Genealogue Challenge No. 127

Today is Bea Arthur's birthday.

What were the names of her maternal grandparents, and where are they buried?

You Mean He Wasn't a Hunchbacked Woman?

More news on the search for Friedrich Schiller's earthly remains. Neither of the skulls thought to belong to the poet was his, and the two accompanying skeletons were found to "contain bones from at least six people."

Five members of the Schiller family were exhumed in the process to provide the DNA samples for comparison. They found no matching DNA among either of the poet's supposed bodies.

They determined that the skull found by von Froriep was far off the mark. Instead of Schiller, a large man, it actually belonged to a hunchbacked woman, who through analysis of the bones and historical records they later showed was a lady of the court whom Schiller was known to have disliked while alive. The jawbone belonged to another woman entirely.

The other skull was so similar to Schiller's death mask that it confounded even contemporary anthropologists, leading one to say that it belonged to Schiller's "Doppelgänger." The fact that this close match had seven strange teeth inserted post-mortem has led one of the experts who worked on the documentary to the conclusion that it was fixed to look like Schiller's skull and that the real one was stolen. [Link]

Genealogue Challenge #126

This thread discusses Stephen and Emilie Preen, who lived in Newark, New Jersey, in 1900.

Who was their very famous step-grandchild?

Mel Brooks Says Uncle

When Mel Brooks was presented with an Ellis Island Family Heritage Award last week, a video clip was played to commemorate his father's arrival in America.

It was a moving tribute, with old family photos shown while "That's Entertainment" played.

One problem.

"That photo was not of my father," Brooks said after taking the stage. "That was my great-uncle." He went on to say that while his uncle was a good-looking man who "wore a nice hat," as seen in the snapshot, his father, Max Kaminsky, was better looking. [Link]

Well, He Did Write the History of the World

The 2008 Ellis Island Family Heritage Awards will be handed out tomorrow morning. Once again, I've been passed over. Apparently you have to have accomplished something worthwhile in your life to even be considered.

The 2008 Ellis Island Family Heritage Awards Honorees:

LITERATURE
Mary Higgins Clark — The Bronx-born bestselling suspense writer has sold over 85 million books in the U.S. alone and credits her Irish heritage for her storytelling talent. Mrs. Higgins Clark’s newest novel is “Where Are You Now?”. Her father came from Ireland in 1906.


BUSINESS
The Forbes Family — “Forbes,” the oldest of the nation’s major business magazines, was founded in 1917 by Scottish immigrant B.C. Forbes, who first arrived in America in 1904. B.C.’s descendants continue to manage Forbes Media Inc., a privately held company which publishes “Forbes” in eight foreign languages, reaching five million readers worldwide.


EDUCATION
Donna E. Shalala — President, University of Miami, Dr. Shalala has more than 25 years of experience as an accomplished scholar, teacher and administrator. Under President Clinton, she served eight years as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, becoming the longest serving HHS Secretary in U.S. history. Her paternal grandfather came from Lebanon in 1900.

ENTERTAINMENT
Mel Brooks — Director, producer, writer and actor, Mel Brooks has created many comedy film classics as well as the popular television show “Get Smart.” His latest project is “The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein” currently playing on Broadway. His father emigrated from Austria as a child in 1896.

Challenge #125 Update

The last Challenge was a hard one, so let me give you another clue:

The question perhaps should have been phrased "What was Bob's family connection to the town?" Say, prior to 1977.

Fergie Not Full-Bred Enough to Represent

We already knew that pop star Fergie descended from sheep thieves. Now we learn from Latina magazine that she has Hispanic ancestry as well.

“Yes, I have Mexican in my ancestry,” said Fergie. “My Dad's grandmother was born in Guanajuato. I’m very proud of it; that’s probably where I get my fire! I’m mostly Scottish-Irish, though.”

So, why all the ambiguity around her latinidad before, you might ask? “I don’t go around claiming it big time,” the singer explained, “because there are many more full-bred Latinas that are out there to represent.” [Link]

A Dramatic Discovery

While researching her autobiography, Helen Mirren discovered that she was born to perform.

"I think it has to be genetic. One of my Russian ancestors started the first theatre in Russia, a serf theatre on his estate in the 18th century. It was one of the very first formal theatres.

"But my mother was a huge drama queen, so it could have come from her side of the family also." [Link]

Genealogue Challenge #125

I just ordered tickets to see Bob Dylan next month, so here's a challenge in his honor.

Kennett Square Borough, Pennsylvania, is The Mushroom Capital of the World.

What's Bob's family connection to the town?

Update: Another clue.

Hey Lydia, Guess Who Likes You!

Each year (usually around Valentine's Day) elementary-school students in Haverhill, Mass., pass on a message from a former pupil.

Yesterday morning the students descended on the historic Walnut Cemetery and remembered schoolboy emotions that ran through the heart of Haverhill's favorite son, John Greenleaf Whittier, when he was around their age.

It has become a tradition in Haverhill with local students gathering around the gravestone of Lydia Ayer to recite a poem by Whittier recalling his childhood sweetheart and a moment following a school spelling bee when she confesses, "I'm sorry that I spelt the word: I hate to go above you, because — the brown eyes lower fell — because, you see, I love you!" [Link]

Was Leonardo the Son of a Slave?

Leonardo da Vinci is known to have been the illegitimate son of Piero da Vinci and a woman named Caterina. Evidence has emerged that Caterina was not a run-of-the-mill peasant girl, as was previously thought.

Now, 30-year-old research conducted by the late director of the Leonardo Library, published by his son Francesco, suggests a completely different scenario.

"Archival research has shown that there isn't any Caterina in Vinci or nearby villages that can be linked to Ser Piero. The only Caterina in Piero's life seems to be a slave girl who lived in the house of his wealthy friend Vanni di Niccolo di Ser Vanni," Cianchi wrote.

The claim is supported by recent research suggesting the Italian genius was of Arabic descent, following analysis of his fingerprint.

"It was common in Renaissance Florence to own slaves from the Middle East and the Balkans. At the time of Leonardo's birth there were more than 550 slaves in Florence, meaning that all the wealthy families had slaves in their houses. The girls were baptized and renamed. The most popular names were Maria, Marta and Caterina," Agnese Sabato said. [Link]

A Wife by Any Other Name...

Shakespeare was married to both Ann Hathaway and Agnes Gardner of Shottery. At the same time!

The only evidence that Richard Hathaway alias Gardner of Shottery had a daughter called Ann is a reference in his will to a daughter called Agnes. Scholars have demonstrated convincingly that in this period Agnes and Ann were simply treated as versions of the same name, pointing out dozens of examples where Agnes, pronounced 'Annis', gradually becomes 'Ann'. Richard Hathaway left a sheep to a great-niece he calls Agnes, though according to the parish record she was actually christened Annys; in 1600 she was buried as Ann. Theatre manager Philip Henslowe called his wife Agnes in his will but she was buried as Ann. Ann's brother Bartholomew called a daughter Annys, but she was buried as Ann. The curate William Gilbert alias Higgs who wrote Hathaway's will married Agnes Lyncian, but she was buried as Ann Gilbert. This is not simply serendipitous. Agnes was the name of a fourth-century virgin martyr of the kind whose lurid and preposterous adventures are the stuff of The Golden Legend, justly ridiculed by protestant reformers. Ann (or Hannah) was the solid biblical name of the Redeemer's grandmother. It is only to be expected that as protestantism gained hearts and minds Agnes would be silently driven out by Ann. We may accept that the child born Agnes Hathaway grew up to be Ann Shakespeare. [Link]

One Skull Too Many

Anthropologists have exhumed three relatives of German playwright and poet Friedrich Schiller in hopes of positively identifying which of two skulls is his.

The mystery surrounding the skulls began in 1826, 21 years after Schiller died in Weimar, when the local mayor had 23 skulls retrieved from a mass grave in which the poet was buried. Many eminent people at that time were buried in mass graves.

The mayor identified the largest skull as Schiller's and it was brought to the home of his contemporary Goethe, who wrote a poem about it, according to German scholar Albrecht Schoene.

In 1911, another skull was disinterred from the mass grave which researchers claimed was the real one. [Link]

Clooney Gives Could-Be Cousin the Cold Shoulder

Dustin Madala had always heard he was related to Rosemary Clooney, and by implication to her nephew George. Dustin managed to talk his way onto the set of Clooney's new movie, Leatherheads, and had a word with the actor. Seven words, actually.

Madala introduced himself to Clooney and said, “Rumor has it I’m related to you.”

According to Madala, Clooney replied “Oh, really?” and that was the extent of their conversation. [Link]

Genealogue Challenge #122

Today was the 80th birthday of Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell.

What were the names and birth dates of his paternal grandparents?

Genealogue Challenge #121

I was surprised to read that Jack Elam was named director of the Kosciusko County Historical Society’s Old Jail Museum, because I thought he was dead.

What was the middle name of wild-eyed actor Jack Elam's older sister?

A Candidate's Canard

John McCain claimed in his memoir Faith of My Fathers to be descended from Scottish king Robert the Bruce.

Asked by the Guardian to investigate McCain's family history, genealogists and medieval historians described the link to Robert the Bruce as "wonderful fiction" and "baloney".

Claims of Scottish medieval ancestry, [Dr. Katie Stevenson] said, are virtually impossible to prove unless traced through rare documentation. "There are no records of that nature. Any historian will tell you that it's virtually impossible to prove ancestry through the middle ages."

A spokesman for McCain said last night: "The ancestry claim is based upon a genealogical study the McCain family had in their possession, which traced the McCain family roots back to Robert the Bruce." [Link]

Even Ruth Didn't Know the Truth

Katie Ruth is finally getting a gravestone, thanks to the efforts of Paul Harris and the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum. Little has been written about the Babe's mother, and some of what has been written is wrong.

Even Ruth swung and missed. He had two ghost-written autobiographies. The first, published in 1928, didn't specifically mention either parent. The second one, in 1948, did. But Ruth got the facts wrong. He said his mother's maiden name was Schanberg and she lived until he was 13. Actually, she was born Catherine Schamberger, and she died in 1912, when the Babe was 17. The mistakes are hardly surprising. It's not really clear what the slugger knew about his mom - in life or in death. [Link]

Man Killed by Own Obit

Warning: Reading your own obituary can be hazardous to your health.

After suffering a stroke in 1940, black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey became incapacitated. Rumors began to circulate that he had died, and before Garvey could quell them, he ran across a premature obituary for himself in the Chicago Defender which described him as a man who died “broke, alone and unpopular.” According to people close to Garvey, upon reading it he let out a loud moan and collapsed to the floor, where he suffered a second stroke. By the following morning, he was dead at fifty-three. [Link]

California Party Picks

Ancestry.com has released a database of California Voter Registrations, 1900-1968. The Ancestry blog has the scoop on how some celebs picked their political parties.

Lucille Ball is registered as a Communist in 1936 and 1938, and was later asked to testify before Congress during McCarthy’s Communist witch hunts.

In 1944, Ozzy and Harriett Nelson are both registered as Republicans. Harriett was employed as an “actress;” Ozzy as an “orchestra leader.” [Link]

Note: A few of the 30 million names in the database are of people who never appeared on television.