Lost in Space andthe advantage of testing older relatives

 

As a kid, I remember watching reruns of Lost in Space after school.  The robot who was known for saying “Danger Will Robinson, Danger, Danger and the Dr who always seem to cause a lot of the problems for the Robinson family to benefit himself which always backfired as well as The Robinson’s father and mother and children and Major Don West, the hot-tempered pilot who was you knew liked Judy Robinson. 

 

I quite surprised to find a DNA match was also one of the stars of the TV show.  This DNA match was through my grandmother Smith’s side of the family.  I had seen the match on Ancestry and had recorded the line of descent. I had no idea who Charles Goddard was.  This person only shared DNA with my uncle, my Dad's elder brother.  My Dad had died long before DNA testing, so my uncle has been a substitute with connecting to distant cousins that neither myself not my brother share DNA.  Charles Goddard's family tree on Ancestry was private, so I had to use other people's family tree to document each ancestor of Charles.

 

Our common ancestor is JOHN ROBINSON, who according to his gravestone was born in Cape Elizabeth, Maine on December 27, 1749, his parents have yet to be determined.   John was a Revolutionary War Soldier, who enlisted in 1775 and spent the winter with General Washington at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.  He married Katherine Jordan on June 1, 1775 at Cape Elizabeth, Maine.  The family then moved to Durham, Maine and remained there until 1810, when John moved to Lewiston, Maine.   He died there on March 16, 1844.  John and his wife were buried at Herrick Cemetery in Lewiston, Maine.   My ancestor Peter Skinner moved to Casco, Maine and his brother Andrew settled in that area of Danville, Maine which became Auburn, Maine.  Andrew's descendants remained in the Lewiston-Auburn area.

Charles' father was a Clarence Golder ←←←Goddard, who died in 1968

I was able to find on Newspapers.com thru my ancestry acount an obituary for Clarence.

The obit says he was survived by Carles Mark Goddard which had to be a misprint for Charles Mark Goddard of Beverly Hills, CA (a motion picture actor).  A quick google search for him revealed it was actor Mark Goddard.

So I realized why he was using a private family tree and he was also using his birth name of Charles Goddard and not his acting name as well for his own privacy.  Next was to determine our line of descent.

                                                            

                                                                1st Generation
                                                                JOHN SKINNER

2^nd Generation
Andrew Skinner                                 siblings                           Peter Skinner
(1781-1857)                                                                                (1784-1874)
 
3^rd Generation
Jordan Skinner                                   1^st cousins                      Andrew J. Skinner
(1808-1863)                                                                                 (1828-1910)
 
4^th Generation
Sarah (Skinner) Golder                      2^nd cousins                     Myron L. Skinner
(1836-1909)                                                                                  (1868-1951)
 
5^th Generation
Leona (Golder) Goddard                 3^rd cousins                    Ethelyn (Skinner) Smith
(1866-1937)                                                                                        (1898-1972)
 
6^th Generation
Clarence Goddard                           4^th cousins                         Glenn S. Smith
(1900-1968)                                                                                  (1940-1996)
 
7^th Generation
Charles H. Goddard                         5^th cousins                           Peter M. Smith
(1936)                                                                                              (1963)
a.k.a. Mark Goddard

Mark Goodard is my 5th cousin.  Although I do not share nay DNA with him above 8cMs, my uncle did share DNA with him which lead me to this connection.  This highlights why it is important to test an older generation.  Not because you will be connected to a famous actor, but it will provide connections to cousins one more generation back and down from yourself.  This could be useful in finding a connection with someone who also is working on your family tree.  Now I have a real interest in Lost in Space that I would never have known about if it wasn't for this DNA connection to actor Mark Goddard.