Ancestry's We're Related - at 100 celebrities

Ancestry’s We’re Related app has now told me about 100 possible relatives. This is a good place to discuss some statistics.

Occupations (my categories)

• Actors - 25
• Presidents - 19
• Entertainers - 13
• Authors - 13
• Politicians - 9
• Athletes - 4
• Science - 4
• Business - 3
• Military - 4
• Activists - 2
• Artists - 2
• Vice Presidents - 1
• First Ladies - 1

Note: The meaningful of this is is of course slightly dependent on the breakdown of the individuals they have in the database.

Furthest confirmed ancestor on my chart

• Betts, Capt. Richard - 7
• Chamberlain, Joanna - 2
• Chamberlain, Robert - 3
• Clark, Abigail - 52
• Horton, Barnabas - 1
• Horton, Penelope - 1
• Meyer, Elizabeth - 2
• Pitney, Mary - 16
• Schauer, Michael - 2
• Swazey, Joseph - 3
• Van Tock, Hannah - 8
• Wines, Sarah - 3

Note: Abigail Clark is definitely my 'gateway ancestor' to the most alleged celebrity kin. Mary Pitney a distant second.

Individuals for whom my research confirms my alleged ancestry (8/100)

• John Kerry
• Mark Twain
• Jim Varney
• Johnny Depp
• Newt Gingrich
• Tom Hanks
• Stephen King
• Theodore Roosevelt

I could say these are individuals for whom the relationship is very likely...if I trusted the research for the celebrities. But...

Individuals for whom my research confirms my alleged ancestry, and other research I trust confirms the celebrity’s ancestry (1/100)

• John Kerry

Note: I haven't actively tried to research any of the celebrity ancestries. However, with the advent of Who Do You Think You Are and other genealogy shows, many celebrities have had some professional research done. And even without the shows, many politicians have had their genealogies well-researched.

Out of the 19 Presidents I'm allegedly related to – those for whom the alleged President’s ancestry is confirmed through Ancestors of American Presidents by Gary Boyd Roberts, 2009 edition. – 2/19

• Rutherford B. Hayes

Note: There are 4 generations in my own ancestry I'd have to confirm to prove this relationship.

• Barack Obama

Note: There are only 2 generations in my own ancestry I  have to confirm. I'll step out on a limb and say this relationship is the likeliest of all the Presidents the app has generated. If anyone can find sources for me to back up the ancestry on WikiTree linking Mary Pitney to Samuel Smith, that would be helpful. (Sources other than WikiTree, that is.) I discussed this possibility back in October.

                                                            

For the other 17 Presidents, the number of extra generations that are extended unto Gary Boyd Roberts' research

George Washington - 1
John Adams - 1
James Madison - 2
William Taft - 2
Richard Nixon - 2/3 *
Calvin Coolidge - 3
Theodore Roosevelt - 3
Harry Truman - 3
James Carter - 3
Thomas Jefferson - 4
Franklin Pierce - 4
Zachary Taylor - 4
George HW Bush - 4
George W Bush - 4
Abraham Lincoln - 5
William Clinton - 6
Ronald Reagan - 7

*App provides a different 6th great grandfather for Nixon, and then goes 2 more generations.

Note: Washington and Adams would appear to be the easiest for me to research to confirm/disprove. However, the number of unconfirmed generations in my tree are 7.
               
Celebrities whose alleged ancestry goes through an ancestor’s adopted parent (I'd have no problem with this if the app made it clear.) - At least 1/100

• Robin Williams (his mother was adopted)

In Summary

The app is very entertaining. However, without sources to back up the ancestor charts, that's all it is. The percentage of alleged matches where I have been able to confirm the ancestry back to the shared ancestor for either myself, or the celebrity, is quite small.