I think a lot of us end up researching the lines of the spouses of in laws and cousins and even friends eventually. After I researched my husband's lines where I discovered two pairs of common ancestors between us making us 7th cousins, I became more curious and started with my son in law's and daughter in laws's families. This journey eventually required me to add a category to the spreadsheet I keep to remind me of all the connections that I have found.
NOTE: I have not added all of the removeds to my cousinships.
I'll start with my husband Tom.
Our common lines are back to Robert (born abt 1616 in England) & Sarah (born abt 1620 in England) Allyn - 7th cousins. Robert arrived in 1637 and married Sarah in Salem, Massachusetts in 1638.
Also John Whitmore/Wetmore (born abt 1589 England) & Joanna Jessup(born 1593 England) - 1oth cousins. Their descendants first settled in Connecticut sometime before 1645.
Tom is a 6th cousin to his brother's wife Cheryl through a common grandfather Johannes Lebo born in 1683 in the Alsace region of France/Germany. Johannes settled in Berks Co, Pennsylvania.
Tom is a 7th cousin to my sister's husband Rich through a common grandfather Johann Friedrich Leiby born in 1694 in the Baden-Wuerttemberg area of Germany. Johann settled in Berks Co, Pennsylvania. Also thru this Leiby grandfather, Tom is a 5th cousin to a Lester Gerber who married Tom's maternal aunt, Dorothy Betz.
Tom has several connections to people in my family.
First, through John Morton born in 1656 in Co Armagh, Northern Ireland & Margaret Cherry born in 1660 Co Down, Northern Ireland. This ancestor makes Tom a 4th cousin to Dorothy Blackburn who married my paternal great uncle Oliver Heacock.
Second, through the same John Morton, he is a 3rd cousin to my paternal step grandmother Margaretta Blackburn who is also Dorothy's aunt.
And a third Morton connection is through a James Morton born between 1605 and 1634 in Co Down, Northern Ireland and his wife Alice Green of Co Armagh makes Tom a 9th cousin to Ron, the husband of my paternal aunt.
All three of these connections are to families that settled in or came through Bedford Co, Pennsylvania.
Two other connections to Tom are Stephen Kauffman born in 1725 in Berks Co, Pa and Nicholas Lehman born in 1573 in Switzerland. Both of these men are ancestors to Vernon who married Tom's 1st cousin Charlotte. Stephen is also an ancestor to my 1st cousin, Cathy's, husband Jonas making Vernon & Jonas 4th cousins. Nicholas is also my 11th gr grandfather so Vernon and I are 11th cousins.
This does not end my husband's links as you will see.
My son in law, Cullen's, connections include myself, my husband and Ron my aunt's husband.
Ron and Cullen are 6th cousins through members of the same Blackburn and Morton families above, John Blackburn born 1675 in Co Armagh & Rachel Morton born 1694 in Co Armagh. They settled in the York and Adams county areas with descendants finding their way to Bedford Co, PA. Cullen would also be a half 5th cousin to my step grandmother above Margaretta Blackburn and her niece Dorothy.
Cullen and his father in law Tom are both descended from the above James Morton & Alice Green and are 7th cousins.
Cullen and myself , his mother in law, are 8th cousins through common ancestors William Osgood born 1609 in England & Elizabeth Clare born 1612. They settled in Salisbury, Massachusetts.
Okay, not finished yet. On to our daughter in law, Mandy.
I have found that Mandy is half 11th cousin to the husband of my niece, Justin, through Martin Huber born 1530 in Switzerland. His descendants first settled in Bucks Co, PA.
Another Huber, Jacob born 1698 in Switzerland, is the common ancestor of Mandy and Cheryl, Tom's brother's wife, making them 7th cousins. This Huber settled in Lancaster Co, PA. Another link to Cheryl is also through a common ancestor, Eberhardt Raudenbush born 1656 in Germany, making them 8th cousins. His descendants settled in Lancaster Co, PA.
Yet a third Huber, Hans Ulrich born 1670 in Switzerland, is ancestor to both Mandy and Mark K, who is married to Tom's niece, making them 5th cousins.
Anna Huber, yes, born 1712 in Berks Co, PA, married Marcus Groff, who is a brother to both Samuel 7th great grandfather of Mark & Fronica 8th great grandmother of Justin. Justin and the above mentioned Mark (cousin of Mandy) are also 5th cousins to each other through Marcus Groff.
William Mullins born 1725 in Virginia is ancestor to both Mandy and an old friend of ours from Virginia, Moon Mullins, making them 7th cousins. The Mullins name made me look at that one!
Then one last batch that relates Mandy to both Tom & I is Mandy's maternal grandma, Wanda's family, the Shreves. One connection goes to Tom through ancestor Frederick Rosenkrantz born way back in 1436 in Germany. Frederick also has a descendant, Clay Rosencrance who is Tom's 12th cousin. Clay married Lela Gear who is Mandy's 4th cousin through Absalom Shifflett born 1824 in what is now West Virginia.
Now Lela Gear is also my 7th cousin through Adam Gear, who is Absalom's son in law, our common ancestor is William Gayer who died in 1710 in Nantucket.
Emily Gear, also my 6th cousin through William Gayer, married James A Shreve who is Mandy's 5th grand uncle. James and Mandy share William Shreve & Freelove Dyer as ancestors. They were born in Rhode Island and moved to Virginia sometime after 1730.
One more Gear, is Nancy born in 1832 in now West Virginia is a shared cousin of myself and Mandy through William Gayer again making Nancy my 5th cousin and Mandy's 2nd cousin.
Nancy H Currence is Mandy's step great great grandmother and my 7th cousin. Nancy married Herbert Shreve. Nancy and I are cousins through William Gayer once again.
One more family name. Gholson, connect myself and Mandy. Anthony Gholson born 1705 in Virginia is the 5th great grandfather to the above Nancy Currence. He is also married to my 1st cousin Jane Hawkins. Another Gholson, Francis born 1756 in Virginia, married another of my 1st cousins Mary Craig. Anthony Gholson is Francis Gholson's great grandfather.
Two Shreve brothers who were both Colonels in the Revolutionary War are 2nd cousins to both myself and Mandy. They are Israel & William Shreve. Mandy and the brother's ancestor is Thomas Shreve born 1620. My common ancestor to the brother's is in a completely different family through Thomas French born 1639 in England.
And the last relationship between Mandy & I is through a Martin Family making us 7th cousins. Our common ancestor is Jost Merten born 1691 in Germany & Maria Katharina Utterback born 1699 in Germany. This family settled in Fauquier Co, Virginia.
My connections not mentioned yet!
Through my paternal 6th great grandfather, Jacob Ober born about 1729 in Lancaster Co, PA, I am a 7th cousin to my Dad's best friend from his childhood, Gene Beegle. They never knew this. The Obers gradually moved west and settled in Bedford Co, PA. The name changed to Over.
Thomas French born 1562 in England is my 13th great grandfather and his 8th great grandaughter Bertha Myers married my husband, Tom's, maternal uncle Ellsworth Betz. Bertha and I are 9th cousins. The Betz's and Myers' were from Schuylkill Co, Pa.
My maternal 1st cousin, Cathy and I have a 5th great aunt, Elizabeth Fyock, who married Cathy's husband, Jonas's, 4th great uncle Peter Berkey. These were Bedford Co, PA families. Jonas also has a relationship to Tom through Tom's brother in law, Dennis. Jonas and Dennis are 7th cousins through ancestors Michael Kaufman & Anna Brendli.
One more cousinship involves Elizabeth Landis born 1743 in Lancaster Co, PA is the 7th grand aunt of Justin. She married Abraham Hershey born 1740 in Lancaster Co, PA who is the 3rd cousin of Dennis. Yes, that Hershey family! And there is a cousinship that I haven't quite navigated yet from me to the Hershey family also.
On my maternal side, I have a 3rd cousin Geordan, who is related to myself and Tom through his mother 3 additional ways. So we go back to Robert Allyn, Tom & my common great grandfather. Robert's brother, William born 1602, is Geordan's 10th great grandfather making Geordan and us 10th cousins. Moving on, my 9th great grandfather Thomas Everard born in 1568 is also Geordan's 10th great grandfather, we are 10th cousins again. The third connection is to Tom. Gilbert Holcombe is Tom's 10th great grandfather and also Geordan's 10th great grandfather making them 11th cousins.
I was thrilled to find a connection between my best friend of over 60 years and Tom. It is a marriage of cousins but still.... And I have failed to find my notes on this one!
Last one. I promise!
My granddaughter recently was engaged and I had looked at her fiance's tree and found that we had connections to them as well. It's a stretch, but the fiance's 3rd great grandfather, Jacob C Miles married Susanna Reese whose sister Louisa Reese married James Over, my 3rd cousin.
I'm sure that I missed a few or just haven't found them yet. If you stayed with this, I congratulate you!!
And thanks for reading!
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