25 September 2005

Don Adams Dies

Don Adams of Get Smart was originally named Donald Yarmy. His father, William Yarmy, was a Hungarian Jew and his mother, Consuelo Morgan, was an Irish Catholic, though her father appears to have been Dutch. The name Morgan does not seem particularly Dutch.

Anyone seen Consuelo in earlier census records? Adams' father is married with no wife in 1920. The only person close in 1900 is a Consuelo Dieter with an uncle James Morgan.

05 September 2005

William Rehnquist Dies

You will find frequent mention of Rehnquist's Swedish ancestry but that's only half the story. His maternal lineage traces back from his mother, Margery Peck, via New York to the Pilgrims and other early New England settlers giving him a long American pedigree.