Ever since I can remember, I was told that Daniel Boone was my great-great-great-great uncle…four greats. I was always proud of that. It was years later as an adult that I found out that I wasn’t that great! My older sister, Donna, started researching our family genealogy and found out our connection to Daniel was through marriage. Daniel was now my cousin instead of an uncle. We are still related, just not as directly like we thought. We have a family story of my great-great-grandfather, Joseph Boone, hunting with Daniel Boone when Milton was 17 and Daniel was in his 70’s. My sister has been able to confirm that the ages match up and they were living in the same area at that time. So I guess there is a family connection.
We are also related to Richard Boone who was an actor. He played the leading role of Paladin in a TV series called “Have Gun Will Travel.” Another third cousin is Pat Boone, the singer. I was a little embarrassed by this fact as I was into rock and roll. We are also related to the Boone family that play professional baseball. I only know this because they are supposed to be related to Daniel Boone.
My mother did some genealogy research when I was a young adult. She traced our heritage back to Brian Boru of Ireland. I was also very proud of this relationship. I thought I was a direct descendent of Brian Boru, the only king of Ireland that was the king of all Ireland. He reigned during the turn of the first millennium and united the Irish kings and fought off Viking occupation. However, this illusion was burst when we discovered that Daniel Boone was only a cousin instead of an uncle. Being as Daniel Boone’s connection to Brian Boru was through his wife (and we thought through his brother Edward’s wife), we have no claim to royalty.
Life was so much more romantic and amazing when I thought that I was directly descended from Irish royalty. It makes a much better pub story in Ireland and gives you a little cred with the locals.
Swagerty-Aldrich Family Web Site 