So I’ve had a relapse of the genealogy flu lately, and have been Googling and GenForum-ing like a madman, collecting notes and info from numerous sources. It’s a real thrill, since I’m hitting eight generations on almost every single branch of the family, stretching back across the history of the US to its founding. Most of the stuff I already know, since the work’s been done before, but I’m digging up new info on previously unexplored paths.
Knee-deep into my mom’s side of the family, I run across a name - Munsell - that rings a bell. “Wait a minute,” I think. “My father’s side of the family is packed with Munsells around the same time.” Following a couple of leads back to a family site, I run across this individual’s name and start working backwards. Three generations later, bingo! - a common ancestor.
This is a rather shocking development. Pen in hand, I trace both lines forward to my parents and do the math. The result: my mother and father are seventh cousins.
So, latkes and goyim, not only am I so white I bleed Clorox, I am also inbred. Oh, the shame!
Geneology is a wonderful thing, until you figure out things such as this. Shall I fetch a banjo for you?
One thing you find when you find Icelandic ancestors, is that every Icelandic person has a common ancestor, way back in about 800 or so. That’s pretty damned freaky.
You like that one, huh? I made it up all by myself. I also thought up “so white David Duke calls you honky”.
Maeglin, I know the cousins marrying each other is a rather commonplace phenomenon, but this one totally came out of left field for me. It’s a link nobody, and I mean nobody, in my family even had any idea of until last night. It’s the genealogical equivalent of a glass of cold water in the face, only more amusing. I think my mom is still laughing, six hours later.
Ginger, yeah, the same principle applies here. Both sides of the family have branches that stretch back to the founding of the first colonies in Massachusetts, and three hundred years later they hadn’t gotten much further west than Springfield and Northampton. I guess I’m kinda surprised it didn’t happen sooner.
Given the size of Iceland, I’m surprised you have to go back nearly that far. Pretty much any goyim of European descent are descended from Charlemagne, I recently read. He’s from that same timeframe, and Europe’s considerably larger.
I also thought up “so white David Duke calls you honky”.