Toolkit: Researching Famous Relatives

American Ancestors and Cousins of the Princess of Wales by Gary Boyd Roberts and William Addams Reitwiesner (Genealogical Publishing Co.)

The Birthday Directory of Famous & Infamous People, 2nd edition, by Dennis Crossland (CAVA Press)

Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence by Frederick Wallace Pyne (Picton Press)

Great Americans: Famous Names, Real People by K. Otteson (Bloomsbury)

Handwriting of the Famous and Infamous by Sheila Lowe (Metro Books)

James Dean Died Here: The Locations of America’s Pop Culture Landmarks by Chris Epting (Santa Monica Press)

Pocahontas’ Descendants: With Corrections and Additions by Stuart E. Brown Jr., Lorraine F. Myers and Eileen M. Chappel (Genealogical Publishing Co.)

Private Lives: A True Compendium of Curious Facts, Bizarre Habits and Fascinating Anecdotes about the Lives of the Famous and Infamous throughout History by Mark Bryant (Sterling)

The Prominent Families of the United States of America by Arthur Meredyth Burke (Genealogical Publishing Co.)

The Royal Descents of 500 Immigrants to the American Colonies or the United States by Gary Boyd Roberts (Genealogical Publishing Co.)

Where Are They Buried? How Did They Die? Fitting Ends and Final Resting Places of the Famous, Infamous, and Noteworthy by Tod Benoit (Black Dog & Leventhal)

Web Sites

1930 Census Entries for the Rich and Famous

<www.rootdig.com/1930census>: Find images of famous Americans’ census records — from Marlon Brando to Orville Wright, Katharine Hepburn to Martin Luther King Jr.

Associated Daughters of Early American Witches

<www.adeaw.us>: Connect with descendants of documented accused witches.

Celebrity Trees

<www.genealogy.com/famousfolks>: Surf the pedigrees of dozens of artists, athletes, politicians and other famous figures.

General Society of Mayflower Descendants

<www.mayflower.org>: Learn the history of our founding fathers and mothers, and browse the bookstore for compiled genealogies.

The Institute of Historical Research

<www.ihrinfo.ac.uk/welcome.html>: When researching anyone who might have worked in a royal household, this is one of the first places you’ll want to visit. The Web site offers numerous impressive lists of officeholders employed by British monarchs and their siblings.

Just for Fun Family Trees

<genealogy.about.com/cs/famousandfun>: Find your favorite fictitious characters’ family trees — from Donald Duck to Dracula.

The Presidents of the United States

<whitehouse.gov/history/presidents>: Visit the official White House Web site for biographies of all former presidents.

Yvonne’s Royalty Home Page

<mypage.uniserve.ca/-canyon/royalty.html>: Get the scoop on royal family trees.

 From the October 2003 Family Tree Magazine.