The Webmaster has traced his ancestors back to Eleazer Folger who was the brother of Benjamin Franklin's mother, Abiah Folger. Therefore, Benjamin Franklin is the Webmaster's First Cousin, Nine Generations Removed.

The Franklin Institute Science Museum

Ancestry of Benjamin Franklin

Short Synopsis of My Relationship to Benjamin Franklin
Eleazer Folger married Sarah Gardner and had a son Nathan (1st cousin of Ben)
Nathan Folger married Sarah Church and had a son Barzillai (1st cousin once removed)
Barzillai Folger married Phebe Coleman and had a son Walter (1st cousin twice removed)
Walter Folger married Elizabeth Starbuck and had a daughter Lydia (1st cousin three times removed)
Lydia Folger married Samuel Macy and had a daughter Hannah (1st cousin four times removed)
Hannah Macy married James Weeks II and had a son James III (1st cousin five times removed)
James Weeks III married Emily Albright and had a son Hiram (1st cousin six times removed)
Hiram Weeks married Avis Andrews and had a son James (1st cousin seven times removed)
James Weeks married Mabel Butler and had a daughter Lillian (1st cousin eight times removed)
Lillian Weeks married Alfred Fischer and had a son Leland (That's Me!) (1st cousin nine times removed)

The Webmaster's great-great-great uncle, William Weeks, was chosen by the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith to be the architect of the first Mormon Temple in Nauvoo, Illinois. He was raised as a Quaker on Martha's Vineyard but became a Mormon when he came to the Midwest in the 1830's. He travel west with the Mormon President Brigham Young in 1846 and was to begin construction of the Salt Lake City Temple. However, he had a falling out with Young along the way and was excommunicated from the church. When William left he took all his architural temple drawings with him which caused the postponement for five years of the beginning of the construction of the Salt Lake Temple. He lived in Marion, Linn County Iowa for a while and either lived in or visited Fond du Lac, Wisconsin where a daughter was born. His father, James Weeks II and his half-brother James Weeks III lived in nearby Greenbush Township, Sheboygan County while his older brother Arvin Luce Weeks, also an architect and master carpenter, lived in the City of Sheboygan. William eventually traveled to Salt Lake City and then onto the Los Angles, California area where he lived until his death March 8, 1900. J. Earl Arrington wrote an excellent history of William Weeks which can be found in the Brigham Young University Studies Magazine, Spring 1979, page 337. "As a young man, William may have participated with Arvin in some early building activities in the East and the South." (Arrington p. 338) Arvin was a prolific builder in Sheboygan County. Starting with his own home in 1848 he went on to design and build grain elevators, many homes of prominent Sheboygan citizens, whole blocks of buildings in downtown Sheboygan and many saw and lumber mills. After his death in 1898 his business was taken over by his son William C. Weeks. In 1866-67 Arvin had designed and build the first Sheboygan County Court House. When a new Court House was built about 1933, K. M. Vitzthum and company, a prominent architectural firm in Chicago, engaged with W.C. Weeks, Inc. as architects for the new Court House. Arvin also had a brother Samuel who lived in Carthage, Missouri, that was a farmer, blacksmith, druggist and postmaster during his lifetime, and sister Sallie Jane. By his father's second wife he had a half-brother James III and three half-sisters, Emily, Elizabeth, and Matilda.

Nauvoo Temple Cam

Genealogical speaking, James Weeks II and Hannah Macy are probably the two most important links to my historical ancestors. They are both listed in "The History of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts In Three Volumes," by Charles Edward Banks. The first wife of James was Sophronia Fisher and the first husband of Hannah was Gideon Swain, a sailor who was lost at sea. James and Hannah were married 5 Jun 1834 in Nantucket, Mass.. Hannah was a first cousin four generations removed to Benjamin Franklin. Their son, William who was the architect of the Mormon Nauvoo Temple was born April 11, 1813. The family migrated to the Middle West, by coming down the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes and landed at Chicago in 1835. They settled in Elwood Township, Vermilion County, Illinois. In 1848 the family moved to Greenbush Township, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin where James II purchased and cleared 160 acres of land. His son James III, my great-great grandfather, married Emily Albright on July 3, 1854. Emily was the daughter of Marshal P. Albright who came to Wisconsin from Independence Township, Warren County, New Jersey. After James II died 10 Jun 1855, Hannah sold the farm to James III and returned to Illinois with two daughters.. Family oral history says because they were so strict in practicing their Quaker beliefs the remaining family members who stayed were happy to see them leave. No record of his burial location can be found in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin but he probably in buried in the Greenbush Cemetery in an unmarked grave. Quaker beliefs of the time did not allow markers on graves. Hannah was living in Vermilion County, Illinois and listed as the head-of-houshold on the 1860 census. She also married again in 1860 to George Maris and moved to Rush Creek, Liberty Township, Parke County, Indiana. She died December 27, 1883 and is buried in the Rush Creek Cemetery.

History of Martha's Vineyard

The Webmaster has also found Mayflower Pilgrim Richard Warren is his 10 great grandfather.

General Society of Mayflower Descendants

Short Synopsis of My Relationship to Richard Warren:
Richard Warren married Elizabeth ? They had a daughter named Abigail.
Abigail Warren married Anthony Snow. They had a daughter named Lydia.
Lydia Snow married Stephen Skiff (Skiffe). They had a daughter named Deborah.
Deborah Skiff (Skiffe) married Stephen Presbury. They had a daughter named Dorcas.
Dorcas Presbury married Elisha Wollen. They had a daughter named Deborah.
Deborah Wollen married Joseph Luce. They had a daughter named Deborah.
Deborah Luce married James Weeks. They had a son named James.
James Weeks II married Hannah Macy. They had a son named James.
James Weeks III married Emily Albright. They had a son named Hiram.
Hiram Weeks married Avis Andrews. They had a son named James.
James Weeks married Mabel Butler. They had a daughter named Lillian.
Lillian Weeks married Alfred Fischer. They had a son named Leland. (That's Me!)