“Have you ever found an ancestor in an unexpected location? What about finding a record someplace that surprised you? Or what about that one great-great-uncle who moved out West when everyone else in the family stayed put? This is a good week to write about them.” this is the prompt from Amy Johnson Crow for Week 3 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.
My husband and I were both surprised when I started researching. We were surprised because we had both been surrounded by more ancestors than we knew when we were growing up. I knew my cousins, children of my moms sister lived in the same town and we saw them frequently. I had no idea that both of my parents had other relatives in town. My mom’s dad had an aunt and uncle, Lizzie and Gavin Crowe, in Boone. They had as far as I have figured out nine children. Some moved away but several stayed in Boone, married and had children of their own. I was related to all of these people!
I also had relatives on my dad’s side. My dad’s grandmother had a sister who lived in Boone after she was married. She had four children who grew up in Boone. They married and had children some stayed in Boone and some didn’t. It was amazing to me everytime I found someone else I had a connection to and never knew they existed.
My second great grandmother on my mom’s side had at least one brother and one sister who lived in Boone. I haven’t traced them to the living people today but I know they were married and had children and it’s possible some of their descendants grew up alongside me. For some reason that just seems off kilter, like something wasn’t aligned right, although I imagine it happened frequently.
My husbands family had many cousins living in the same or near by towns. He vaguely knew they had some relatives out there but not to the extent we found. The Hartje families tended to be large, marry and have another large family. Some moved away but many were living within an hour or two drive of his home.
It wasn’t so much having relatives who were out of place, as a feeling that I didn’t know the place where they and I grew up. It was a little bit of cognitive dissonance but very fun to find new relatives where ever they appear.
My Tree in the Forest 