Robert R wrote:
Harry Reids Outlaw Ancestor?
Posted on January 29, 2009
Q: Was Harry Reids ancestor a horse thief?
A: Thats a hoax. Sen. Reid is only the most recent political figure to be accused of fabricated outlaw ancestry.
FULL QUESTION
Can you tell me if this is true? I got the feeling it isnt, but who knows?
Judy Wallman, a professional genealogy researcher here in southern California , was doing some personal work on her own family tree. She discovered that Harry Reids great-great uncle, Remus Reid, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. Both Judy and Harry Reid share this common ancestor.
The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows in Montana territory.
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FULL ANSWER
This howler has been going around for years, naming others. The same story has been told about Hillary Clinton, Tipper Gore, Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska and Canadian politician Stephane Dion. Back in 2000, Snopes.com collected the earliest known version, accusing then-Vice President Al Gores wife, and the site has since received other renditions accusing a series of politicians, of whom Sen. Reid of Nevada is only the most recent. Earlier versions of this hoax have identified the condemned man in the old photo as Remus Rodham, Robert Dion, Remus Stevens and Gunther Gore. (The anonymous revisionists apparently forgot that Gore is not Tippers maiden name.)
The man in the photo is actually Thomas Edward "Black Jack" Ketchum, a notorious train robber who was executed in New Mexico in 1901. The photo was made into a souvenir postcard with the inscription, "The hanging of Black Jack the outlaw." No mention of any Remus. This is a funny story, funny enough to have been revised and repeated at least four times since 2000, but thats all it is. Theres no truth to it.
-Jess Henig
Sources
Snopes.com. "To Hatch a Thief." 9 Jan. 2009.
Categories:Ask FactCheck
Tags:horse thief
People:Harry Reid
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