Recently I learned about Relative Finder, a product of the BYU Family History Technology Lab. It syncs with FamilySearch.org, a free genealogy site run by the Mormons, to provide a list of your famous relatives.

Of course, you need to have a branch on the global Family Tree at FamilySearch for this to work. I do, so I was curious to give it a shot.

One name jumped out at me: Elvis PRESLEY, the King of Rock & Roll himself.

The common ancestor appeared on the screen: Thomas SPICER, born in 1592, a New World immigrant from England, who arrived in Newport, Rhode Island in the 1630s and spent his final years in Gravesend (modern-day Brooklyn, New York).

This had me very excited because the genealogy is very sound for my side. I’ve validated my line back to Thomas SPICER via his daughter Anne SPICER, who married John LAKE. My LAKEs were Loyalists from New York who settled in modern-day Canada after the Revolutionary War, and I’ve been able to verify that line through autosomal DNA of my older relatives. (Living LAKE men have verified the direct Y-DNA line all the way back to John LAKE and Anne SPICER of Gravesend.)

Relative Finder states that Elvis descends of Thomas’ youngest son, Samuel SPICER, born in 1637 in England. Ann & Samuel were half-siblings, with different mothers. They are both mentioned in their father’s will in 1658:

Samuel married Esther TILTON and they ultimately settled in New Jersey. The line to Elvis apparently goes through their daughter Mary SPICER, born in 1671 in Gravesend, who married Jeremiah BATES. The names change from there, through the generations: BATES -> WALL -> OVERBY -> BOWEN -> WESSON and finally PRESLEY.

But as I was working to verify the line to Elvis, there was a problem. Martha WALL born in 1755 in Bradford Township, Pennsylvania, an apparent great-granddaughter of Mary SPICER and Jeremiah BATES did not marry Alexander OVERBY in Virginia. She married John RICH, Jr. in Guilford County, North Carolina. They had 8 children, from 1776 to 1790, no Martha in 1786 who marries a BOWEN and goes down to Elvis.

How did such an error happen? Someone along the way attached one Martha to the other in the global Family Tree, even though they were different Marthas. As great as the global tree is, and genealogists constantly work to correct the errors, human mistakes can work their way into the picture. After that happens, our latest tech tools can compound the errors.

Relative Finder said Elvis and I are 11th cousins, 2x removed. And if he went back to Thomas SPICER reliably, that would be right. But the paper trail just doesn’t add up.

For my side, this connection would have been through my Dad and his paternal line, which is primarily Irish-Canadian, but does have English blood further back. I’m sure we have a lot of interesting relatives along that trail, but not Elvis. At least for now.

Me 🇺🇸 -> My Dad 🇺🇸 -> Kenneth KANALLEY 🇺🇸 –> Mildred McQUAID 🇨🇦 -> Agnes SHORT 🇨🇦 -> Margaret HART 🇨🇦 -> Mary MOORE 🇨🇦 -> Susannah FRIEL -> Mary LAKE -> Christopher LAKE -> John LAKE -> Nicholas LAKE -> John LAKE -> Anne SPICER 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 -> Thomas SPICER 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿