And There Was a Second Iceberg on the Grassy Knoll

It wasn't the Titanic that sank on the night of April 14, 1912—it was its identical twin, the Olympic.

While Olympic was being patched up after her encounter with Hawke the solution to the owners' and builder's problems would have became obvious. Even as they cannibalised parts from the second, almost complete and practically identical, sister ship the idea of a complete switch must have occurred. After all, It wouldn't be the first or last time that the identities of ships had been transferred one to another. To this day the most common major maritime fraud is to switch the names of ships. If the ships were switched then the damaged Olympic, masquerading as her sister Titanic, could be lost at sea and an insurance claim made. [Link, via Metafilter]

Heads I Win, Tails You Lose

Marilyn Grace is certain that William Henry Long, who died in Utah in 1936, was actually the famous outlaw Harry Alonzo Longabaugh.

"We found the real Sundance Kid,” said Grace, a documentary filmmaker in St. George, Utah.

Grace said a DNA sample from an apparent relative of Longabaugh will be compared to DNA from Long’s remains, which had been exhumed for the purpose.

She said the "definitive” evidence so far consists of photographic comparisons by John McCullough, University of Utah anthropologist, who concluded there was a 99 percent chance the photos of Longabaugh and Long were of the same person. If the DNA is not a match, Grace said, it might be because the living donor is not really a Longabaugh descendant, Grace said. If it’s positive, it proves Long was the Kid.

"Either way, we win,” she said. [Link]

Another Desilu Production?

Cassandria Carlson is seeking DNA to prove that her mother was the child of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball.

With help from Stamford private detective Vito Colucci Jr. and Greenwich lawyer Cynthia Hartwell, Carlson is out to prove that her late mother Madeline Jane Dee was the secret first child of Ball and Cuban band leader Desi Arnaz, who eloped at the Byram River Beagle Club in Greenwich in 1940.

Carlson, 38, a married mother of three from Schaumburg, Ill., claims that her mother was put up for adoption shortly after she was born in 1947 because her very existence would have interfered with Ball's career, which took off with the 1951 debut of "I Love Lucy."

Now, she is asking the famous couple's family members, two of whom live in the area, to submit to a DNA test. [Link, via @familybuilder]

Just Say N.O.

Genealogue reader Kathi Mayor sends news that Mayor Ray Nagin has instructed Hurricane Katrina victims who plan someday to return to New Orleans to record the city as their place of residence in the 2010 census.

The unusual appeal flies in the face of a federal policy dating back more than two centuries that requires people to be counted, with few exceptions, at the address where they are "living or staying" on the official census day, which falls next year on April 1.

"The residency rule is what it's been since 1790," said Gabriel Sanchez, director of the Census Bureau's regional office in Dallas, which oversees Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. "We need to count people where they live, not where they plan to live or where they want to live." [Link]

More good advice from Mayor Nagin: When the bungee-jump operator asks how much you weigh, tell him how much you plan to weigh when you finally get around to dieting.

"McDreamy" Could Have Been a Schlossnagle

Tonight's Genealogy Wise post is about Patrick Dempsey, who grew up a couple towns away from me. If I'd had his talent and good looks, I would be kissing Amy Adams onscreen and he would be sitting here writing lame blog posts.

The Perfect Place to 'Play Possum'

A small bit of good news out of the sordid disinterment scandal in Illinois: the body of civil rights martyr Emmett Till was left undisturbed. His former casket was not so lucky.

His body was exhumed in 2005 for forensics tests and then, as is customary, interred in another coffin.

[T]he original casket that was supposed to be placed on display at a memorial was found inside a garage, surrounded by discarded headstones and other debris, on cemetery property. When it was opened by police, a family of possums scurried out. [Link]

Is Wil Wheaton Jewish?

Tonight at Genealogy Wise I ask, "Is Wil Wheaton Jewish?" Tomorrow I will attempt to answer the question, "Is Corey Haim Still Alive?"