We're Related?: Christina Aguilera
We're Related is an app from Ancestry.Com. This app links member trees to find possible famous relatives and ancestors. It's really fun, but how accurate is it? So far, We're Related has found eight famous people I'm related to. In this post, I'll be exploring my possible connection to singer Christina Aguilera.
8th Cousin 1x Removed?
We're Related believes Christina Aguilera and I are related through a Jean Jacques Bonnett (1702-1753) on my father's side. This would make Aguilera my 8th cousin once removed. Let's take a look at the path We're Related took:
So, the ancestors whom We're Related thinks that Christina and I are connected through are The Bonnetts. However, The Bonnetts do not appear on my personal family tree.
I think the confusion comes in with Johann Peter Whetzel (1771-1850). We're Related pulled a similar John Whetzel (1770-1817) into the mix using member data. As you can see not only are the years of death different, but also my Johann Whetzel (who likely went by John) is not the son of a Mary Bonnett, he is the son of Sarah Weatherholz.
Now, this does not mean that I'm accurate and We're Related is wrong. My family tree is always evolving and I'm constantly making updates and changes when I find proof of something more accurate than what I have. John Whetzel and The Bonnett's may be relatives in another way, I just haven't came across them yet. I did check a few interconnected member trees who also have Johann Peter Whetzel on their personal trees and no one else had a Mary Bonnett as his mother either.
One of the major flaws in We're Related that I see, is that while it shows you the name and birth/death years of the so-called relations, it does not allow you access to anymore information to truly do more in depth research easily. This app could really be a great tool in growing your family tree, however the limited access just makes it more confusing.
The app is still super fun and through it, I found a great picture of my 3x-great grandma, Hannah Bessie Crider Nesselrodt. Of course, the app wouldn't let me access the picture or see who posted it, but I did a Google search of her name, which brought back a Find a Grave memorial with the picture. I also messaged the woman who posted it and hope to hear from her soon!
Finding her memorial, which had a plethora of Nesselrodt information, led me down a rabbit hole of Nesselrodt confusion. That's one branch of the tree I expect to be making some changes to.
