Note-vember Challenge Week of November 1-7 - Post your profiles here! [closed]

+21 votes
3.2k views

Hi everyone! Thanks for joining the Note-vember Challenge. (And if you haven't yet, why not? You can start at any time during the month. Check out our page for details.)

During the week of November 1-7, post here when you create, connect, or write a biography for a notable person. At the end of the week, I'll tally up the points and we'll open a new thread. 

Pamela Lloyd has already started and Kitty Smith is going to hit the ground running, so let's all get cracking!

closed with the note: Week ended for contest results
in The Tree House by Erin Breen G2G6 Pilot (330k points)
closed by Erin Breen
Thanks for the reminder to post here, Erin!
I'd like to add a bio for Bill Gates, but the profile is locked.
Hi Star,

Most profiles for living notable people are either run by active members, or the WikiTree Admin account. If you ask for trusted list access, I'm sure they'll add you so you can put the biography in.
I have fleshed out the profile for Charles Thomson, Thomson-3565, Secretary of State to the Continental Congress. There were lots of connections to be made and still more to do.  I want to connect him to President Harrison, as his wife was Hannah Harrison, and her father was named Richard Harrison, and her bio information says she is President Harrison's aunt.   I haven't as yet found the proper connection.  The data leads me to Maryland where the maps show the connections geographically to two Richard Harrisons, brothers on Wikitree.  That in itself may need correcting.

Making progress: http://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Special:Connection&action=connect&person1Name=Jacobs-2987&person2Name=Thomson-3565

Charles Thomson is now 23 degrees from AJ.
I have been working on Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. American explorer and ethnologist.

Ok, I've got a question - we get 2.5 points for connecting somebody notable to the global tree, but what if their family members are also notables? (Case in point Roald Dahl married Patricia Neal, i've connected Patricia, and that automatically connects Roald as well as their other relatives who are notable in their own right such as their grand-daughter Sophie Dahl  who in turn married singer-songwriter Jamie Cullum)

Good question, Lucy.  When I connected Gloria Vanderbilt, the connection was made for Anderson Cooper, Reginald Vanderbilt, and Cornelius Vanderbilt.  I listed the connection in each of their profiles, but I'm not sure if that was necessary.

If you add them or their connection, it counts. So if you connected Roald Dahl, then any other notables connected to Roald get connected to the tree, too and each counts for their own connection points.
Thanks for clarifying, Erin!

47 Answers

+8 votes
 
Best answer
Hi everyone!

What an amazing week. I'm blown away at the number of notable people who have been added.

Since it's just after 12:00 AM Greenwich Mean Time, I'm going to close up the thread and tally the results. Keep an eye out for the new thread in the next few hours. See you there!
by Erin Breen G2G6 Pilot (330k points)
selected by Doug Lockwood
+12 votes

I've added Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961 in Wellington, New Zealand), director and producer of The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003), The Hobbit trilogy (2012–2014), and a number of other films, and his parents, William and Joan (Ruck) Jackson. I used information from Wikipedia, but have no knowledge of New Zealand genealogy, so someone else will need to take it from here if we are to connect them to The Tree.

by Pamela Lloyd G2G6 Mach 4 (42.0k points)
Of course I must like this.
Jackson did what many said could never be done when he brought Tolkien's most popular works to the screen without completely ruining them. Not that I don't have a few nits to pick.

As an aside, one of my sons recently told me that my reading of The Hobbit to him when he was a child was a formative experience. Wow!
+15 votes

I added Dr. Harold Varmus, American Nobel Prize-winning scientist, the current Director of the U. S. National Cancer Institute, and former Director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. I also created profiles for his parents and both of his grandfathers.  If anyone has experience researching Jews in Poland and Austria, could you please help connect him to the family tree?

by Star Kline G2G6 Pilot (707k points)
+15 votes

I added a bio for Bill Gates and added his connection to AJ - 31 steps!

by Star Kline G2G6 Pilot (707k points)
edited by Star Kline
+11 votes

I added the category, bio and picture for Alexander McDonald, minister in the Church of Scotland and father of actor David Tennant (Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Broadchurch, Gracepoint). Still working on connecting them to the tree!

by Ron Norman G2G6 Mach 4 (45.5k points)
+14 votes
I was checking to see if someone I thought of is already on WikiTree.  He is, but has a red profile and is not designated as a notable.  I'd like to take a shot at a bio, but obviously can't even tell if he has one, let alone edit it.

Oh - I almost forgot - the person is Werhner Von Braun Von_Braun-9
by Gaile Connolly G2G Astronaut (1.2m points)
You should send the profile manager a message. He seems to pop in and make contributions occasionally, so chances are you'll hear back from him soon-ish.
THANX much!  Will do!!!
+10 votes

I added the category, picture, and biography for Aaron Spelling. I connected him (a few days ago, unfortunately) as part of one of the connection combat challenges and he is 28 steps away. I will take what I can get. wink

by Ron Norman G2G6 Mach 4 (45.5k points)
+10 votes

I added a biography, photo, and category for Carolyn Jones/Morticia Addams. She got connected through connection combat last month sad. But at least it will count a little bit. smiley

by Ron Norman G2G6 Mach 4 (45.5k points)
+11 votes

Now I am moving on to more obscure, yet just as important notables. I added the profile for Imogene King who contributed to the field of nursing as a "Nursing Theorist". I have created her profile, added the category, picture, and bio. Now to try to connect her to our tree...

by Ron Norman G2G6 Mach 4 (45.5k points)

Along the same line, I added the profile, added a picture, bio, and categorized the profile for Dorothea Orem, another nurse theorist. I added some generations to her tree, but no connection yet. :-(

And another, Virginia Avenel Henderson, which had written about her "Virginia Henderson's written works will be viewed as the 20th century equivalent of those of the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale." She now has a profile, pic, bio, and category. A couple of her generations are added, but no connection yet.

+10 votes

My new profile of the day is for Margaret Taylor-Burroughs. You can learn more about her on Wikipedia.

by Pamela Lloyd G2G6 Mach 4 (42.0k points)
+15 votes

I connected William Tecumseh Sherman (Sherman-2925)!  28 steps away from AJ.

 
by Star Kline G2G6 Pilot (707k points)
edited by Star Kline
+15 votes

Just added connection:  AJ Jacobs and Schuyler Colfax (17th Vice President of U.S.) have 25 degrees of separation.

by Star Kline G2G6 Pilot (707k points)
+11 votes

I connected George-Étienne Cartier, one of Canada's Fathers of Confederation, to AJ! When the connection shows up tomorrow it will be 29 steps.

by Liander Lavoie G2G6 Pilot (450k points)
+10 votes

I've just added profiles for Lucy Parsons and her husband Albert Parsons. Lucy Parsons was a labor organizer and writer of Native American, African American and Mexican descent. Albert Parsons was an American socialist and later anarchist newspaper editor, orator, and labor activist. Raised in Texas, he fought for the Confederates during the US Civil War while a teen, but later became an activist, fighting for the rights of former slaves. The couple faced discrimination due to their mixed-race marriage. Albert Parsons is best known for his role in the Haymarket Riot. He was convicted and executed for conspiracy with regard to a bomb attack on police, but later pardoned. After his death, Lucy continued her activism.

Due to a great deal of confusion over Lucy's origins, it may not be possible to trace her ancestry, but Albert claimed to have descended from English immigrants who arrived in what is now Rhode Island in 1632.

by Pamela Lloyd G2G6 Mach 4 (42.0k points)
+14 votes

Secretary of State John Kerry is 27 steps away from A.J. through his mother's maternal line - I identified the connection on his mother's record, since Sec. Kerry's record is locked.  I also proposed a merge of the two records for his mother (one is abandoned) and of the two records for his father (one is abandoned). 

by Star Kline G2G6 Pilot (707k points)
+9 votes
I've highlighted the people who I have already connected to the Global Family Tree.

James Young Simpson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Young_Simpson) created profile, wrote bio, added picture and categories.
 
Eve Blantyre Simpson(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve_Blantyre_Simpson) created profile, wrote bio, added categories
 
Goscombe John (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goscombe_John) Added profile, wrote bio, added categories
 
Ernest Willows (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Willows) Created Profile, wrote bio, added categories.
 
Richard Marquand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Marquand) added profile, wrote bio, added categories
 
Hilary Adair Marquand(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilary_Marquand) added profile, wrote bio, added categories
 
David Ian Marquand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Marquand) added profile, added categories
 
Terry Nation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Nation) added Profile, Wrote bio, added categories
 
Roald Dahl(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Dahl) added profile, wrote bio, added categories, added photo.
 
 Patricia Neal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Neal) Created profile, wrote bio, added categories, added photo
 
Tessa Dahl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessa_Dahl) Created profile
 
Sophie Dahl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Dahl) Created profile, added photo, 
 
 Jamie Cullum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Cullum) Created Profile, added categories, added photo
 
 Julian Holloway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Holloway) Created profile, Wrote bio
 
 Ophelia Dahl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophelia_Dahl) Created Profile
 
 Ernest Willows (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Willows) Created Profile, wrote bio, added categories.
 
 Frankie Valli (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Valli#Early_life) Created profile, wrote bio, added photo
 
Aneurin Bevan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aneurin_Bevan) Created profile, wrote bio, added categories, added photo (though its a photo of a statue)
 
Jennie Lee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennie_Lee,_Baroness_Lee_of_Asheridge) created profile, wrote bio, added categories, added photo

 

by Lucy Lavelle G2G6 Mach 5 (51.7k points)
edited by Lucy Lavelle
Impressive work!
I was just thinking of working on Roald Dahl. Thanks for adding him and working on that! :)
+7 votes

I have added the notable template & AJ connection to the following (& bios were added as noted):

Berkeley-448 & bio, Arnold-410, Bacon-562, Wren-212 & bio, Whitney-1738 & bio, Bell-115, Drake-326, Post-925 & bio, Post-932 & bio, Clark-6741, Clark-6742 , Kellogg-843 & bio, Obama-2, Bush-4, Blythe-6, Bush-7, Reagan-1,Carter-1086, King-1042, Nixon-22, Kennedy-96, Eisenhower-1,Truman-3, Roosevelt-1, Hoover-328, Coolidge-13, Harding-4, Wilson-7591, Taft-21, Roosevelt-18, McKinley-184, Harrison-913, Cleveland-110, Arthur-49, Garfield-39, Hayes-229, Grant-468, Johnson-10479, Lincoln-103, Buchanan-787, Pierce-177, Fillmore-3, Taylor-223, Polk-56, Tyler-150, Harrison-912, 

by Doug Lockwood G2G Astronaut (2.6m points)
I wish I knew how to add the notable template :-(
Just add {{Notables}} to the profile.
+7 votes

I added notable template & AJ connection to the following (also bio as indicated):

Van_Buren-1, Jackson-1115, Monroe-17, Madison-1, Jefferson-1, Adams-10, Adams-12, Franklin-1, Swift-1107, Raleigh-1, Beecher-129, Frost-3, Boone-34, Hawthorne-3, Hemingway-1, Blair-1927, Thoreau-1, Wright-11218,Steinbeck-7

by Doug Lockwood G2G Astronaut (2.6m points)
+7 votes

I have added notable template & AJ connection to the following (also bio as indicated):

Austen-489, Cromwell-39, Perry-497, Churchill-4 , Wright-3, Bogart-6 , Wellesley-4, Randolph-14, Sherman-395, Livingston-1538 & bio, Livingston-421, Livingston-373, Livingston-43, Schuyler-12, Livingston-49, Livingston-800, Livingston-44, Lewis-12823, Bland-13, Lee-526, Lee-3, Allen-1, Henry-30, Greene-872, Nelson-39, Emerson-46, Anthony-14, Darwin-15, Edison-1, Halsey-316, Van_Rosenvelt-1, MacArthur-4, Somers-392 & bio, Decatur-13 & bio

by Doug Lockwood G2G Astronaut (2.6m points)
+7 votes

I've added the notable template & AJ connection to the following (also bio as indicated):

Zolkiewska-2 & bio, Herburtowna-1 & bio, Danilowicz-2 & bio, Sobieski-10, Sobieski-9, Howard-196, Howard-2, Howard-2663, Edwards-914 & bio, Fonda-37, Fonda-36, Fonda-35, VonBora-1, Luther-367 & bio, Christian-1376 & bio, Sobieski-14, Berkeley-448 & bio, Arnold-410, Bacon-562, Wren-212 & bio,Whitney-1738 & bio, Bell-115, Drake-326

by Doug Lockwood G2G Astronaut (2.6m points)

Related questions

+22 votes
126 answers
+15 votes
5 answers
+17 votes
3 answers
143 views asked Dec 5, 2014 in The Tree House by Erin Breen G2G6 Pilot (330k points)
+10 votes
5 answers
+14 votes
5 answers

WikiTree  ~  About  ~  Help Help  ~  Search Person Search  ~  Surname:

disclaimer - terms - copyright

...