Saturday, January 31, 2015

Cool New App: Look who I'm related to!!

This past year I've taken the challenge to find my ancestors.  It started off slow but now it's one of my favorite "down time" things to do.  One of the great things about it is all the cool gadgets that make it interesting.  Today, I was shown an app that takes your family tree off of Family Search (a free genealogy program) then shows you people your related to that have been in history books one way or another.  It's called Relative Finder and was developed by BYU over the past 12 years.  Now it's ready for us!!  I've already discovered that I'm cousins with a good friend from NC!

Most of the people that are on my list (141 pages, about 1400 people) are on the Mormon history books as pioneers or early members.  But I did find a few that were not mormon, all of which are cousins.  Take a look!
Top: President Thomas Jefferson, Govenor Boggs who wrote an extermination order against the early Mormons (Hmmm...), President Calvin Coolidge.  Bottom: President Richard Nixon, President Lyndon Johnson, and Buster Keaton a 1920s actor who was famous for his stunts.  There were also Constitution signers but I didn't recognize any of them (guess I need to learn more about them, huh?).


Of my Mormon heritage, here are a few:
Cousins: Emma Hale (wife of Joseph Smith), Elder Bednar, Parley P Pratt (early apostle and close friend to Joseph Smith), Elder Wirthlin (apostle), President Monson (prophet), President Hinckley (prophet, who actually lived not far from my grandparents)
Except for a select few (Boggs!! and couple others) I would say that I have some great cousins who have set a great example for me and my family to follow.

I will say that when I did the search for my husband, nothing came up.  I think it's because a lot of his family tree hasn't been filled out.  Mine has been done on both side of my family back to 10+ generations. So, obviously the more we fill out our trees, the more we will find relations with one another.  You can learn more about it from this article: “Relative Finder” now certified with FamilySearch.  It will also point you in the direction of some apps BYU has developed for youth as well.

I love this app!!  You should try it!
I'll have another cool one for you tomorrow to play with on the Sabbath.
Enjoy!

2 comments:

  1. Are we related? I got Joseph, Emma, Elder Bednar, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington.

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    Replies
    1. We could be! Where were you born? We're probably cousins! My old ward started a group and I found out that I'm related to a bunch of them as well.

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