Subj : Appalachian Connections To : All From : Mike Dippel Date : Wed May 13 2026 20:18:52 This week's focus is on Appalachian Connections. Per wikitree.com, I am: 16 degrees from William Hatfield 19 degrees from Mary Breckinridge 19 degrees from Maybelle Carter 15 degrees from David Crockett 19 degrees from John Ehle 18 degrees from Emma Gatewood 19 degrees from Don Knotts 21 degrees from Dolly Parton 20 degrees from Marvin Sutton 19 degrees from Charles Townes 18 degrees from Jerry West 20 degrees from Chuck Yeager More about them: "Devil Anse" Anderson Hatfield, the Hatfield family patriarch in the infamous Hatfield and McCoy Feud. (For fun, also check your connection to Randall McCoy!) Mary Breckinridge, a nurse-midwife and public health leader best known for transforming maternal and child healthcare in rural Appalachia and founding the Frontier Nursing Service. "Mother Maybelle" Carter, a prominent country music musician, member of the Carter Family music group, and mother-in-law to Johnny Cash. Davy Crockett, renowned frontiersman and participant at the Alamo. John Ehle Jr., author known for his fiction set in the Appalachian Mountains; has been described as "the father of Appalachian literature." "Grandma" Emma Gatewood hiked the Appalachia Trail several times in her later years and was the first woman to hike the trail alone and in one continuous hike. She later served as an activist to improve the Trail for future hikers. Don Knotts, actor and comedian best known for his portrayal of the high-strung, bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on the 1960s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show. Dolly Parton, singer, songwriter, author, actress, and humanitarian. Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton, Appalachian moonshiner and bootlegger. Charles Townes, Nobel prize-winning physicist who invented the laser. Jerry West, one of basketball's best shooting guards and his silhouette is incorporated into the NBA logo. Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager, Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight. ---- I have some ancestors that were actors, architects, astronauts, Afro-American, authors, bank robbers, boxers, comedians, detectives, ghosts, holocaust survivors Indian chiefs, pro hockey players, singers and musicians, painters, physicians, politicians, poets, popes, writers, WW I heroes. I guess that I am a collection of all of them, as we ALL are. https://www.wikitree.com helps me gather this information with their weekly newsletters. It is totally free and very useful to genealogists. If you would like to find your connections to famous people, you can start by giving me some basic information by going to: https://www.hobbyline.com/genealogy_web_design.htm and click on the 'Request Form' link. I have researched the ancestry for many persons interested in their family history, and I would love to see how WE are related. Mike Dippel https://bbs-list.net List Your BBS For Free * Origin: The Hobby Line! BBS - hobbylinebbs.com (954:895/1) .