Astronomers Connection Combat: Maria Mitchell vs Carl Sagan

Question

Our Connection Combat this week celebrates the solar eclipse on April 8, and the International Day of Human Flight in Space on April 12. On the one side we have Maria Mitchell, the first acknowledged female astronomer and discoverer of a comet, and on the other we have Carl Sagan, a pioneer in the field of exobiology (the search for ET).

Here's how the game is played:

1. Check your connection to Maria Mitchell and Carl Sagan (click "Connection to Me" in each profile pull-down menu).
2. Click "Answer this post" below. Choose Team Mitchell  or Team Sagan and say how many degrees are in your chosen connection path.
3. See if you can verify each relationship along your connection path with a reliable source [more explanation].
4. Post comments below your answer as you progress and when you run into trouble. Someone else might be able to help.

The players with the closest verified connection wins!

Will you join us?

Comments

There are seven additional ways to win and enter the Connection Combat Hall of Fame. These require clearing your path of any and all little "WikiTree Weevils."

This game runs from April 9-16. 

Do you want to help others? We call this "combat" just for fun. It's really more about collaboration than competition. Please participate in your team's Aid Station and stop by when you have questions or problems.

• Team Mitchell Aid Station
• Team Sagan Aid Station

You can also chat live on Discord. See the Connection Combat help page for more information.

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P.S. Share the , spread the word!

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Maria Mitchell for me at 17

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Team Mitchell: Maria Mitchell is 19 Degrees over 2 branches. I added resources and cleaned up bio's verifying each relationship along the path with reliable sources.

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Maria Mitchel 20th cousin 4 times removed at 17 degrees

Carl Sagan is 27 degrees for both myself and my husband.

I will ride with Team Mitchell.

Answer 1

22 for Maria and 29 for Carl.

Answer 2

It's Team Mitchell for me this week at 18 degrees! This is the first combat where the connection goes through my biological father so it will be fun to look at those lines.

Answer 3

My closest is Maria Mitchell - 19 Degrees

    Mitchell-8244 Maria Mitchell
    William Mitchell (her father)
    Peleg Mitchell (his father)
    Richard Mitchell (his father)
    Elisabeth Tripp (his mother)
    William Wood (her husband)
    John Wood (his brother)
    Dorothy Wood (his daughter)
    Mary Rogers (her daughter)
    Virginia Johnson (her daughter)
    James Foster (her son)
    Phoebe Hatchett (his wife)
    Thomas Hatchett (her father)
    William Hatchett (his brother)
    Thomas Hatchett (his son)
    Marion Hatchett (his son)
    John Hatchett (his son)
    Julius Hatchett (his son)
    George Hatchett (his son)
    me (his son)

Now to verify it.

Answer 4

Team Maria! Only 16 degrees from Maria. I think that is the closest one so far. It seems that there are no weevils to quash in my connection path. Everything seems in order, but it did bring me across some early profiles of mine that definitely need some biography work!

Answer 5

Maria Mitchell - 18° - 7th C 5xR
Carl Edward Sagan - 26°

I'm for Team Mitchell. Connection-wise she goes through my mother's maternal line through Higginbotham, relationship-wise it runs through my father's mothers Brunson/Parsons/Tarpley/Tavers of unknown confidence; I'm going through the connection line.

Pat Brunson is 18 Degrees from Maria Mitchell: 4 branches (5-7-5-2)
✖Pat Brunson-1754
(Self) →
✖Betty Wilson-106973
(her mother) →
✖Lila Lawson-13910
(her mother) →
✖Harriet Palmer-32249
(her mother) →
✖Sarah Palmer-30755
(her mother) →
✖William Higginbotham-2417
(her husband) →
✖Caleb Higginbotham-473
(his father) →
✖Jacob Higginbotham-400
(his father) →
✖Joseph Higginbotham-113
(his father) →
✖Thomas Higginbotham-926
(his brother) →
✖Burris Higginbotham-861
(his son) →
✖Joseph Higginbotham-925
(his son) →
✖Mary Pinkham-371
(his wife) →
✖Hezikiah Pinkham-151
(her father) →
✖Abigail Pinkham-149
(his sister) →
✖Peter Macy-1161
(her son) →
✖Alfred Macy-1162
(his son) →
✖Annie Mitchell-28394
(his wife) →
✖Maria Mitchell-8244
(her sister)

Comments

Pat Brunson-1754
(Self) →
Betty Wilson-106973
(her mother) →
Lila Lawson-13910
(her mother) →
Harriet Palmer-32249
(her mother) →
Sarah Palmer-30755
(her mother) →
William Higginbotham-2417
(her husband) →
Caleb Higginbotham-473
(his father) →
Jacob Higginbotham-400
(his father) →
Joseph Higginbotham-113
(his father) →
Thomas Higginbotham-926
(his brother) →
Burris Higginbotham-861
(his son) →
Joseph Higginbotham-925
(his son) →
Mary Pinkham-371
(his wife) →
Hezikiah Pinkham-151
(her father) →
Abigail Pinkham-149
(his sister) →
Peter Macy-1161
(her son) →
Alfred Macy-1162
(his son) →
Annie Mitchell-28394
(his wife) →
Maria Mitchell-8244
(her sister)

Complete! Managed to get a few GEDCOMs cleaned & did a merge.

I was going to say this yesterday when I posted it, but I had a brain fart & forgot. In completing this Connection Combat challenge, I discovered that my 3rd g-gmother, [[Bryant-3255|Ann Minerva (Bryant) Higginbotham (1797-1833)]], was accused, tried & acquitted of the murder of her husband, [[Higginbotham-473|Caleb Higginbotham (1787-1829)]]. This was also where I had to merge 2 profiles; 1 said it was my 3rd g-gmother, 5° & 1 said 7°. The resulting profile says 6°, but shows no connection.

Answer 6

Team Mitchell for me. I have two possible paths at 15 degrees- I'll see which one works best.

Comments

Done, 15 degrees, verfied and weavil-free to 

Maria Mitchell

1. William Mitchell, her brother

2. Charlotte Dow, his wife

3. Charlotte Cobb, her mother

4. William Cobb, her father

5. Jerusha Cushman, his mother

6. Abigail Cushman, her sister

7. Lemuel Crooker, her husband

8. Lemuel Crooker, his son

9. Rachel Crooker, his daughter

10. Nathaniel Foster, her son

11. George Foster, his son

12.Stanley Foster, his son

13. Frances Burhart, his wife

14. My mother, her daughter

15. Me, Jean Hannaford

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hi Jean!  Good work!  

My path was the same as yours up to William Cobb.  Then mine goes through William's sister Mary Molly (Cobb) Drew instead of his mother.

Mary Molly's profile might have been involved in a not-careful merge at some point  --  she has two husbands and two batches of kids at the same time, one batch in Kentucky and one in Massachusetts.  Since everything else about this family is Massachusetts, I'm opting for the Massachusetts sources being correct.  

Would you like to take a look at it? https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cobb-3642

Answer 7

Ms.Mitchell is a 5c8r but my closest connection is indirect at 18 degrees. Verified and completed.

Answer 8

Team Mitchell 17 degrees; Maria Mitchell, Mitchell-8244, three branches (7-3-8) versus 22 degrees Carl Sagan, Sagan-27, four branches (1-6-6-10).  

Maria Mitchell, Mitchell-8244, is 50 Degrees from Mildred Wheeler, Wheeler-18799: One Branch (51), United States, Wales, England, Canada.

0. Maria Michell, Mitchell-8244, 22c, 4r, mrca Ferch_Ednywain-1, Ab_Edwin-3

1. her father, Mitchell-8245

2. his father, Mitchell-8246

3. his father, Mitchell-2150

4. his mother, Tripp-1092

5. her brother, Tripp-1182

6. his daughter, Tripp-1249

7. her husband, Akin-224, 12c, 5r, mrca Leycester-3, Mainwaring-31

8. his brother, Akin-221, 12c, 5r, mrca Leycester-3, Mainwaring-31

9. his daughter, Akin-595, 11c, 5r, mrca Willoughby-3, Freville-10

10. her husband, Parmentier-123, 4th great-granduncle

11. his brother, Parmentier-114, 4th great grandfather

12. his son, Palmanteer-68, 3rd great grandfather

13. his son, Palmanteer-67, 2nd great grandfather

14. his daughter, Pamanteer-1115, great grandmother

15. her son, Wheeler-18807, grandfather

16. his son, Wheeler-18911, father

17. his daughter, Wheeler-18799

Eighteen degrees Maria Mitchell, Mitchell-8244, three branches (8-3-8)

0. Mitchell-8244, 22c, 4r, mrca Ferch_Ednywain-1, Ab_Edwin-3

1. her mother, Coleman-4091, 21c, 5r, mrca Ferch_Ednywain-1, Ab_Edwin-3

2. her father, Coleman-4092, 20c, 6r, mrca Ferch_Ednywain-1, Ab_Edwin-3

3. his father, Coleman-4093

4. his father, Coleman-2510

5. his father, Coleman-36

6. his brother, Coleman-1648

7. his son, Coleman-397

8. his wife, Boynton-938

9. her sister, Boynton-827

10. her son, Boynton--561

11. his wife, Jewett-541

12. her sister, Jewett-545

13. her son, Wheeler-5195

14. his son, Wheeler-18871

15. his son, Wheeler-18812

16. his son, Wheeler-18807

17. his son, Wheeler-18911

18. his daughter, Wheeler-18799

Eighteen degrees Maria Mitchell, Mitchell-8244, two branches (9-10)

0. Mitchell-8244, 22c, 4r, mrca Ferch_Ednywain-1, Ab_Edwin-3

1. her mother, Coleman-4091, 21c, 5r,mrca Ferch_Ednywain-1, Ab_Edwin-3

2. her father, Coleman-4092, 20c, 6r, mrca Ferch_Ednywain-1, Ab_Edwin-3

3. his mother, Myrick-372, 19, 7r, mrca Ferch_Ednywain-1, Ab_Edwin-3

4. her father, Myrick-6, 18c, 8r, mrca Ferch_Ednywain-1, Ab_Edwin-3

5. his mother, Newell-211

6. her mother, Larkin-479

7. her sister, Larkin-47

8. her son, Wheeler-831, 1st c, 8r, mrca Wheeler-219, Penn-117

9. his wife, Hosmer-963, 6th great-grandaunt, mrca Hosmer-8, Wood-682

10. her sister, Hosmer-6, 6th great grandmother, mrca Hosmer-8, Wood-682

11. her son, Wheeler-4022, 5th great grandfather

12. his son, Wheeler-5189, 4th great grandfather

13. his son, Wheeler-5195, 3rd great grandfather

14. his son, Wheeler-18871, 2nd great grandfather

15. his son, Wheeler-18812, great grandfather

16. his son, Wheeler-18807, grandfather

17. his son, Wheeler-18911, father

18. his daughter, Wheeler-18799

Eighteen degrees Maria Mitchell-8244, two branches (8-11)

0. Mitchell-8244

1. her mother, Coleman-4091

2. her mother, Folger-179

3. her mother, Barnard-836

4. her father, Barndard-228

5. his father, Barnard-109

6. his sister, Barnard-17

7. her son, Peaslee-91

8. his wife, Currier-497

9. her mother, Hardy-56

10. her brother, Hardy-388

11. his daughter, Hardy-1799

12. her daughter, Jewett-545

13. her son, Wheeler-5195

14. his son, Wheeler-18871

15. his son, Wheeler-18812

16. his son, Wheeler-18807

17. his son, Wheeler-18911

18. his daughter, Wheeler-18799

Answer 9

I'm not really playing the game, but I did look at my connection to Carl Sagan.  I think that the profile for  his wife's grandmother, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Rolff-5, is actually a conflation of two people named Minnie, one born in NYC in 1878, and one born about 1897 in Russia/Poland.  Pearl (Goldsmith) Druyan's mother was Minnie Sternberg:  https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6K97-LPY9 .  As there really was a Hermina (or Minnie) Rolff, I think Rolff-5 should remain with her parents and siblings, DOB should be changed to Sept 1878 (which is what the 1900 census says for her), but she should be disconnected from Louis Goldsmith and the two children listed.   This is likely to reduce Sagan's connectivity.

Comments

I made the changes mentioned.

Answer 10

23 for Mitchell, 31 for Sagan

Answer 11

Team Mitchell at 16 degrees.

0. Maria Mitchell.

1. William Mitchell (her father)

2. Peleg Mitchell (his father)

3. Richard Mitchell (his father)

4. Mercy Mitchell (his sister)

5. Job Coggeshall (her son)

6. Christian Coggeshall (his son)

7. Edward Coggeshall (his son)

8. Christiana Clark (his wife)

9. Anna Clark (her sister)

10. Josephine Benbow (her daughter)

11. William Blair (her husband)

12. John Blair (his father)

13. Samuel Blair (his brother)

14. John Blair (his son)

15. Irene Blair (his daughter)

16. Frank Blankenship (her son)

Over Team Sagan at a distant 24 degrees.

Answer 12

I'm 18 degrees from Maria, and 27 for Carl. Team Maria, but I'm going to try verifying both this week.

Answer 13

Team Mitchell all the way! Cuz women rule... that's why!

- 19 degrees from Maria Mitchell and 9th cousins 6 times removed.

- 26 degrees from Carl Sagan and no relation.

Answer 14

I am related to five of the Astronomers!

1) 16º Simon Newcomb: 7th cousins/4xr MRCA Mary (Unknown) Buell

2) 16º Maria Mitchell: distant cousins MRCA Merfyn ap Rhodri

3) 20º Edith Woodward: 16th cousins/1xr MRCA Elizabeth (Butler) Dutton

4) 21º Isaac Newton: 12 cousins/8xr MRCA Elizabeth (Bathonia) Weyland

5) 24º Tycho Brahe: distant cousins MRCA Heribert (Wetterau) vanGleiberg

Other non-related astronomers by degree:

23º Caroline Lucretia Herschel; 24º Carl Sagan; 25º Beatrice Tinsley; 26º Eise Eisenga; 27º Thomas Maclear; 31º Pierre Henri Puiseux; and 33º Nicholaus Copernicus.

Look, look up in the sky! It's stars, and planets, and black holes, and the ISS...and a very cool partial eclipse in Tucson, Arizona on April 8th!

Comments

Although I am related to both, I'm much closer to Maria Mitchell. ALL RELATED BY DNA

• 20 Degrees Maria Mitchell (DNA)
• 29 Degrees from Carl Sagan (DNA)
• 32 Degrees from Nicholaus Capernicus (DNA)
• 22 Degrees Isaac Newton (DNA)
• 20 Degrees Edith Woodward (DNA)
• 21 Degrees Simon Newcomb (DNA)
• 22 Degrees Caroline Lucretia Herschel (DNA)
• 26  DegreesTycho Brahe (DNA)
• 27 Degrees Beatrice Tinsley (DNA)
• 30 Degrees Thomas Maclear (DNA)
• 31 Degrees Eise Eisgena (DNA)
• 32 Degrees Pierre Henri Puiseux (DNA)

Answer 15

Maria Mitchell at 18 degrees vs. Carl Sagan at 24 degrees. I choose team Mitchell especially because it uses a family line that I have neglected for a long time.

Comments

0. Maria Mitchell-8244√
1. Lydia Coleman-4091 her mother√
2. Lydia Folger-179 her mother√
3. Jonathan Folger-39 her father√
4. Margaret Gardner-1179 his mother√
5. Nathaniel Gardner-617 her father√
6. Abigail Gardiner-105 his sister√
7. Jedediah Jordan-884 her son√
8. Samuel Jordan-882 his son√
9. Jedediah Jordan-881 his son√
10. Nancy Jordan-880 his daughter√
11. William Packard-33 her son√
12. Abbie Packard-1251 his daughter√
13. Mary Trachte-3 her daughter√
14. Harold Schiller-211 her husband√
15. Elsie Schiller-195 his sister√
16. Herold Carlson-1938 her son√
17. Howard Carlson-1935 his son√
18. David Carlson-1933 his son√

All done! Some of the earlier profiles could use some TLC, but all are done well enough for now.

Answer 16

I choose Team Maria

Maria Mitchell is 32 Degrees from Tiina Allén.

Answer 17

Team Mitchell, as we are actually cousins, 7th cousins three times removed!!!

Our closest connection is through John Browne.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Browne-1035

Answer 18

Maria Mitchell (very distant cousins)

33 degrees from Carl Sagan

Answer 19

Team Mitchell for me: 16 degrees and we are 19th cousins, 5 times removed. The relationship is through a mutual grandfather, Einudd ap Llywarch, who is Maria Mitchell's 18th great grandfather, and my 23rd great grandfather.

25 degrees for Sagan and no relationship.

Answer 20

Maria 19  / Carl 29