Unless you lived under a rock in the 1980s, you’ve probably seen at least one episode of The Golden Girls. I’ve probably seen all of them at least once if not twice or three times. Rue McClanahan’s character, Blanche Devereaux, hailed from the Hollingsworth family. Southern to the core, the fictitious Blanche grew up at “Twin Oaks” under the watchful eye of her father and the patriarch of the family “Big Daddy”.

Blanche, it turns out, is a “cousin”.

Julia A. Veazey, introduced in the previous post, is the granddaughter of Elizabeth Hollingsworth, who was born in 1727 in Cecil County, Maryland and died in 1812 in Hancock County, Georgia. James Veazey was Elizabeth’s second husband and the father of Julie’s mother Elizabeth (Veazey) Veazey. (Veazey Veazey? Yes. See previous post.)

The Hollingsworth family is a prestigious one. They even have their own society – all descendants of Valentine Hollingsworth, who came to America in 1682 and settled in William Penn’s newly-formed colony (Pennsylvania). They’re maintaining a database of 57,000 cousins. To join the society, you have to fill out an application which should include your lineage to a Hollingsworth.

I can do that. And I’ll include the names of a dozen or so of my Hollingsworth DNA-matched cousins. That should certainly make me “Hollingsworthy”.

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relation: 6th great grandmother
Common ancestors: The Hollingsworths of Pennsylvania and Ireland