Relation to famous people

Rafi and Peter, my connection to you two are some of the most interesting I have seen. We are blood relatives but very distant cousins. I will post the links. My connection to Peter runs through british kings, french aristocrats, Moors and the Prophet Mohammed who is one of my great grandfathers as well as rabbis. My connection to Rafi is equally interesting. I also found great grandfathers in a Han emperor, one of the Ramses pharoahs and another grandfather is a black Nubian pharoah. I am also directly descended from Attilla the Hun, as well as King Solomon and King David who are also great grandfathers. I think on the basis of my connections to the latter as well as Mohammed I should be sent to the Middle East peace talks. LOL I guess my ancestors were multicultural before that was a commonly used word.

http://www.geni.com/path/Vicki+Thomas+is+related+to+Peter+Rohel?fro...

http://www.geni.com/path/Vicki+Thomas+is+related+to+Rafi+Kornfeld?f...

Vicki, i noticed these strange connections. We are supposed to be connected via some Nissi ben Menashe who lived in Turkey some 1200 years ago and was an asistant to the emperor. If we look harder we might maybe find our connection to Julius Ceasar.
I think this is some kind of a joke somebody played in Geni
it would be interesting to try and follow the path and see who placed those wrong linkages.

I think some of them have been kicking around the internet for a while (and in books before then - including from the Dark Ages).

See http://www.geni.com/projects/Descents-from-Antiquity/12283

Well I am related to the Queen and many british aristocrats and Burke's Peerage confirmed that the Queen is descended from Mohammed. Supposedly the article I read says the rulers of the countries in the Middle East know that the Queen is decended from him and many of them are proud of it. Also related to the tribes of Israel. Ya know it only takes one person getting together with another and you have a whole background coming in there. If you look at the paths, it usually goes from the middle east to either armenia or rome then it goes to either Hungary, Spain or France and then leap frogs into Britain. Also the huns brought in some asian blood. One exception is the british tribal connection to the romans can bring in many ancestors from points in the meditteranean. These connections are certainly more interesting and exotic than the typical british tribe to scot aristocracy sprinkle in a bit of Norman blood and some
vikings and there you have it.

I don't believe I am related in any way to the prophet Mohammed. Even mentioning the name these days is dangerous, let alone being Jewish *and* related to him.
Jews had no family name until somewhere in the 17 th century (as far as I know). So the identification was X son of Y. And first names tend to repeat, especially Jewish names where children were called after their grandparents. So my family, Kornfeld, I believe, is traceable back a maximum of 400 years.
Mohammed (570-632) lived some 1400 years ago. So any claimed relation to him must be carefully studied to be proven true. He lived in the Arabian desert (now Saudi Arabia).
My ancestors exiles from the land of Israel (or whatever the name was at the time) some 2000 years ago. They were exiled to Europe (and other countries), and lived their lives in their villages and towns.
So, I see no real way how we might be connected to the prophet.

Its the path that Peter Rohel sent me that shows I am related to the Prophet.
From what I can see, one of his descendants married the Emir of Cordoba, Spain. From there, there was marriage into the counts de Razes of France. and then into English royalty and then into others related to them like me. Whether this is true of course, I do not know, I do find it interesting. Here is the article. http://www.juancole.com/2008/02/burkes-peerage-queen-elizabeth-ii.html

I'd be really careful what I atribute to him these day. True or it doesn't go over well, in some parts of the world.

Actually, the project Erica quotes has the lines running through someone named Zaida and runs through the "king" of Seville. I think the article is pointing to a similar path. The one I linked goes through a different path. So for myself who knows. Yes Rafi, you are not descended from the prophet.

Rafi, according to GENI's path, you are descended from Nisi ben Menasseh, Khagan of Khazaria who is my 31st great uncle meaning I am descended from his brother. Wikipedia via GENI says "Nisi ben Menasseh or Nisi ben Moses was a Jewish Turkic ruler of the Khazars mentioned in the Khazar Correspondence. He probably reigned in the mid to late 9th century CE. Little is known about his reign. As with other Bulanid rulers, it is unclear whether he was Khagan or Khagan Bek of the Khazars, although the latter is more likely." These people then married into royalty in Hungary (magyars) before they became Christian. Whether this is true or not I do not know but its interesting.

Rafi, we're *all* connected, like it or not. It's just a question of distance. :)

Judy that is one of many articles that you can find, I just posted the most convenient one so others who might be interested in it can see it. I know nothing about the websites author. Apparently the original article appeared in Salon. com but have not been able yet to find it. But you can google it and its all over the blogosphere. Again, whether these connections are true, I do not know. I am thinking Burke's Peerage is a good source but even that I do not know as a neophyte to this ancestry stuff.

Yes Ashley and isn't that the whole point of GENI?? I am probably the most surprised of what I have found here. It does not bother me a bit to be descended (if true) from the variety of people I have found on here. And safe to say, yes its quite a distance through the ages that many of these things occur.

OH , i have no interest in any article on the subject. I just know he is very important to the Muslin world and people have to and need to be very care what they say about him, as they, not all of them but certain groups get a tad upset and as we have seen in the news riots occur. It's a very touchy subject.

I agree but I implied nothing negative about him or anyone else. I have nothing negative to say as I am only looking at things from a genealogy viewpoint no political views implied.

Some people, in fact there are many I would prefer not to be deceded from but you can't pick your family, can you?

Oh , I know you didn't imply anything bad, but their may people people out there that's not that happy that non muslins are related. We here in USA are use to being able to say whatever we want, well , almost anything we want. Even tho maybe some things should not be said. But in other parts of the world it's a diferent story.
What doesn't offend here , does somewhere else.

I agree Judy. I am trying to look at things dispassionately and from a factual perspective. I am open to any ideas on the basis of what is on GENI. That is why I posted the topic "How accurate is GENI" as I wanted to get a reading on what people thought. Over time we might all be surprised at what we find but if it upsets us, then perhaps GENI is not a place we want to be or to explore. Yes I do agree others might look at this info differently than we might. Personally I think there is a powerful positive message in the idea we are all connected.

If your family comes from aristocracy, or bears a unique aristocratic name like my mother's side it's pretty reliable. In the 70's using traditional methods like libraries etc my grandfather managed to get back reliably to the 11th century. I only follow direct descendents GGF/GGM's to construct my tree as the whole cousin thing becomes exponential and rendered a tad pointless, the variables mathematically become like the odds of winning the lottery. We already knew about Robert the Bruce and the Stewarts from his paper-driven research.

Peter that's how I've done about 90 percent of my tree. The old fashion way. Still do on occassion. If I find any thing on line I make sure there's good references to go along with info, so I can go double check it. I work better with real fiscal books in my hands. Not that you can't find good material via the computer too.

Remember ,they always say you need three diferent ref. that agree to feel your info is correct.

I have a direct relationship to all the Presidents except for the Bushes. The relationships range from 7th Cousin--Warren G. Harding to 20th Cousin--Martin Van Buren. The Bush connection runs all over the place. All I did was add one of my distant Southworth connections in England and everything opened up. I have connections to the Tutor, Stuart, Windsor, Plantagenet families in England and to Royal families in Spain, Denmark, Norway, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, Russia, etc. As a History Major I love it. My family was connected with most of the major events in the history of this world.

7th cousin - that's pretty close! Here's a "fun fact" about "Winnie" Harding's family:

1)  Warren G. Harding was born in rural Blooming Grove, Ohio, in 1865.   His parents had the unusual 19th century distinction of both being doctors - his mother had been granted a medical license because of her work as a midwife.  The family eventually moved to nearby Caledonia, Ohio, where they bought, and began operating, the local newspaper.  Warren was known by the nickname "Winnie."

http://serene-musings.blogspot.com/2011/12/10-fun-facts-about-warre...

I have lots of different famous people! Royals,Religious,Presidents,famous family killer(aquittied) feuds(Hatfield)Mega millionaires....etc Blows my mind. It ALL comes from my father's side. It really saddens me because...he was adopted..and I only found out 5 years ago..by googling his bio-mother's name, and up she popped!! From there I'm constantly discovering more and more...YET..my 82 yr old father will never know. He has vascular dementia and cannot speak nor understands...thus I am unable to share all my findings with him. ;( (sorry for hijacking this topic)

I really enjoy running down famous relatives. Have found that all but 2 of our Presidents are cousins, though the closest is 16 places away. Discovered we are direct descendants of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony. Mark Anthony is both 50th and 57th great grandad, and since he is descended from Hercules, that makes Zeus an ancestor (okay, I know about those profiles). It is fun though. I have found connections to Ashley Judd, Jimi Hendrix, Harrison Ford, Mohamed Ali, and the prophet Mohammed, as well as the usual Charlemagne. Beverly, tell it proud!

I do Danny! ;) I recently visited a Augustine convent and showed the sisters my link to a POPE, and two SAINTS! (one male and one female) It can't get much better than that!

Marcus Antonius "Mark Antony" is my 48th great grandfather.

Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States is my 7th cousin thrice removed

Danny Drollinger is my 11th cousin twice removed. :)

US Grant is related some how via his wife me but not sure how.

Isn't *everyone* descended from Charlemagne? Several each of wives and concubines (that we know of) - sounds like a horny old goat!

of course, being able to *prove* it is the real trick....