Genealogue Challenge #116

Drew Smith thought that an interesting challenge might come from this article. Justin Tuck and Adalius Thomas will be facing off this weekend in Super Bowl XLII. They both come from Coosa County, Alabama, went to the same high school, and are supposed to be related, though no one knows quite how.

On Wednesday afternoon, Jimmy Tuck and Eva Thomas sat in the house along Highway 9 where Adalius Thomas grew up. In the next room were the various totems of football success: trophies, framed jerseys and countless photographs. The Tucks, in their house down the road, have a similar shrine to their son.

They bandied family surnames, mentioning various grandparents and great-grandparents. It was as if they had never had this conversation. The relation, they thought, has to do with their grandmothers. It is hard to tell here because people have lived among the rolling hills for so long that their family trees are entwined like ivy.

Figuring out how Adalius and Justin are related might be too big a challenge with what few clues have been published (and I'm sure that the Tucks and Thomases of Coosa County will be too busy this weekend to stop in and give us a hand). So let's try something a bit easier:

Who is the earliest Tuck you can find in Justin's paternal line?

Genealogue Challenge #85

Doug sent in a couple of challenges in honor of tomorrow's Patriots-Colts matchup.

How many slaves did Peyton Manning's father's father's father's father's father own in 1860?

Half-time. Open a fresh bag of Doritos, and use the restroom if necessary.

Bill Belichick's paternal grandfather claimed in his naturalization papers to have arrived on the ship La Lorraine between April 13 and April 19 of 1900. Can this claim be substantiated?

Genealogue Challenge #34

For those who can't get enough of O. J. Simpson, here's a challenge:

What was the name of his paternal grandmother's father?

It's Written on His Shirt, For Crying Out Loud!

When Gregory E. Favre's cousin Brett was drafted into the NFL, he hoped that, finally, people would learn to pronounce their last name correctly. It didn't work out as he had hoped: the name is almost invariably pronounced "Farve" on television.

I knew Brett's grandfather, and his mom attended high school with my younger sister. But I left home long before he was born, and I've never met him. Nevertheless, I have been a great admirer of his talent and the fact that he always answers the opening whistle. He inspires others, as a great leader should. And he has never forgotten where he came from or the friends he grew up with.

I just wish he would tell everyone it's the "v" before the "r." [Link]

Custer's Last Band Leader

Is Indianapolis Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri a genealogist? He's certainly familiar with one ancestor who narrowly avoided the fate of his patron, General George Custer.

My great-great grandfather [Felix Vinatieri] came over on a boat from Italy, entered the country somewhere on the East Coast and joined the military and got stationed at South Dakota as our government was heading west. He hooked on with Custer, who was a big music fan. My grandfather was a composer, and Custer really enjoyed him, so he did some symphony work for him. The band was there not only for marches but for entertainment, as a morale-booster. They knew at Fort Meade that they were going into some hostile areas, so they left the band behind. Thank goodness for my family that they decided that – I think one horse made it back from the Little Big Horn. Other than that. ... [Link]

At the Vinatieri Archive of the National Music Museum you can listen to, among other tunes, Felix's "General Custer, Last Indians Campagne March"—composed just months before the General met his end.

Born a Bears Fan

Colleen Benson was born Jan. 26, 1986—just in time to watch the Chicago Bears win their last Super Bowl. If not for one misstep, Chicago running back Walter Payton could have played a big role in her naming.

Benson's parents wanted to incorporate the day's historic event into their daughter's name. They considered "Payton" or Payton's nickname, "Sweetness." But after Payton's first-quarter fumble, they decided on the middle name "Patricia." [Link]

A Family History Fumbled

Here's a good illustration of how a family story can morph into a fairy tale. It's been established that NFL kicker Adam Vinatieri is a descendant of General George Custer's bandmaster, Felix Vinatieri, and a fourth cousin of professional daredevil Evel Knievel.

Here's how an AP story—appearing in about a bazillion papers—lays out his family tree:

A descendant of Gen. George Custer and a third cousin of Evel Knievel, Vinatieri once caught Herschel Walker from behind and tackled him. He hasn't had to hear about being "just a kicker" since then. [Link]

In future articles, expect Vinatieri to be described as the half-brother of Herschel Walker.

[tagged: genealogy, family tree, ancestry]

Indian Lineage Given 'Tomahawk Chop'

From the Baltimore (Md.) Sun:

Heritage built on half-truth?

Redskins: Research shows that William 'Lone Star' Dietz, the coach who was the inspiration for the NFL club's nickname, might have fabricated his part-Indian lineage.

By Childs Walker
Sun Staff

Originally published August 30, 2005

It's a story accepted as gospel in Washington Redskins history.

In the early 1930s, when the franchise still called Boston home, owner George Preston Marshall had to drop the moniker "Braves" after leaving the stadium he shared with the town's moribund Braves baseball franchise.

So, seeking to honor his part-Sioux coach, William "Lone Star" Dietz, he re-christened his team the Redskins. Three years later, Marshall moved the club to Washington, and the rest is history.

Or so the story went until last year, when California multicultural studies professor Linda Waggoner began sniffing around Dietz's biography.

After examining correspondence, census and court records, Waggoner concluded Dietz was a white man who began taking on an Indian identity as a teenager and ultimately seized the past of a vanished Lakota tribesman and made it his own.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

Dueling Runs in the Family

From The (Columbia, S.C.) State of Sept. 2, 2005:

Distant kin await close encounter

Opposing coordinators pronounce Koenning differently but share language of X’s and O’s

By JON SOLOMON

Staff Writer

[snip]

Vic Koenning’s debut as Clemson’s defensive coordinator matches him directly against kin, Texas A&M offensive coordinator Les Koenning Jr.

Saturday’s pairing intrigued Vic’s family, who conducted some research. Genealogy notes litter the home of Vic Koenning’s parents in Owasso, Okla., thanks to e-mails from Koennings around the country.

The best guess is Vic and Les are third cousins. The family believes two Koenning brothers came from Germany around 1858 and settled in Port Lavaca, Texas, located three hours southwest of Houston and three hours southeast of San Antonio.

[snip]

Vic’s last name is pronounced CONE-ing, while Les’ is pronounced “KEN-ing.” Les’ late grandfather explained to Vic why there was discrepancy in the pronunciations: Joe and Leslie Koenning got in a fight; one pulled a knife or gun, and they split up and started separate lives in Texas.

“Whether it’s entirely true or not, we don’t know,” Vic said. “It was probably my relative that got kicked. I know my dad’s side of the family is from San Antonio. Les’s stayed over in the Houston area.”

[snip]

[Read the whole story]