This week’s prompt got me to thinking about what would I consider to be a multiple. At first, I thought of twins that run in my family, but I have already written about most of them. Then I thought about a number of ancestors that died in the same years. There were many multiples of them also. Eureka! It finally hit me, and here is my interpretation for multiple.
I have found several lines where I descend from two siblings. Here are 4 examples of that.
First Jonathan Brewster (1593-1661) from the Mayflower, is my 9th great-grandfather. I descend from 2 of is daughters making them both my 8th great-grandmothers.
Grace Brewster (1639-1684) married Captain Daniel Wetherell
Hannah Brewster (1641-1711) married Samuel Starr
So how does this make me a descendant of these multiple sisters?
Grace and Daniel had a daughter, Mary Wetherell who married George Dennison
Mary and George had a son named Daniel Dennison who married Rachel Starr
Hannah and Samuel had a son named Thomas Starr who married Mercy Morgan
Thomas and Mercy had a daughter named Rachel Starr who married Daniel Dennison
Second is my 4th great-grandfather Colby Rucker (1760-1781) I also descend from 2 of his daughters making them both my 3rd great-grandmothers.
Sarah “Sally” Rucker (1791-1850) married Thomas Hayes (1780-1849)
Elizabeth Rucker (1787-1855) married John Coffey (1776-1845)
Here is where it gets complicated. Thomas is the son of George Hayes (1760-1839) who is the son of Thomas Hayes (1740-1829) who is the son of George Hayes (1714-1747). This George had a daughter named Molly “Polly” Hayes (1742-1829). She and Thomas (1740-1829) are siblings. Molly married Benjamin Coffey (1747-1834) and they had John Coffey (1776-1845).
So Thomas Hayes’ great-aunt is the mother of his brother-in-law!
Third is my 9th great-grandfather John Dodson (1571-1652) I descend from 2 of his sons.
Jesse Dodson (1623-1716) married Judith Hagger (1615-1655)
Benjamin Dodson (1624-1652) married Anne Simms (1624-1715)
Jesse and Judith had a son named Charles Dodson (1649-1716)
Benjamin and Anne had a daughter named Anne Dodson (1651-1715)
Charles and Anne got married making them first cousins and becoming my 7th great-grandparents.
Fourth, is my 7th great-grandfather William Bond (1674-1713) married Dorothy Dayne (1677-1720) wait for it….his brother Isaac Bond (1676-1719) married Anna Holmes (1676-1715) is my 7th great-uncle.
William’s son William Bond (1701-1779) married the daughter of his Uncle Isaac, Clara Bond (1709-1789) making them both my 6th great-grandparents and my cousins.
I hope you are not as confused as I was several years ago when I discovered these multiple connections. I have actually found a few more but I have a headache just listing these!
I am a professional genealogist, writer, photographer, wife, mother, and grandma. I have two books available on Amazon.com: Your Family History: Doing It Right the First Time and Planning Your Genealogy Research Trip. You can also connect with me via Facebook or Twitter.