The most surprising find I have (I started to say recently, but maybe I should state ever) made in my family history research, especially as it relates to the Civil War, is a distant tie to a (rightly or wrongly) infamous person of the era, Dr. Samuel Mudd, who was convicted for helping John Wilkes Booth after the actor had assassinated President Lincoln. Mudd escaped the death penalty by one vote and some of his descendants are still fighting to clear his name today, believing he was not part of the conspiracy to kill Lincoln.
When looking back at my family tree, I found an Eleanor Mudd, from Maryland, as one of my great-grandmothers, so I decided to explore that a bit more and found the connection to the doctor. A relationship this distant is not easy to explain, but I've tried to list it below as straight-forward as I can. "X," of course, means "times," and some of the birth dates may be approximate as different sources show different years, especially farther back in years, decades, and centuries.
Dr. Samuel Mudd, born December 20, 1833 in Charles County, Maryland.
Henry Lowe Mudd, born in 1798, was his father.
Alexius Mudd, born in 1765 was his grandfather.
Henry Mudd, born about 1730, was Dr. Mudd's great-grandfather.
Thomas Mudd, born about 1707 was his 2x great-grandfather
Hezekiah, "Harry" or "Henry" Mudd, born about 1681-1685 was Dr. Mudd's 3x great-grandfather.
Thomas Mudd, born about 1647 was Dr. Mudd's 4x great-grandfather.
That Thomas Mudd, whom I’ve seen called “Captain” Thomas Mudd, was our common ancestor, the source of the relationship.
His son Thomas Mudd (I'm not sure if he as a "Junior" or a "II",) born about 1679, was my 8x great-grandfather. He was the brother of Hezekiah mentioned above.
Eleanor Mudd, born 1709 (I've also seen 1723), my 7x great-grandmother.
Eleanor married George Tarvin. Their son, also George, born about 1744, was my 6x great-grandfather
George's son, Joseph Tarvin, born about1773, was my 5x great-grandfather.
Joseph's daughter Rachel Tarvin, born about 1800, was my 4x great-grandmother.
Rachel married George Painter, and their daughter Mary Ellen Painter, born about 1832, was my 3x great-grandmother.
Mary Ellen married Oliver Moore and their daughter Rachel Moore, born around 1857, was my 2x great-grandmother.
Rachel married John Diesel and their daughter Violet Diesel, born in 1894, was my great-grandmother.
Violet married Oscar McCormick and their son Orville McCormick, born in 1912, was my grandfather. 2 generations later, I came along.
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