,
Tom Cruise on MTV Live, 2008, Wikimedia Commons.

For those unfamiliar, WikiTree is where genealogists collaborate to build one big family tree together. It has great tools for collaboration and one fun aspect of it is their challenges.

They do a weekly WikiTree Challenge connecting famous people to the larger tree and building out more connections to them. This week’s challenge was American actor Tom CRUISE, who recently had great success starring in Top Gun: Maverick.

I’ve been part of these challenges before. It’s fun to contribute. This week was extra fun, as I learned I’m a distant cousin to CRUISE himself!

Before writing this, I verified each chain in the link, checking sources to make sure there was no doubt, and it is now confirmed. We’re 9th cousins, 1x removed.

Distant Cousins: Tom Cruise’s mother, Mary Pfeiffer, born 1936 in Jefferson Co., KY, and my maternal grandma Lois Grundtisch, born 1937 in Buffalo, NY.

We’re related through our Moms. Specifically, it’s our maternal grandmothers that lead to the link, both of whom have ancestry in Alsace, France.

The first fun discovery is when I saw he had Alsace ancestry. Checking his pedigree with mine, I quickly saw familiar places. Here’s our ancestral hometowns on a map – my ancestors’ towns red squares, his yellow circles, & places we BOTH have ancestry orange diamonds.

Then it was off to checking names. One “brick wall” in the challenge, Julienne (GROSSELL) ACKER, caught my eye. Both her maiden name & married name sounded familiar to me. Sure enough, I checked my tree & she was there. My 2nd cousin, several times removed.

To Tom CRUISE, that’s his 5th great-grandmother. Just like that, I knew we were related. Our common link: the DAHLMANN family of Hermerswiller, Alsace. But as stated, I still wanted to double check the trail to make sure it was rock solid.

I had only one “leap” in my tree that had very strong evidence, but still needed proof. But by the end of last night, I had the proof I needed.

The issue: In 10+ years of research, I hadn’t yet found a document to prove that my 7th great-grandmother Marie Madeleine GRIESBACH was the daughter of Jean Michel GRIESBACH & Anne Marie DAHLMANN. I had plenty of circumstantial evidence. Godparents of her children, godparents of other Griesbachs, and other birth, marriage & death records all supported that she was part of their immediate family; she fit the timeline, place, etc. to be their child. I still needed one more record.

A key record that should list her parents would be her marriage, around 1745-1748. But I checked all of the Catholic church records years ago in the vicinity of her hometown (town is red diamond below, churches the yellow crosses) & it was nowhere to be found.

FamilySearch.org has been busy indexing new records recently, so I tried a search there, and there it was!

Married on 30 January 1748, Philipp Langenbronn, son of Johannes Langenbronn and Barbara Loesch, to Magdalena Griesbach, daughter of Michael Griesbach and Anna Maria Dalmann. [Source]

Why couldn’t I find it before? It was in the “rural chapters” of the parish books of Haguenau, 23km (14 miles) from the hometown, at the bottom of the map above. I would have never thought to look there.

It turns out, she actually married in Soultz-sous-Forets, the cross to the left of her hometown above, but those marriage records went missing over the years for the timeframe in question. Haguenau had duplicates of those original records in their “rural chapters” book. So there it was.

Sure enough, her parents are identified clearly on the record as Michel GRIESBACH & Anne Marie DAHLMANN. The same Anne Marie DAHLMANN who was the half-sister (different mothers) of Marie Barbara (DAHLMANN) SCHAEFFER, Tom CRUISE’s direct ancestor, grandmother of Julienne (GROSSELL) ACKER.

My Mom’s Mom & Tom’s Mom were 8th cousins, both born in the 1930s in the United States, and both descended of Jean Jacques DAHLMANN (THALMANN), who died in 1735 in Hermerswiller at age 91. That’s the link. And the rest is history.

Here is exactly how we’re related-

Common ancestor: Jean-Jacques DAHLMANN (THALMANN)
My 9th great-grandfather, Tom CRUISE’s 8th great-grandfather

MY FAMILY’S BRANCH

Daughter: Anne-Marie DAHLMANN, born 1688, married Jean-Michel GRIESBACH

Daughter: Marie-Madeleine GRIESBACH, born c1725, married Philipp LANGENBRONN

Son: Jean-Michel LANGENBRONN, born 1748, married Elisabeth SCHILLINGER

Daughter: Marie-Madeleine LANGENBRONN, born 1785, married François-Gallus STUDI

Daughter: Barbe STUDI, born 1813, married Nicolas UEBELHOER — immigrated to Williamsville, NY USA

Daughter: Barbe UEBELHOER, born 1838, married John BEASER — immigrated to Williamsville, NY USA

Son: Andrew BEASER, born 1863, married Magdalena KLEIN

Daughter: Frances BEASER, born 1905, married Howard GRUNDTISCH

Daughter: Lois GRUNDTISCH, born 1937 — my grandmother

TOM CRUISE’S BRANCH

Daughter: Marie-Barbe DAHLMANN, born 1698, married Jean-Jacques SCHAEFFER

Daughter: Marie-Eve SCHAEFFER, born 1725, married Jean-Martin GROSSELL

Daughter: Julienne GROSSELL, born 1764, married Jean Adam ACKER

Daughter: Madeleine ACKER, born 1792, married Jean MERCKEL

Son: Georges MERCKEL, born 1817, married Barbe SCHÜTZ — immigrated to Indiana, USA

Daughter: Catherine MERKEL, born 1847, married George RAMSER

Son: Joseph RAMSER, born 1870, married Susan MACKEY

Daughter: Camala RAMSER, born 1896, married Charles PFEIFFER

Daughter: Mary PFEIFFER, born 1936

Son: Thomas Cruise MAPOTHER IV (Tom CRUISE), born 1962 — my 9th cousin, 1 time removed

Let’s Connect: TwitterFacebookLinkedIn or 📧


Discover more from Craig Kanalley

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

78 responses to “The Cruise Connection: WikiTree Challenge Establishes Distant Relation To Tom Cruise”

  1. top university Egypt

    […]Here is a superb Weblog You may Discover Fascinating that we Encourage You[…]

    Like

  2. FiverrEarn

    […]that may be the finish of this article. Here you will discover some internet sites that we think you will enjoy, just click the hyperlinks over[…]

    Like

  3. Generator Repair near me Manchester

    […]very couple of web-sites that happen to be comprehensive beneath, from our point of view are undoubtedly properly worth checking out[…]

    Like

  4. neurothrive scam or legit

    […]one of our guests a short while ago encouraged the following website[…]

    Like

  5. cheap sex cams

    […]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nonetheless genuinely really worth taking a search, whoa did a single find out about Mid East has got much more problerms also […]

    Like

  6. fullersears.com

    […]one of our visitors not long ago suggested the following website[…]

    Like

  7. fullersears.com

    […]here are some hyperlinks to web-sites that we link to for the reason that we believe they are worth visiting[…]

    Like

  8. fullersears.com

    […]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I like but don’t get lots of link adore from[…]

    Like

  9. fullersears.com

    […]here are some hyperlinks to web-sites that we link to mainly because we feel they’re really worth visiting[…]

    Like

  10. fullersears.com

    […]Here is an excellent Weblog You may Obtain Intriguing that we Encourage You[…]

    Like

  11. french bulldog

    […]we came across a cool site that you simply might love. Take a appear when you want[…]

    Like

  12. live sex cams

    […]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a handful of unrelated data, nevertheless definitely really worth taking a appear, whoa did one master about Mid East has got far more problerms at the same time […]

    Like

  13. live sex cams

    […]one of our guests just lately recommended the following website[…]

    Like

  14. live sex cams

    […]check below, are some totally unrelated web-sites to ours, nevertheless, they may be most trustworthy sources that we use[…]

    Like

  15. live sex cams

    […]Sites of interest we have a link to[…]

    Like

  16. dehydrated water

    […]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[…]

    Like

  17. Freeze dried

    […]Sites of interest we have a link to[…]

    Like

  18. rare breed-trigger

    […]Here are several of the web-sites we recommend for our visitors[…]

    Like

  19. Asesoria Fiscal

    […]that could be the finish of this write-up. Right here you’ll uncover some internet sites that we assume you will enjoy, just click the links over[…]

    Like

  20. efos y edos

    […]please pay a visit to the websites we adhere to, such as this one, because it represents our picks through the web[…]

    Like

  21. Company Registeration

    […]very few web sites that transpire to become detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly nicely really worth checking out[…]

    Like

  22. 늑대닷컴

    […]we prefer to honor numerous other online web sites on the net, even though they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages really worth checking out[…]

    Like

  23. Volatilitas slot

    […]Every once in a even though we decide on blogs that we study. Listed beneath are the latest sites that we pick out […]

    Like

  24. OnePeace Live Action AMV

    […]below you’ll uncover the link to some sites that we assume you should visit[…]

    Like

  25. One Peace AMV

    […]the time to study or pay a visit to the content material or web pages we’ve linked to below the[…]

    Like

  26. One Peace AMV

    […]below you will locate the link to some web-sites that we assume it is best to visit[…]

    Like

  27. One Peace AMV

    […]just beneath, are numerous totally not connected websites to ours, nonetheless, they’re surely worth going over[…]

    Like

  28. nangs near me

    […]Sites of interest we have a link to[…]

    Like

  29. superslot

    […]Here is an excellent Blog You might Come across Fascinating that we Encourage You[…]

    Like

  30. freelance web developer Singapore

    […]the time to study or visit the material or web-sites we’ve linked to beneath the[…]

    Like

  31. allgame

    […]Sites of interest we have a link to[…]

    Like

  32. 918kiss

    […]just beneath, are a lot of totally not associated sites to ours, having said that, they’re surely worth going over[…]

    Like

  33. หวย24

    […]very few web sites that occur to be detailed beneath, from our point of view are undoubtedly nicely worth checking out[…]

    Like

  34. Body Care

    […]Every the moment inside a when we select blogs that we read. Listed beneath would be the most up-to-date web pages that we opt for […]

    Like

  35. pg slot

    […]one of our visitors recently suggested the following website[…]

    Like

  36. leak detection london

    […]usually posts some really exciting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[…]

    Like

  37. artificial intelligence lawyer

    […]check beneath, are some entirely unrelated web-sites to ours, nevertheless, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[…]

    Like

  38. regles 421

    […]Here are some of the internet sites we advise for our visitors[…]

    Like

  39. cybersécurité

    […]Here is a good Weblog You might Locate Interesting that we Encourage You[…]

    Like

  40. aplikasi demo slot

    […]that is the end of this post. Here you’ll find some websites that we feel you will enjoy, just click the hyperlinks over[…]

    Like

  41. agen slot

    […]Here is a great Weblog You might Discover Fascinating that we Encourage You[…]

    Like

  42. Dating Classes

    […]here are some links to web sites that we link to since we think they are really worth visiting[…]

    Like

  43. catskills hotel

    […]here are some links to websites that we link to due to the fact we assume they may be really worth visiting[…]

    Like

  44. resort lake placid

    […]check below, are some entirely unrelated internet sites to ours, on the other hand, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[…]

    Like

  45. dietary supplements

    […]the time to study or go to the content or websites we’ve linked to beneath the[…]

    Like

  46. megagame

    […]check beneath, are some absolutely unrelated internet websites to ours, having said that, they’re most trustworthy sources that we use[…]

    Like

  47. evisa

    […]just beneath, are several entirely not related websites to ours, nonetheless, they’re certainly really worth going over[…]

    Like

  48. 220 swift

    […]The information and facts mentioned inside the article are several of the ideal accessible […]

    Like

  49. 44 mag ammo

    […]we like to honor numerous other world-wide-web sites around the internet, even when they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages really worth checking out[…]

    Like

  50. 17 wsm

    […]always a massive fan of linking to bloggers that I like but do not get quite a bit of link like from[…]

    Like

wallace-wounded-craig-kanalley-book

My book “Wallace Wounded,” self-published in 2016 based on Irish-Canadian branch of my family history.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.