User:MichaelCarl

I grew up in Peoria, Illinois and in Minnesota where I went to high school at Shattuck-St. Mary's School. I earned my B.A. from Bradley University and spent a year abroad at Université Rennes 2). I have master's in Migration and Refugee Studies from the American University in Cairo.

Fueled by my interest in genealogy, I started a list of relatives with entries on Wikipedia when I was new to the site. I update it occasionally:


 * Zach McAllister, my second cousin, Major League pitcher
 * Ryan Owens, my double fourth cousin, once-removed, Navy SEAL
 * Michael Collins, my second cousin thrice-removed, Irish revolutionary leader
 * Margaret Collins-O'Driscoll, my second cousin thrice-removed, Irish politician
 * Charles E. Bowles, my second cousin thrice-removed, Mayor of Detroit
 * Charles S. Deneen, my second cousin thrice-removed, Governor of Illinois & US Senator
 * Seán Collins, my third cousin twice-removed, Irish politician
 * Dervla Kirwan, my fifth cousin, Irish actress
 * Mary Banotti, my fourth cousin once-removed, European Parliament representative
 * Taylor Eigsti, my double fifth cousin once-removed, jazz pianist
 * Jason Beghe, my fifth cousin once-removed, actor
 * Niels Hansen, my fifth cousin once-removed, German Ambassador to Israel & author
 * Johann Hofer, my first cousin five times-removed, German revolutionary
 * Nora Owen, my fourth cousin once-removed, Justice Minister of Ireland
 * Howard Zehr, my fourth cousin twice-removed, Professor & Author in the field of Restorative Justice
 * Charles Pettit, my first cousin seven times-removed, lawyer, merchant, and delegate to the Continental Congress
 * Nathaniel Pettit, the brother of my great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, judge and politician in Upper Canada
 * Carl Zehr, a distant cousin, Mayor of Kitchener, Ontario
 * Renato Beghe, the husband of my fourth cousin twice-removed, US Tax Court judge
 * Anthony Janszoon van Salee, my purported 11th great-grandfather, supposedly one of the first Muslims in New Amsterdam
 * Jan Janszoon, my purported 12th great-grandfather, a Dutch pirate

Other miscellaneous family history-related links:
 * Budd Lake in Michigan, named for my relatives