Last week, I wrote about the App Gallery by FamilySearch to help you find websites and products to help you find your ancestors.

One of the products in the App Gallery is the Relative Finder at relativefinder.org.

This website developed by the BYU Family History Technology Lab can show how you are related to historical figures. It uses computer algorithms combined with data from FamilySearch.org to determine how closely you are related to past and present Church leaders, royalty and national leaders, or other groups of individuals including custom groups.

Follow these quick steps to check out the site:

1. Go to relativefinder.org.
2. Sign in with your LDS Account to link Relative Finder to your information in FamilySearch.org.
3. Click “Download my Tree” and wait for the site to evaluate your family history.
4. When the prompt appears saying it is done, click OK.
5. Click Relatives on the title bar.
6. Select the group(s) for which you want to check out relationships, such as Book of Mormon Witnesses, US Presidents, or Famous Americans.
7. Click the Show Relatives button.
8. You will see a list of matches, showing the relative’s name, the relationship, and a link to a chart that shows the common ancestor and all the links between.
9. You may download a PDF or print the chart.

I learned that President Gordon B. Hinckley is my 3rd cousin twice removed. Below is the chart the system provided me:

The site uses FamilySearch.org data, so you might run into some glitches because of data errors or missing connections, but it is a fun way to look at family history. You might be surprised to find family connections to prominent people that you didn’t know about.