Famous Cousins Department

Martin Van Buren, Eighth President of the United States

I have been trying to spend at least a few minutes every evening researching my genealogy. I use Ancestry dot com as a tool, but also Wikitree, a New England genealogical site called "American Ancestors," and some other on-line sources. A few nights ago I ran into the name Van Buren in my direct lineage. I decided to run that rabbit trail as far back as possible and got as far as Johan Van Buren Heer Van Grieth, born in 1495 in Buren, Gelderland, Netherlands.
The thought crossed my mind, “I wonder if I have any connection to Martin Van Buren, the eighth President of our republic.”
I Googled Martin’s genealogy and started tracing his lineage backwards to see if it would intersect mine. Voila! Martin Van Buren and I are third cousins, four times removed. His second great-grandfather is my sixth great-grandfather, Martin Cornelisson Van Buren, born in 1637 in Houten, Utrecht, Netherlands. I therefore share some DNA with the man credited with founding the Democratic party. I now refer to President Van Buren as "Cuz."
I started this genealogical pursuit when I was in high school. I noticed the other day that I have over 1,300 individuals identified in my Ancestry file. It never gets old. The quest for further knowledge of my “tree” is still exciting. BTW, with the pandemic going on, my hair looks a lot like my cousin’s.