How would I find out if i'm related to a certain person ?

You'll have to research your genealogy and build your family tree to know for sure. There are some free sources online (FamilySearch.org, Cyndi's List for help getting started), while sometimes these sites are valuable and helpful, if you really want to know for sure, you will probably be forced to pony-up some dough and pay for subscriptions to sites like Ancestry.com, pay for copies of vital records, review and make copies of estates and wills, travel to the library, etc, which will accumulate cost. But that's the only efficient way and most accurate way to determine a definitive answer to your question. If your family and Charles Merrill's family trace back to the same part of the country, that could be an indicator of the possibility at least, but stil, you'd be required to find further verifying historical documentation connecting your ancestors to him. In my experience, family lore can go either way. Sometimes there is truth to it, sometimes there isn't. But one of the fun aspects of this research is finding the documentation to prove or disprove these types of stories. Not all of them can be answered through this research, but a lot can be answered. All I can speak to is my family research, and I have found with mine, family lore was much more accurate than others depending on the family line. The stories passed down a family line, they were either largely inaccurate, or largely accurate. It was surprising they were either largely one way or the other. For example, my one fathers line, a lot of it was proven inaccuarate, however my mothers side, some of the most far-fetched stories were actually backed up through historical documentation and the total stories overall were almost 100% accurate. It's ironic because my mothers side of the family's stories seemed the most likely to be inaccurate. So you can't assume, you gotta research to know for sure. It's time-consuming depending on how far back you gotta go. Some do find it worth it.

It is difficult looking for ancestors; trying to find out if you are related to a certain person is almost impossible. My grandmother's half-sister alone has thousands of living descendants. But, I am curious: how did your deceased grandpa brag about anyone? Well, all I can say is to do the same as in genealogy, but expand your search to cover your siblings, your parents siblings (your aunts & uncles), your cousins, your parents cousins, your grandparents and their siblings & cousins, and keep going.

Totally understand your interest. My Great Aunt once told me we were related to the Ball's on New York and years later I learned it was Lucille Ball's family that she meant. I researched by family and in an extended family search found the surname Ball. Then I looked up Lucille Ball's genealogy and sure enough there was the same name. birth and death dates. Once you research your family it should be pretty easy to review the genealogy of Charles E Merrill.

When did your grandfather live? There is a Gary Merrill, born in 1915 who was an actor. Charles Merrill was born in 1885. Have you done any research on your tree?

You would first research your ancestry back to 1850 or so, then the other person's back to 1850 or so, then look for a common ancestor. How you do that - "How do I find my family tree, for FREE?" gets asked here 3 - 14 times a day. The resolved answers are full of links and tips. But, it takes time and is a lot like researching for a high school history term paper, which discourages 99.999% of the kids who ask the question. Figure 100 hours for you, if you get lucky, another 100 for him. Write if you're still interested and I'll look up someone in 1930 to give you a start.

It is not the way we research ancestry although I certainly understand your interest.............. Start with knowing that MANY family stories are just fairy stories and each generation adds their take on what they were told............. it takes someone like yourself to say STOP I need to find out if it is true or not........... so don't be disappointed if you find out Grandpa Gordon was telling 'porky pies'... the fun is in finding the truth, not really what you find........... You need to research your own ancestry and that starts with you and at home and its free and will get you back 3-5 generations...... now if this person was Grandpa Gordons cousin....Grandpa Gordon is only 3 generations back...... so it may be fairly easy to find by only going back 5 generations...then out the branch lines to find siblings of your great grand father because of the same surname, that is a clue to which side of the family to look at................ http://familytimeline.webs.com/recordsinyourownhome.htm a checklist of records you will find at home.... you will also then need to search ad find some information on Charles E Merrill co-founder of Merrill and Lynch Co to see what you can match up......... NOTE: 'porkie pies' is cockney rhyming slang for 'lies'

It is not the way we research ancestry although I certainly understand your interest.............. Start with knowing that MANY family stories are just fairy stories and each generation adds their take on what they were told............. it takes someone like yourself to say STOP I need to find out if it is true or not........... so don't be disappointed if you find out Grandpa Gordon was telling 'porky pies'... the fun is in finding the truth, not really what you find........... You need to research your own ancestry and that starts with you and at home and its free and will get you back 3-5 generations...... now if this person was Grandpa Gordons cousin....Grandpa Gordon is only 3 generations back...... so it may be fairly easy to find by only going back 5 generations...then out the branch lines to find siblings of your great grand father because of the same surname, that is a clue to which side of the family to look at................ http://familytimeline.webs.com/recordsinyourownhome.htm a checklist of records you will find at home.... you will also then need to search ad find some information on Charles E Merrill co-founder of Merrill and Lynch Co to see what you can match up......... NOTE: 'porkie pies' is cockney rhyming slang for 'lies'

When did your grandfather live? There is a Gary Merrill, born in 1915 who was an actor. Charles Merrill was born in 1885. Have you done any research on your tree?

You would first research your ancestry back to 1850 or so, then the other person's back to 1850 or so, then look for a common ancestor. How you do that - "How do I find my family tree, for FREE?" gets asked here 3 - 14 times a day. The resolved answers are full of links and tips. But, it takes time and is a lot like researching for a high school history term paper, which discourages 99.999% of the kids who ask the question. Figure 100 hours for you, if you get lucky, another 100 for him. Write if you're still interested and I'll look up someone in 1930 to give you a start.