Famous and Infamous Family Members
As with almost all family trees, the roots and branches often take some rather diverse and somewhat interesting paths. Such is also the situation with our family. If you're working on Oberlin (or related) genealogy and would like to include a noteworthy relative, please let me know.
Probably the most famous Oberlin is John Frederick, the Alsace minister and namesake of Oberlin College; Oberlin, Ohio; Oberlin, Kansas; Oberlin, Louisiana; Glacier National Park's Mount Oberlin; historic Oberlin Village in Raleigh, NC; and several places in and around Strasbourg, France.
	U.S. Navy Captain Edgar G. Oberlin, veteran of the Spanish-American War, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served as commander of the Philadelphia Navy Yard during World War I.  Captain Oberlin was the first military commander of the Naval Research Laboratory established in 1923 with contributions from Thomas Edison. Edgar is descended from Revolutionary War Captain, Michael Oberlin, brother of Adam.
Both of my paternal grandparents, Glenn Oberlin and Geneva Hagerty, are descended from Pieter Claesen Wyckoff, an early resident of Long Island. Pieter was a judge and personal assistant to Pieter Stuyvesant. The Wyckoff House Museum is the oldest building in New York City, and perhaps the oldest surviving frame structure in the United States.
Through this Wyckoff line, Glenn and Geneva are also descended from Jan Jansen van Salee, commonly known as "Murat Reis" the Barbary pirate. Jan Jansen's son, Anthony, owned the land along Wall Street where the Brooklyn Bridge not sits. Jackie Kennedy Onasis, Humphey Bogart and the Vanderbilt's are also descended from Anthony van Salee. Dr. John van Salee De Grasse, born in 1825, served as surgeon to the celebrated 54th Regiment during the Civil War.
Robert Bruce, the first king of Scotland, characterized in the motion picture, "Bravehart," is another ancestor through this Wyckoff branch.
Orville and Wilbur Wright are also descended from Pieter Claesen Wyckoff.