LOS ANGELES, Oct. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In the spirit of the Halloween season, findmypast.com, an international leader in online family history research, took a stab at researching the family history of one of the most infamous suspected killers and ghosts of all time, Lizzie Borden. Born in 1860, Lizzie Borden was tried and acquitted in the 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Mass. and is thought by some to still haunt the Borden family home.

Through spine-tingling research, findmypast.com has uncovered that Borden is, in fact, a descendant of Thomas Cornell, Jr. the first man in America to be convicted and put to death for committing matricide - murdering his own mother.

"Lizzie Borden became a media sensation during her trial and even more than a century later, the Borden murders and Lizzie's ghost still fascinate the public, especially around Halloween," said D. Joshua Taylor, findmypast.com's lead genealogist. "As we looked at the intrigue surrounding Lizzie, we couldn't help but wonder - does evil run in the family?"

The trial of Thomas Cornell, Jr. was enveloped in its own mystery similar to Borden's trial. Rebecca Cornell, the mother of Thomas, was found dead and badly burned in the Cornell home in the winter of 1673. The coroner initially declared Rebecca's death an accident, but an eerie set of events, including the testimony of Rebecca's ghost through her likely brother, resulted in Thomas's trial and conviction for matricide.

In another shocking discovery, findmypast.com also found that several alleged ghosts are related, perhaps signifying that certain families are more likely to remain among the living in the afterlife.

Findmypast.com tracked the following connections through their royal relations and discovered that all of the following persons, whom ghost stories exist for, are related:

• Aaron Burr is a cousin of
• Robert E. Lee, who is a cousin of
• Lizzie Borden, who is a cousin of
• Anne Boleyn, who is cousin of
• John Adams (through John of Gaunt; 15^th cousin), who is a cousin of
• Lady Jane Grey, who is a distant cousin of
• Abraham Lincoln, who is a distant cousin of
• Anne Boleyn, who is a distant cousin of
• Lady Dorothy Walpole (aka The Brown Lady)

To learn more about findmypast.com or to get started on your own family history search:

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About findmypast.com
Findmypast.com (owned by brightsolid) is the U.S. site of findmypast, an international leader in online family history with over 18 million registered members worldwide. Findmypast connects people to core and unique U.S., English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish, Australian and New Zealand records dating back as far as 1200.  

About brightsolid
Findmypast.com is owned by brightsolid online publishing, a British-owned world leader in online genealogy, with over 45 years' experience in family history and a record of online innovation in the field of family history nearly two decades long. With nearly 18 million registered users across its family of online genealogy brands, brightsolid hosts over a billion genealogical records from across the globe. The company reported a 75 percent growth in turnover and a 47 percent growth in gross profits in its most recent published accounts and was voted Best Genealogy Organization in the Online Gene Awards.  

Media Contact:
Laura Zilverberg
Allison+Partners for findmypast.com
(623) 201-5556
findmypast@allisonpr.com

SOURCE findmypast.com