Growing up, I knew all my first cousins. My father had one
sister and my mother had two brothers and two sisters. Three of these families
(and nine of my first cousins) lived in the same town as I did. One lived in an
adjoining town (with three more first cousins). Only my Aunt Alie and her
family (three more first cousins) lived across the country. But even them I
knew well. But my second cousins were another story.
Note that I’m not going to make the distinction between
blood relatives with whom I share DNA, those who may be adopted, those with whom
there is only one parent in common (i.e. half-siblings/cousins), or those who
are connected through step- type of relationship. All of them are going to be
labeled as “cousins”. Because most of these individuals are still living, I am
leaving off last names for privacy.
I’ve broken the below analysis into several sections, based
on my great-grandparents. Because of a variety of death/divorce and
re-marriages, there are more than four sections.
Louis Russell and Annie [Merchant] Russell (*1)
Louis and Annie had six children before she passed away. Their
oldest child was my grandfather and his grandchildren are myself, my siblings,
and my first cousins. The other five children accounted for my second cousins
as follows:
·
Linus (*2) – disabled with mustard gas during
WWI, never married, no offspring
·
Loretta – had one child (Shirley), and two
grandchildren (Cynthia and William). We saw them occasionally during my growing
up years, but I have recently reconnected with both of them
·
William (*3) – two children (William and Allen)
and five grandchildren (Roger, Jane, Timothy, Donald, Marianne). I only met
them once growing up, but have since connected with Jane (*4) and Marianne.
·
Allen – died at age 4
·
Pauline – three children (Gertrude, Joy,
Russell) and six grandchildren (Marilyn, Donald, Dennis, Roger, Cheryl,
Dorothy). We saw them perhaps once a year while I was growing up. I am only in
touch with Dennis at this time.
Total of 13 second cousins, currently in touch with five of
them.
Helen [Madigan] [Pulver] [Waldron] Russell (*1)(*5)
After the death of his first wife, Annie, Louis married
Helen. They did not have any children together, but Helen had had four children
from prior marriages. I did not know any of these relations existed while
growing up.
·
Lola – four children (Lola, Ethel, Ruby,
Juanita) and three grandchildren (June, Bonnie, David)
·
Eva – two children (Kenneth, Eldridge) and four
grandchildren (Janice, David, Donald, Melodie). I have now connected with the
daughter of Janice.
·
Iva – died young
·
Marguerite – two children (Gordon, Margaret) and
four grandchildren (Donna, Gordon, Raymond, Kevin)
·
Unnamed child – died at birth
Total of 11 second cousins, only in touch with one second
cousin, once removed
Maurice Levy and Caroline [Northrop] Levy
My grandmother, Vera Estelle [Levy] [Russell] Rogers, only
had one sister, Irene. [Great-]Aunt Irene and [Great-]uncle Joe only had one
daughter (Marjorie) and three grandchildren (Stephen, Tommy, Jeanne). We saw
them perhaps once a year while I was growing up. Tommy has passed on, but I
have reconnected with the other two. Later in life, Marjorie married again and her
new husband had two children from a former marriage.
Total of 5 second cousins, in touch with two of them.
Daniel and Elizabeth Evans
Following his divorce from my grandmother, my grandfather
(Erskine) married a second time to Elizabeth Evans. She was an older woman who
had never married and was an immigrant from England. Elizabeth had five siblings
in England, but we never knew anything of them and I have not been able to
construct a complete family tree for her, except to note that she had at least three
nieces/nephews.
Unknown number of second cousins.
Oren Rogers and Sarah [Hubbard] Rogers
Following her divorce from my grandfather, my grandmother (Vera),
married a second time to Charles Rogers (*6). Charles had been married once
previously, but had no children. He had a younger brother, James, but James and
his wife had no children either.
Total of 0 second cousins
Wilson Pierpont and Annie [Merrill] Pierpont
My grandfather (*7) was the youngest of eight children. His
mother died a few days after he was born and he was raised by foster parents in
the next town. Thus, he did not have a close relationship with his siblings and
I never knew any of my second cousins while growing up. But thanks to the
genealogical records of the Pierpont Family Association, I can at least
enumerate them:
·
George – no children
·
Edith – one child (Merrill) and one grandchild (Francesca).
I did at least know her name while growing up.
·
Albert – no children
·
Richard – died young
·
Joseph – two children (Wilson, Elizabeth) and
three grandchildren (Wilson, Roderick, Joseph)
·
Charles – two children (Marjorie, Leslie), no
grandchildren
·
Nathan – two children (Barbara, Nathan) and seven
grandchildren (Steson, Peter, William, James, Lucy, Charles, Timothy)
Total of 11 second cousins, not in contact with any of them.
Annie [Root] [Hall] Pierpont
Following the death of his first wife, Wilson married a
second time to the widow Annie Hall. She had five children from her first
marriage:
·
Nettie Jane – one child (Edward)
·
George Ransom – two children (Dorothy, George),
no grandchildren
·
Daisy – no children
·
Robert – two children (Margaret, Robert) and
eight grandchildren (names unknown)
·
Unknown boy – died at birth
Total of 8 second cousins, not in contact with any of them.
Clarence Blackman and Alice [Talmadge] Blackman
My grandmother had two siblings. [Great]Aunt Edna never
married. [Great-]Uncle Stanley had two sons with his first wife, then divorced
her and married another woman who had two daughters with her first husband (*8).
·
Elmer – two children (Edson, Philip)
·
Stephen – six children (Stephanie, William,
James, Beverly, Roger, Charles)
·
Joyce – two children (Herb, Scott), I have
recently made contact with Herb
·
Hope – four children (April, Robert, William,
Holly)
Total of 14 second cousins, only in contact with one.
Summary
That’s a total of at least 64 second cousins, of whom I am
only in touch with eight of them. It’s amazing how quickly one’s family tree
expands in only a few generations. But it’s also interesting how many of these
second cousins are NOT related to me by common ancestors (and so I do not share
any DNA with them), but through second/third/fourth marriages.
Notes:
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