A Fan Favorite Sitcom Star Discovered A Major Tie To Upstate NY

You may think that he and his ancestral family have always lived in Pawnee, Indiana, but one big league comedian actually traced his roots to the Capital Region and he did it all on TV.

The NBC show Who Do You Think You Are? is a genealogical documentary series that follows celebrities as they trace their heritage and lineage both in the United States and abroad. They are assisted by historians and experts along the way. In the July 17 episode, a particularly beloved sitcom actor took a trip to New York to learn more about his roots.

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He’s an author, comedian, but you probably know him as Ron Swanson: he is Nick Offerman. Offerman was seen around Albany last fall, and it was assumed he was here because his wife, Megan Mullally, was shooting a movie nearby. His trip was actually to trace his heritage to Upstate.

In Who Do You Think You Are?, Offerman visits the Albany County Hall of Records, The Olde English Pub, the New York State Archives, the Johnstown Public Library, and finally Danube to follow his genealogy on his mother's side.

It was at Johnstown that Offerman discovered his great grandparents 8 times removed, Bartholomew Pickard and Eve Clauusen, ran a tavern starting in 1698. There was also a well-recorded incident where Eve got several Mohawk tribesmen drunk in an attempt to get them to sign over their land and had it taken away from her.

You can watch Nick Offerman trace his Capital Region heritage on Who Do You Think You Are? on NBC's website and on the network's Peacock streaming service.