns are thirty miles apart.

This is the tiny island where my paternal line comes from. Can any of you aspiring cartographers identify it? I'll send a few The Generations Project Season One episodes on DVD to the first person to correctly answer.


In the meantime, start looking around and asking relatives about ancestral locations. You never know what you might learn from looking at a map. Just don't ask me how to get it folded back up correctly when you're done.

It's a Small World

It's a Small World

Have you ever wondered what the degree of separation is between you and the person next to you in line at the grocery store?

Years ago a new family moved in next door to my family. After getting acquainted we made a fun discovery: the father was my mother's fourth cousin (or something like that). We even found his picture in a family history book belonging to my mother. Small world.

And then I remembered an old ancestor of mine—John Lathrop (or Lothrop, or Lothropp, etc.). A member of the English Anglican clergy, he was exiled to America in 1634 because of his independent thinking regarding the doctrine and practices of the Anglican church. After he arrived in the States, he had 5 more children, adding up to a grand total of 13. If you do any research about him, you'll find that he is EVERYBODY's something-great-grandfather. By that logic, I think I'm distantly related to several presidents of the United States, and probably several of you reading this. Hi cousins!

Speaking of being related—last month I ran into a woman at a genealogy conference who had a database that connected people to each other. Her goal was to show people how they were related in order to promote a greater sense of community, commonality, and cooperation.

Would that change your perception of others—knowing that you might be related? For me it kind of brings home the idea of a "human family." If everyone could see how intertwined our common ancestry is, would it really change human interaction? What do you think?