The undeniable evidence that Taylor Swift is related to poet Emily Dickinson isn’t just about the fantastic literary creations Tay churns out in her songs, but also rooted in the family tree, thanks to genetics.
Turns out, both share the knack for writing poetry because, yeah, songs are poetry too, but now we’ve got the family tree to thank for confirming the kinship between the two poets, all thanks to Ancestry, a genealogy company that confirmed Taylor Swift and Emily Dickinson are sixth cousins, separated by three generations. Pretty wild, right?
Who Was Emily Dickinson?
She was born in the 19th century in the US and is credited with at least 1,790 poems that place her as a literary icon. Like a true lady of her time, Emily excelled in the arts, history, music, literature, and gardening, among other things, but her true passion lay in botany, which led her to maintain her herbarium. Besides all that, Emily was always keen on learning beyond what was taught in school, so her education ended up being much deeper than most women of her time.
Just like Taylor, Emily was known for writing over 300 love poems, believed to be dedicated to Susan Gilbert, her childhood friend, and many historians speculate they were lovers and confidants.
The Taylor Swift and Emily Dickinson Connection
According to Ancestry, Taylor Swift and Emily Dickinson descend from an Irish immigrant who arrived in Windsor, Connecticut, in the 17th century, making him one of the first settlers in the area. Page 12 states that the same company behind this discovery affirmed that:
“Taylor Swift’s ancestors remained in Connecticut for six generations until her family eventually settled in northwest Pennsylvania, where they married into the Swift family line.”
