Most people who appear on genealogy websites are not public figures. They are ordinary people who happened to do careful historical work — and whose names ended up attached to something much older and larger than themselves.
John Avedian is one of them.
His name appears in online family trees, record databases, and at least one local news article. If you searched for him after finding his name on MyHeritage or Ancestry, here is what the public record actually tells us about who he is and why his genealogical work matters.
Who John Avedian Is and Why His Name Appears Online
John Avedian is a private individual, not a mainstream celebrity. He does not have a wide public profile. What he does have is a well-documented interest in family history and a traceable line of early American ancestors that brought his name into local news and searchable genealogy databases.
According to coverage by AllOtsego, a local news outlet, Avedian lives in Winchester, Massachusetts. He moved there from California around 2014. The same article describes him as having a “lifelong intense interest in family history” — which, based on his work, is not an exaggeration.
His name appears on platforms like MyHeritage and Ancestry because of the ancestral lines he has traced and documented, particularly his connection to a Revolutionary War soldier and a Mayflower passenger. That research is what makes him relevant to people exploring New England genealogy.
One important clarification: multiple individuals named John Avedian appear across historical records and memorial databases. For example, Find A Grave lists a John Avedian (1863–1921) in a separate memorial. That is a different person entirely. The modern genealogist should not be confused with historical individuals who happen to share the same name.
His Fifth Great-Grandfather: Benjamin Weston and the Revolutionary War Connection
The most specific and well-documented historical figure connected to Avedian is Benjamin Weston, a soldier who served as an ensign in the 9th Connecticut Regiment during the American Revolutionary War.
Avedian identifies Weston as his fifth great-grandfather. That connection became public when Avedian played a central role in locating Weston’s burial site and arranging a new headstone for the grave.
Weston is buried at Harmony Cemetery in Morris, New York. Avedian confirmed the burial site through a combination of cemetery surveys, local historical assistance, and physical evidence — specifically, a footstone engraved with the initials “B.W.” alongside a headstone for Mary Weston, who is buried nearby.
A public commemoration ceremony was held on September 2 to mark the placement of the new headstone. Avedian was directly involved in making that happen. Other family members attended as well, including Barbara Bys, identified as Weston’s fourth great-granddaughter and Avedian’s fourth cousin once removed.
This is a clear example of what dedicated genealogical research can lead to — not just names on a screen, but a physical act of historical preservation that brings family members together around a shared ancestor.
The Mayflower Link — George Soule and How the Family Line Was Confirmed
The Benjamin Weston story goes even deeper. Weston himself is documented as a descendant of one of the original Mayflower passengers who arrived in Plymouth in 1620.
It started, as many family history discoveries do, with a suggestion. A relative of Avedian’s proposed that their family might be descended from Mayflower passengers. That was the starting point — not confirmed fact, just family lore that needed verification.
Avedian pursued that lead through the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, based in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The Society maintains detailed records of verified Mayflower lineages. After working through those records, Avedian confirmed that George Soule — one of the original passengers on the 1620 voyage — is a documented ancestor.
The connection runs through Benjamin Weston directly. Records confirmed that Weston was George Soule’s third great-grandson, which places Avedian in a direct line from Soule, through Weston, to the present.
Avedian’s move from California to the Boston area in 2014 made this research more practical. Being geographically close to Plymouth and the Society’s records gave him better access to the primary sources needed to verify the line.
Who Was George Soule?
George Soule was among the 102 passengers who crossed the Atlantic on the Mayflower and arrived at Plymouth Colony in November 1620. Unlike many of the Separatists on board, Soule was not a member of the religious group that organized the voyage. He came as an indentured servant.
After his period of indenture ended, Soule became a landowner in Plymouth Colony. He married and had a large number of children, which is part of why he has so many documented descendants today. His name appears frequently in Mayflower descendant research, and many Americans with deep New England roots find him somewhere in their family tree.
How Genealogists Verify Ancestral Lines — What Avedian’s Process Illustrates
Avedian’s experience is a useful case study in how family oral history gets turned into documented fact. The process he followed is one that serious genealogists use regularly.
Start with a lead, not a conclusion
A family member’s suggestion that Mayflower descent was possible was a starting point, not proof. Avedian treated it correctly — as a hypothesis to be tested, not a story to be repeated as fact.
Use established organizations
The General Society of Mayflower Descendants exists specifically to verify and document descent from the 1620 passengers. These organizations maintain rigorous standards. Getting a line confirmed through them carries real historical weight.
Cross-check physical evidence
Finding Benjamin Weston’s grave was not just about looking up a name in a database. It required locating a cemetery, identifying the right stone, and confirming the burial through physical markers — the “B.W.” footstone and the adjacent Mary Weston headstone. This is how burial site identification actually works: layered verification, not a single source.
Build a family network
The ceremony in Morris, New York showed that Avedian’s research connected not just him to his ancestors, but living relatives to each other. Barbara Bys attended as a cousin once removed. That kind of shared discovery is one of the reasons genealogy continues to grow as a field of personal and historical interest.
Why People Search for John Avedian Online
Most people who find his name are not looking for him specifically. They are likely exploring Mayflower lineage, researching Revolutionary War ancestors, or tracing the Avedian surname through historical records.
On platforms like MyHeritage and Ancestry, names like his appear as nodes in larger family trees — connecting one generation to another across centuries. If you found his name while doing your own research, it is possible you are connected to one of the same ancestral lines he has traced.
It is also worth knowing that “Avedian” as a surname has a specific geographic and cultural distribution, typically associated with communities with roots outside the United States. How that surname ended up connected to a Mayflower line is itself a small piece of the broader American immigration story — though the detailed specifics of Avedian’s family background on that side are not part of the public record.
For readers who want to explore genealogy further, resources like Inside Business Mag cover topics at the intersection of family history, local community, and personal legacy.
What This Story Is Really About
John Avedian is not a celebrity in the traditional sense. He has not appeared in films, released music, or built a public platform. What he has done is something quieter and arguably more lasting — he tracked down the grave of a man who fought in the American Revolution, got him a proper headstone, and confirmed a direct family line stretching back to the founding years of colonial New England.
That kind of work does not make headlines very often. When it does, it is usually because someone cared enough to spend years doing it correctly.
His connection to Benjamin Weston and George Soule is confirmed through credible genealogical records and documented in local journalism. Beyond that, his personal life remains private — which is exactly as it should be for someone whose only public-facing work is the preservation of other people’s stories.
If you are researching your own family history and encountered his name along the way, the most useful thing to know is this: he did the work carefully, and the ancestral lines he confirmed are documented and real.
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