A high school classmate of mine repeatedly told people his family history traced back to both Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln. He shared this fact so much that peers began referring to him by a nickname, “Winston.” He very well could be related to those two famous historical figures. There is a theory that there are only six degrees of separation between any living human being. Why would historical connections be any different?

In my recent studies of the Creelman family history, I found a surprising connection the family has to United States history. The Creelman family came to the Plymouth area from Nova Scotia in the second half of the 19th century. Before coming to Plymouth, Samuel Creelman, Jr built a home where Daniel Webster later lived. Webster was a famous U.S. politician that served in Congress and as the Secretary of State under three different presidents.

While studying my own family’s genealogy in college here in Minnesota, I discovered a crazy connection I never would have imagined to be possible. My roommate’s family originated from the same small town as mine — Freistadt, Wisconsin. Upon further research, I discovered that our great, great grandfathers are buried next to each other in Freistadt and immigrated to Wisconsin from Germany around the same time, 140 years before I ever met my roommate.

Herein lies the excitement in studying family history. You never know what interesting stories, facts, or connections that can come out of your search. You may not be related to Churchill, Lincoln, or any other famous world leader, but you will certainly discover many fascinating details. You just have to dig deep enough.

 

To learn more about the Creelman family, please see our Family Histories webpage.