yet another reason to love bogie

According to Ancestry.com's One World tree, and a little service they offer called "Find Famous Relatives" the actor Humphrey Bogart, always a favorite of mine, is the 8th Great Grand Nephew of Governor Thomas Welles of Connecticut. Governor Welles is my 10th great grandfather. So somehow this must mean that I am distantly connected to Mr. Bogart. Key word distant, but still, it's pretty cool. Here's looking at, and researching, you, kid.

Now if I'm to believe Ancestry.com, I would also be, via Governor Welles, related to these folks, too:

Henry David Thoreau
Emily Dickinson
O. Henry
Julia Child
John Wayne
Georgia O'Keefe
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Walt Whitman
Lucille Ball
Norman Rockwell
Robert H. Goddard
Bette Davis
George Orwell
Alfred Tennyson
Jane Austen
Audrey Hepburn

Hmmm ... that's a lot of people. Some of my all-time favorites, but still ... I guess in Governor Welles's case it's not too surprising that he might be the start of many genealogical lines, as he came to America from England in the early 1630s and was the first treasurer of the Colony of Connecticut, later becoming its 17th governor in 1655.

Celebrity connections are not why I am interested in genealogy. I do love finding out little connections to history. But I suppose this feature is available to help spur folks' interest in researching their families. Looking at the list I have to admit I might be taking a peek at it again in the future to see who comes up.

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