So, for most of my life I’ve heard the family folklore that we are related to Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross. I’ve been searching my family history to find if this is true for years, to no avail. Until yesterday.
Using Ancestry.com, I finally managed to find the link! It wasn’t easy, but it’s there! Here goes:
— Matthew Barton had several kids, two of those boys being Samuel & Edmund.
— Edmund had a son named Stephen, who had a son named Stephen, who had 5 kids, the baby of the family being Clarissa Harlowe Barton, aka Clara Barton the Angel of the battle field.
— Edmund’s Big Brother Samuel had a few kids, the oldest was a boy named Samuel. Sammy Jr. had a crapload of kids, one of whom was named Bezeleel. Not making that up. Bezeleel had a boy named Benjamin, who had a son named Frye (after his mother’s maiden name). Frye had a boy who went by W. B. Now W.B. had a baby girl named Agnes, who grew up to marry my great-great grampa Henry.
So I think that makes Clara my 2nd cousin, 7 times removed on my Mother’s paternal great-great-grandmother’s side.
Awesome.