Apparently, my ancestor on my mom's side was a close friend and advisor to Henry Clay

[Ardent15]

http://books.google.com/books?id=CiEPAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA432&lpg=PA432&dq=History+of+Chicago+Samuel+Lisle+Smith&source=bl&ots=5ago9Zeg4B&sig=HDB0wAVyOd1GradgTsX_wGVIjR0&hl=en&ei=ch-6S_O8GJGcswO-8cXpDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=History%20of%20Chicago%20Samuel%20Lisle%20Smith&f=false

Samuel Lisle Smith.

Just found this while working on my genealogy. My ancestor was a Whig big shot.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear Ardent15!

Congrats!

Nice to find these little nuggets!

:hi:

[Gormy Cuss]

2. That makes him a "big Whig."

Genealogy's fascinating. Unless you have an unusual lineage, there will be saints and sinners sprinkled throughout. There are always surprises. Several of my friends have found ancestors from unexpected ethnicities or racial groups. One friend from a pretty bigoted Christian family discovered a Jewish ancestor. THAT was fun.

[Ardent15]

3. Yes, it is fascinating.

I'm also related to a Queen of Scotland from the 1600s.

[Bucky]

10. Doesn't that mean you'd be related to several kings & queens of Scotland?

You rarely see a one-generation royal family.

(on edit)
Wait, weren't the Scottish and English royal lines joined in 1603 when Elizabeth I passed the throne to her cousin James I?

[WolverineDG]

4. One of mine WAS Henry Clay

does this mean you should be advising me? :)

love researching genealogy!

dg

[mnhtnbb]

7. OMG! Hubby claims to also be related to Henry Clay.

[WolverineDG]

8. Hi cuz!

:hi:

:rofl:

dg

[jxnmsdemguy65]

5. I love geneology...

I'm descended from the sister of George Rogers Clark and William Clark (of Lewis and Clark) on one side, and from a soldier/translator who fought with George Rogers Clark at the Battle of Vincennes in Indiana on the other.

[Brother Buzz]

9. We're almost related

My Great uncle (x 4?), Richard Clough Anderson Jr. married Elizabeth Clark, sister of George Rogers Clark and William Clark.

Interesting, Richard Clough Anderson served with Henry Clay in US congress. Anderson served two term then returned to Kentucky politics until appointed by Monroe as the first United States Minister to the Republic of Colombia in 1823. He took his leave from that post after being commissioned by Adams as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Panama Congress of Nations. He died en route to his post in Turbaco, near Cartagena, Colombia on July 24, 1826.

Clay was Secretary of State at the time of Richard Anderson's death.

...

Any knowledge of Pomp? I understand one of Clark's sisters helped with his upbringing.

[jxnmsdemguy65]

11. I'm decended from Ann Rogers Clark...

that would be Elizabeth's sister. Ann lived from 14 Jul 1755 to 3 Oct 1822. It seems that the Clarks and the Clays were interconnected quite a bit. I remember my grandmother talking quite a bit about Henry Clay. I'm not sure who you're referring to by 'Pomp' however...

[Brother Buzz]

12. Pomp was Sacagawea's child, Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau.

William Clark raised, and later adopted him.

Pomp lived an extraordinary adult life that rivals any historical novel: Traveled through Europe learning languages, returns to America and works as fur trapper, western guide, trail blazer/scout for the US Army (Mormon Battalion), Alcalde of San Luis Rey, California, a Forty-Eighter in the California gold rush.

[MiddleFingerMom]

6. My great-grandfather..

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...was the "town drunk" where he lived in Ireland.
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"Big deal", you say?
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He lived in Dublin.
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[JCMach1]

13. My ancestor once guarded Pocahontas

Was one of the first settlers of Jamestown...