tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post6278187514335828645..comments2024-03-27T12:58:00.592-07:00Comments on Snowbrush: Reflections Following Two years of Genealogical ResearchSnowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-72719593641906605482019-01-13T09:36:44.584-08:002019-01-13T09:36:44.584-08:00"I am still in touch with cousin Peter and hi..."I am still in touch with cousin Peter and his wife but they live too far south for me to drive to see them."<br /><br />I read somewhere that England is about the same size as my home state of Mississippi, so I don't quite get why the distance between you and them would be prohibitive. As I've aged, I've come to regard a trip to Portland (Oregon's largest city which is 100 miles from my home in Eugene) as a major expedition, but I can assure you that most Americans wouldn't think of it as very far at all. There are even Americans who drive eighty miles a day (each way) just to go to work. It's a odious thing to do (both personally, financially, and environmentally) in my book, but they do it, and some even like it, saying that they enjoy the "alone time" that they get while driving.<br /><br />"the child of the child of your cousin Peter is your first cousin twice removed. You and Peter are first cousins, your child and Peter's child are second cousins, and your child and Peter's grandchild are third cousins. But Peter is your child's first cousin once removed just as you and Peter's child are first cousins once removed. It isn't confusing once you grasp the concept."<br /><br />This will surely seem odd for someone who takes genealogy as seriously as I do, but partly due to the fact that I spend so little time researching cousins, I don't know what a "once removed," a "twice removed" and so forth are, and am embarrassed to say that I don't really care. On one level, I'm thorough, but on another, I'm not a detail oriented person--like you are, and like Peggy. If I could get her to help me research my family, we would make an infallible team because I would bring thoroughness and order, and she would bring an attention to detail.Snowbrushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-90534140705955972252019-01-13T09:36:28.044-08:002019-01-13T09:36:28.044-08:00"I include everybody... There are 3669 names ..."I include everybody... There are 3669 names in my file, but only about two dozen are direct ancestors and decendants."<br /><br />Then you certainly do include everyone! I have no way to know other than to physically count them, but since I only include ancestors and their children (I don't even include their children's spouse for the most part), I would guess that of the 519 people currently in my tree, no more than one out of eight would be direct ancestors, which would come to around 65 people. If you asked me to name them all in the correct order, I don't think I could. I feel like I should be able to (having put in hundreds of hours of work), but I would have to make a list and memorize it to do so.<br /><br />"My dad was actually one of 22 children..."<br /><br />I become so disgusted that I want to puke when I think about my ancestors' unrestrained f---ing. I don't spell the word out in deference to Rhyme's sensitivities, but I use it because sex and lovemaking hardly apply when a man is willing to keep a woman pregnant 18 months out of every 24. When I reflect upon what these women went through, I shudder, and it results in me having enormous sympathy for my grandmothers and enormous understanding for why a number of my aunts remained single (no one in my family interests me more than these maiden aunts). I don't know if the husbands back then were unable to conceive of the fact that siring all of the children that they could possibly crank out during their lifetimes might result in a problem someday or if they just didn't care. I also don't know what it said about their attitudes toward their wives, but from my point of view, it looks they regarded them as breed mares. I'm sure they read the part of the Bible that said "be fruitful and multiply," but since people can always rationalize away the Bible's more abhorrent verses, there had to be more to it than that simply going all out to obey God's command. And how DID the women feel about staying pregnant so much? I suppose some might have thought it was good idea, but I think it more likely that they were simply playing the part that their role in life seemed to demand despite how miserable and even degrading the experience must have been.Snowbrushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-13435262887013548342019-01-13T06:29:01.088-08:002019-01-13T06:29:01.088-08:00Thanks for your explanation, Rhymes. Thanks for your explanation, Rhymes. PhilipHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06811831703263176415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-48991224261528255212019-01-10T14:50:46.352-08:002019-01-10T14:50:46.352-08:00Oops, there is a tiny error in my reply to PhilipH...Oops, there is a tiny error in my reply to <b>PhilipH</b> above. <br /><br />the part that says "...your child abd Peter's grandchild are third cousins" should have said "...your grandchild and Peter's grandchild are third cousins"<br /><br />A thousand partdons!rhymeswithplaguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10870439618129001633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-81487313272358001512019-01-10T14:43:56.261-08:002019-01-10T14:43:56.261-08:00PhilipH, the child of the child of your cousin Pet...<b>PhilipH,</b> the child of the child of your cousin Peter is your first cousin twice removed. You and Peter are first cousins, your child and Peter's child are second cousins, and your child and Peter's grandchild are third cousins. But Peter is your child's first cousin once removed just as you and Peter's child are first cousins once removed. It isn't confusing once you grasp the concept. The mistakes come when people refer to their first cousin once removed as their second cousin, which is incorrect.<br /><br />You're welcome.<br /><br />rhymeswithplaguerhymeswithplaguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10870439618129001633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-53822213865087546152019-01-10T11:36:21.728-08:002019-01-10T11:36:21.728-08:00Research such as you are undertaking is definitely...Research such as you are undertaking is definitely interesting and very time-consuming. I wish you great success in your quest. One never knows what your family tree unearths.<br /><br />I've never attempted such a task. However, a cousin whom I knew nothing about discovered ME, in person about 20 years ago. I was on duty in the main area of Mellerstain House, acting as security and guide, when a couple of visitors approached me in the Library. The man handed me a large envelope, saying "This is for you." He then said: "I am Peter Harfleet, your cousin".<br /><br />The envelope contained a printed family tree and a photograph of my Grandfather, with a fair number of his children. I was astounded, to say the least.<br /><br />My Father, Edward Philip Harfleet, whom my Mother always called "Phil", but my Father was always known as "Stan" by his friends in the local pub, for some unknown way. My Father was always a bit like a Donald Trump character; fond of embellishing the truth in many ways. He always boasted that he was "one of 19 children", born in Guildford, Surrey. I never really believed him. And the family tree proved me right!<br /><br />My dad was actually one of 22 children, sired by my Grandpa - with the help of TWO wives. On my one and only visit to Grandpa was during the early part of the war, when I was about six. Granpa never saw ME, he was totally blind by then. <br /><br />There must be scores of cousins I guess. I'm not inclined to search any out. I am still in touch with cousin Peter and his wife but they live too far south for me to drive to see them.<br /><br />I've never been very good at working out relationship terms, apart from uncle, aunt, cousin and similar simple relationship stuff. What, for example, would one call the child of the child of my cousin Peter? I dunno.PhilipHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06811831703263176415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-49927074018246670502019-01-10T06:30:47.146-08:002019-01-10T06:30:47.146-08:00Your post is very interesting.
I include everybod...Your post is very interesting.<br /><br />I include everybody. I don't copy, per se, but some of the the info has come from family sources that I trust. There are 3669 names in my file, but only about two dozen are direct ancestors and decendants. I have 3 children and 6 grandchildren. That's 9 right there. On my mother's side I know her of course, both grandparents' names, all four great-grandparents, and two of the great-great-grandparents. That is 9 more. On my non-bio-dad's side (I don't really know if he adopted me, but his name appears on a birth certificate issued when I was six) I know him, his parents (my pseudo-grandparents), and all four great-grandparents. That's 7 more but I suppose they don't count at all. It is on this Brague side, thanks to a treasure trove of info received from a relative, that I claim to be third cousin, 11 times removed, of President Grover Cleveland. But it is a fiction since my dad is "non-bi". On the bio-dad front, the one that really counts, I know his name, both grandparents, and two great-grandparent and even two great-great-grandparents.. That's 7 more. So out of the 3669 names, there are 9 direct descendants and 16 direct ancestors. All the rest of the 3669 stem from the fact that one of my grandmothers was the sixth of nine children and the other one (but she was the non-bio one) was the eighth of ten childre, and my stepmother (again, a non-bio person) was second oldest of ten children. I have a lot of their extended families as branches of my tree. I suppose it isn't, how you say, kosher, but the names have to be somewhere so I included them in my family tree.<br /><br />I'm sorry that this is so long and probably boring. I may make a post out of it on my own blog. <br /><br />rhymeswithplaguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10870439618129001633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-34640625402460863512019-01-07T11:14:25.211-08:002019-01-07T11:14:25.211-08:00P.S. to Strayer: "Sarah Jane getting reimburs...P.S. to Strayer: "Sarah Jane getting reimbursed for the horse is an interesting story too!"<br /><br />I was struck by the fact that, in 1880, she paid eight men a total of $20 for a month's work, yet she owned a horse that had been worth $160 in 1863. Her father had been wealthy enough to own slaves, yet her brother was my great grandfather, and he was no better off than middle class (I know because I found his will), so I'm greatly puzzled by what happened with the way the inheritance was distributed. Ordinarily, the oldest son got most things (if not immediately, then upon his mother's death), the younger sons a lesser amount, and the daughters almost nothing, but if this was what happened in Mary's family, how could she have paid for the house she living in in 1910?Snowbrushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-68216104620197130812019-01-07T10:58:26.435-08:002019-01-07T10:58:26.435-08:00"I wonder how Mary got that house 30 years af..."I wonder how Mary got that house 30 years after her mom and sister died."<br /><br />I have yet to find Mary's father's will (or her mother's will, for that matter), but since it seems unlikely that Mary, Sarah Jane, and Sallie would have sold one Madison County, Alabama, farm and moved to another, I assume they were living where the two girls had always lived. When Sallie and Sarah Jane died in the early 1880s, Mary would have either stayed on the farm or sold it, but in any event, at the time of the 1910 census, she was 67 years old and was living three counties south. I've wondered much about why she moved. Perhaps, she had relatives there, or perhaps she wanted to live in a less rural area (the town of Decatur is in Walker County).<br /><br />"Get this: my daughter Sarah Jane, has a daughter named Mary. Wild, right?"<br /><br />If that doesn't prove the existence of God, then I don't know what does!<br /><br />"As my mother's family is From Mississippi, I still say we could be related. :-)"<br /><br />I THINK you mentioned that your mother was from the area of McComb, which is 20 miles south of where I'm from, but my father's parents only arrived there (from northern Alabama) in 1908. However, I've since learned that, on my mother's side, my Mississippi roots go back to the first half of the 19th century. The furtherest north that any of my family ever got, so far as I've discovered, was Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which was where some of them landed when they arrived from Europe (they would have gone upriver from the coast), and they only stayed there for three generations before moving south. My ancestors and their children have lived in every Southern state, which wouldn't be far today, but back them meant never seeing their families again. What does it take to that? I had once thought the main lure was economic opportunity, but then I learned from the newsletter of the local museum that, in today's money, it cost a family $35,000 to come to Oregon over the Oregon Trail, but if you had that kind of money, why would you cut ties and come here, that is unless you hated your family or simply had an adventuresome spirit? I know that when I came here, getting away from Peggy's family was a minor part of the lure, but I wouldn't have moved this far if I had it to do over. I would instead consider some liberal Southern or Rocky Mountain city. To put it in perspective, Denver is but halfway between Eugene, Oregon, and Jackson, Mississippi. Peggy has to change planes up to three times and fly 2,500 air miles in order to see her family. When she told her mother that we were moving to Oregon, her mother said, "Where you be when I die?" Well, she was in Oregon. Snowbrushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-89686315014053110042019-01-07T10:06:20.048-08:002019-01-07T10:06:20.048-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Marionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14786883679294446945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-11800811297705844062019-01-07T05:01:25.667-08:002019-01-07T05:01:25.667-08:00I wonder how Mary got that house 30 years after he...I wonder how Mary got that house 30 years after her mom and sister died. 30 years is a long time. Makes me wonder all she went through to achieve what I would certainly call success in owning one's own home, as a woman, in that time. Maybe she sold those 400 acres. Sarah Jane getting reimbursed for the horse is an interesting story too!Strayerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08124298302997708537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-69560017118984446042019-01-06T17:15:55.288-08:002019-01-06T17:15:55.288-08:00You have put a lot of effort into your research. Y...You have put a lot of effort into your research. You found some real gems.Emma Springfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10543689047463574012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-66980105310770383642019-01-06T13:36:34.035-08:002019-01-06T13:36:34.035-08:00DNA enabled my sister's adopted son to find a ...DNA enabled my sister's adopted son to find a half brother that he didn't know he had. So far as I know, their meeting turned out well for all concerned, but DNA has also enabled people to track parents who had kept their birth--and subsequent adoption--a secret, which, as you can imagine, created a great deal of awkwardness. I've already found numerous second cousins I didn't know I had (and hundreds of more distant cousins), and although I've written to a few of them, we don't seem to have much to say to one another.Snowbrushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-14142680666075147352019-01-06T11:57:31.970-08:002019-01-06T11:57:31.970-08:00One of my (half) brothers spent time and energy tr...One of my (half) brothers spent time and energy tracking his side of the family. His work led him to cousins we didn't know we had (thanks for my mother's far from close relationship with truth). Some day I will try and explore my father's side of the family. I expect a lot of it came to a dead-end in World War Two, but it could be interesting to see how far I get.<br />I am not at all surprised that you are meticulous in your researchm and hope you had a heap of fun.Elephant's Childhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06650565833097914052noreply@blogger.com