You never know what you will find when you start digging through the branches of someone’s family tree. GeneTree.com has used DNA to discover that the Utah Governor, Gary Herbert, has some very prominent historical figures in his family tree, including Butch Cassidy, and Joseph Smith Jr..
The study of genealogy has become intertwined with the study of a person’s DNA. You can learn quite a bit about who a person is genetically related to by examining a sample of that person’s DNA, and then comparing it to the DNA of other people.
GeneTree.com is owned by Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, (SMGF), which is a non-profit research organization. This foundation has created the largest repository of genetic and genealogical information that has been correlated. Right now, SMGF has information about more than nine million ancestors who are linked together both through DNA samples, as well as pedigree charts.
GeneTree.com is a company that provides genetic and genealogical information that can be used to help people unlock their ancestral history. They provide services like genetic genealogy consulting, genetic testing, and family history research to genealogists, and non-genealogists, alike.
Recently, GeneTree.com took a look at DNA samples that were provided to the company by the current Governor of Utah, Gary Herbert. The company took the information that they learned from the DNA samples, and combined it with what they could learn using their expertise in genealogy, to discover some interesting things about the Governor’s family tree.
It turns out that Governor Gary Herbert is a second cousin twice removed with a man named Robert LeRoy Parker. This man was better known as Butch Cassidy, the leader of the Wild Bunch Gang. He was born on April 13, 1866, in Beaver, Utah, and was one of thirteen children. His parents were Mormon, and immigrated from England to Utah in 1856.
In 1879, the family moved to Circleville, Utah, where Robery LeRoy Parker committed his first crime. He broke into a store, stole a pair of jeans, and left a note that said he promised to return to pay for them later. By 1884, he was “rustling cattle”, and had changed his name to Butch Cassidy. He went on to rob the San Miguel Valley Bank on June 24, 1889, (in which he and three other cowboys got away with $20,000).
The Wild Bunch was made up of a group of outlaw cowboys, including Dick Maxwell, Elzy Lay, Henry Wilber “Bub” Meeks, George Currie and Harry Longabaugh, (who was known as the Sundance Kid). The group continued to rob banks and commit other crimes.
Governor Gary Herbert is also very likely related to Joseph Smith. The Governor’s DNA shows that his family came from the same area in Ireland that the ancestors of Joseph Smith Jr’s. family did. Therefore, the two probably share a common ancestor.
Joseph Smith Jr. was born on December 23, 1805, in Vermont. He is the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, (or the Mormon religion). He is considered to be a Prophet by his followers.
Image by Michael Jolley on Flickr