Happy 4th of July!

Today, the United States of America is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Not to brag, but I am related to one of the original signers of the document. Or at least that's what FamilySearch, a free genealogy site run by the Mormons, says. Not sure about the accuracy of this, but I always say that if you go back far enough, we're all related. 😀

So who is my famous relative? Charles Carroll of Carrollton, who is my 3rd cousin 8 times removed. I'm not sure what that means except I have to go back 11 generations before we have a common ancestor.

So who was cousin Charles? He was definitely a mover and a shaker in the early years of this country. He was born in Maryland in 1737 and lived to the ripe old age of 95. He was one of the wealthiest and most educated of the signers, and he was a member of the Continental Congress, Confederation Congress, and the first United States Senator for Maryland. He was also the only Catholic to sign the Declaration. Later, he was one of the founders of the B&O Railroad. He was one busy man during the establishment of our country, and if you want to know a little more, here's what Wikipedia had to say.

So, after reading about his accomplishments, I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know who he was. The county where I go to the library, gym, and Walmart is named after him. There are counties, cities, towns, and schools across the country also named for him. He's mentioned in the Maryland state song, and there's a statue of him in the U.S. Capitol crypt.

His estate and grave are less than an hour away from here, so I thought a field trip was in order. However, it turns out that it's not open to the public. Maybe I'll just have to get a book about him from my library, which is named after him. 😏

Happy Independence Day!