The Lens:
In my last post (over a month ago – how time flies when you are running your behind off), I talked about the PBS show “Finding Your Roots,” in which the host, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., delves into the ancestries of people of renown.
I mention in that post that I am a direct descendant of Jose Francisco Ortega, the lead scout for the Portola Expedition and believed to be the first white man to see the San Francisco Bay. I also mention that it took a bit of work using Ancestry.com to trace my line back to Ortega.
I got stuck at my great grandfather. I could not definitively determine who his father was. I had a suspicion but could not find enough evidence to feel fairly certain I had the right man.
So, I thought, well, why not start at the top and work my way down. I started to build out the tree of Jose Francisco Ortega. It didn’t take long to realize the enormity of this task.
This was back in the day when having 14 children was not uncommon. I probably only got to his grandchildren when it became clear it would take a lot more time and energy than I had to find the information I was looking for – that is, the name of my great, great grandfather.
In the end, I took to other means to make the connection, and indeed was able to make it.
With that connection finally made, I was able to complete the line.
The Refraction:
But, another spark had been lit. Just as my sons’ gift subscription to Ancestry.com had awakened a curiosity to my family tree, starting to build out the descendants of Jose Francisco piqued another interest: how many relatives do I have floating around.
This is truly a labor of love. Being a teacher, I have no time to work on this during the school year. It is a summer project. I have spent 2 summers working on it and still have quite a way to go.
Working on this tree, I have come across many interesting and notable names of California history. One of those names was Breen.
Who are the Breen’s, you might ask? They were one of the families who were part of the infamous Donner Party. I mentioned this to my husband as he has cousins who are direct descendants of Patrick Breen of the Donner Party.
He, then, told me a funny story. Way back when we were engaged, he was talking with one of his Breen family great aunts. That I was an Ortega came up in the conversation. She told my husband, “Then we are related.” She went on to explain there just weren’t that many people in early California to marry.
She was right. Here is what I have found so far. Samuel Breen was Patrick Breen’s brother. Two of Samuel’s children married two Ortega’s. So, while my husband and I are not blood relatives, nor are either of us blood descendants of the Breen’s, we have blood relatives in common – one degree of separation between the two of us through the Breen’s.
For me, one of the most fun parts of “Finding Your Roots” is the end when they do DNA testing to see which guests of the show might be related to other guests who have been on the show. Most of the guests are from the East Coast. Those who have deep roots often end up being related to some other person (or persons) of note who has been on the show.
It would seem the same phenomenon was taking place in the east – there just weren’t that many people back then to marry. I have seen episodes of “Finding Your Roots” where the guests turn out to be related to the host, Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
In the last episode I watched, though, there was an interesting twist. The guest who is white (and who shall remain nameless as not to be a spoiler if you like to watch the show) turns out to be a cousin of Mr. Gates, Jr. When she asks him if this has ever happened before, he says yes, but never involving a white person.
Just for fun, look at your friends on Facebook. See who their friends are. Then, see which mutual “friends” you have in common but have no idea how they know each other.
I’ll give an example. One of my Facebook friends is someone I went to grammar school with. She is Facebook friends with someone whose children and my children went to the same school. I have no idea how they know each other. I need to ask one day.
That is just one example. I have several I could mention.
We walk around, pass “strangers” every day. Do we feel any connection to these strangers? They may not be as strange to us as we think.
Our degrees of separation. They are much smaller than we know.