Six Degrees of Separation from Kyra Sedgwick!

Did you catch “Finding Your Roots” with Louis Henry Gates, Jr., on PBS last night? The subjects of this week’s genealogical research were husband and wife, Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick. Kyra’s Sedgwick line was traced, with much emphasis on her ancestor Honorable Theodore Sedgwick (1746-1813), and the ancestral family home in Stockbridge, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. At one point in the show there was a quick shot of a family tree, which showed a few names (Ephraim Williams and a Dwight family) that were familiar to me based on our research into the Pomeroys of Hampshire and Buckland counties in Massachusetts.

Our group was talking about the show today as we spent an hour or so filing, and I mentioned the short clip with the family tree, and Lee told us that we had a Theodore Sedgwick Pomeroy in our Descendants of Eltweed Pomeroy database. I looked him up, and wouldn’t you know... our Theodore Sedgwick Pomeroy (1798-1845) was the son of Dr. Thaddeus Pomeroy (1764-1847) and Eliza Mason Sedgwick (1775-1827). Eliza Mason Sedgwick was the daughter of Honorable Theodore Sedgwick and Pamelia Dwight (1752-1807). Pamelia Dwight was the daughter of Brigadier General Joseph Dwight and Abigail Williams. Abigail Williams was the daughter of Ephraim Williams (1691-1754) and Elizabeth Jackson.

When you research families, you can’t help but find people whose life experiences draw them to you, and whom you come to think of with affection. That is the case with me and Colonel Ephraim Williams and Lieutenant Daniel Pomeroy. Both fought and died at the Bloody Morning Scout, the opening battle of the Battle of Lake George on September 5, 1755. Daniel is the direct ancestor of my boss, Bill Pomeroy. Ephraim was the commanding officer at the battle, and after he died, Seth Pomeroy, Daniel’s older brother, was given command of the forces. Colonel Ephraim Williams died unmarried and childless. In his will he set aside a bequest for the formation of a college, which would become Williams College.

In an interesting example of the interconnectivity of so many of the early colonial families, Theodore Sedgwick Pomeroy, son of Thaddeus Pomeroy and Eliza Mason Sedgwick, was the great grandnephew of both Colonel Ephraim Williams and Lieutenant Daniel Pomeroy.

Now we have to figure out how the Pomeroys are related to Kevin Bacon!