Summary
I began working on a genealogy project in the Summer of 2020 because I was curious to determine the origin of my family. The last name “Surfus” is believed to come from Saint Servatius of Tongeren. I also found out that I was related to a number of famous people. Most recently, I found out that I am the 2nd cousin, 2x removed to famous director Norman Buckley. Another Norman I am related to is Norman Rockwell. I am related to Norman Rockwell through Robert Treat Paine, the former Massachusetts Attorney General and signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Based on my Ancestry StoryScout through my grandparents, I am related to the following people:
William McKinley (5th Cousin, 5x Removed)– 25th President of the United States. I am related to William McKinley through the Gray family of Indiana and Ohio.
John Proctor (10th Great Grandfather)– Accused and Executed for Witchcraft at the Salem Witch Trials. He was notably portrayed in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.
Giles Hopkins (11th Great Grandfather)– Mayflower passenger and part of the largest family on the Mayflower. This makes me part of the 10 million Americans who are Mayflower descendants.
Abraham Baldwin (3rd Cousin, 8x Removed)– President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, United States Senator from Georgia, and the Founder of the University of Georgia.
Based on my Ancestry family tree, I am related to the following people in addition to the aforementioned individuals:
Robert Treat Paine (4th Cousin, 9x Removed)- Massachusetts 1st Attorney General and Signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Francis Bloodgood– 48th and 50th Mayor of Albany, New York.
Wheeler Peckham Bloodgood (5th Cousin, 5x Removed)– Prominent Milwaukee attorney at Bloodgood, Kemper, and Bloodgood, Wisconsin delegate of Theodore Roosevelt’s Progressive Party, and chairman of the National Civic League which ended child labor and ensured workmen’s compensation.
Joseph Colt Bloodgood (5th Cousin, 5x Removed)– Pioneered breast cancer research and early detection, and he is the reason we use gloves and personal protective equipment in medicine today.
Francis Bloodgood, Jr. (5th Cousin, 5x removed)– Prominent Milwaukee attorney at Bloodgood, Kemper, and Bloodgood.
My AncestryDNA Results
