NBC Genealogy show

I watched the NBC show "Who Do You Think You Are" last night - the first episode with Sarah Jessica Parker. I watched online on my computer because I missed it when it was broadcast.

As I was watching the show, I was looking very carefully, knowing that the Danes have a connection to the Salem witch trials. So when the name "Dutch" went by on the screen, I immediately said to myself - "that's a family name of ours." I was poking around on Facebook and found the group to become a fan of the show, and while there, I found that someone had placed the genealogy of Sarah on Rootsweb . When I looked at that tree, I found that the Esther Elwell mentioned on the television show was born Esther Dutch, daughter of Osmond Dutch. A quick search of my Family Tree Maker database found that I have Osmond Dutch in my file, but not Esther. Instead, I had her sister Alice Dutch.

I also have a handwritten note in the Dane section of the genealogy book that I have that says John Dane, one of my ancestors was a cabinet maker in Salem and was a juror in the witch trials. It also says "Sorrow over mistake at shedding blood." It turns out that this John Dane's father, also named John Dane, had been married to Alice Dutch (they had no children together, and he died in 1683 before the trials. Alice remarried).

Pretty cool to find that my connection to this nationally broadcast show was so close. I am definitely going to keep watching. Pretty fun for a genealogy buff like me.