Tom Hanks has received positive reviews and several award nominations for his portrayal of the beloved television personality Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers) in Sony Pictures' 2019 " A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood." The acclaim for the film and Hanks' role was augmented in November 2019 by a fascinating genealogical connection, when Ancestry.com revealed in a post on its blog site that the two men are distant relatives.

Hanks and Rogers, who died of stomach cancer 2003, are sixth cousins from a five-times great-grandfather, an 18th-century German immigrant name Johannes Meffert, according to Ancestry. The research into the Hanks-Rogers shared history and the surprising results is just one example of how ancestry can "power amazing and impactful experience(s) for all people," according to the blog post.

Howard County residents have free limited access to Ancestry.com's extensive online history databases as part of the research tools available through the Genealogy & Local History Department at the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library.  Do a little digging into your family's past and see if you are related to a movie star!