Cousins—right at your fingertips!

By MaryLynn Strickland

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Are you looking for the Clements family who immigrated to Minnesota in the 1880s?  Or maybe the Pheil family who left Germany for Virginia in the 1700s?  Are you frustrated encountering all those McBees you aren’t related to while you seek the ones you need?

Or are you a wealth of knowledge about the Wood brothers who lived in Franklin County, Vermont?  Have you connected with unknown cousins because of DNA matching, giving you previously unknown surnames to research?  If you answer yes to any of the above, you need to be using the society’s Surname List.

One of the popular items at early society meetings was a long narrow box, like a library card index drawer, filled with surnames that had been collected for many years.  You could browse through the box and take down contact information.  One drawback to the surname box was that only one person could access it at a time and there were a lot of cards!  Another drawback was that you had to go home to consult your family tree and then call the other person to trade information.  Some of the phone numbers were from a time when everyone had the 206 area code.  Email contact info was a rare addition.

We decided to join the digital age and put the names in a spreadsheet with updated contact information.  Then it was decided to put the list, with contacts, on our website.  We gained permission from those who wished to be included online but did not discard any of the others.  Periodically we would print out the whole list and have it available in a three ring binder.

While working on the spreadsheet I made several connections with others who had common surnames or similar locations.  One was a cousin of my four great grandmother that another member had listed.  When I called her we were able to confirm that we had the same person!  I haven’t found a common ancestor yet but found 18th century marriages of interest.  My four great grand aunt married some other member’s four great grand uncle.  Hey, a cousin is a cousin!

At the May 18, 2019, general meeting of South King County Genealogical Society, attendees armed with lists of surnames and research locations moved around the room looking for connections.   In just a three minute exercise, one pair found a common surname but from different locations and time periods.  Others found connections for locations and want to explore for more information.

This brief exercise demonstrated our inherent interest in studying surnames and locations.  We may have isolated the surnames of our four grandparents or eight great grandparents but it usually takes a look at our family tree to find other surnames that we have in common with friends and other members.

As a result of our exercise we have several new surnames and locations to add to our list.  We have also discovered something else—instant access!  People used their electronic devices to access the list, checked their genealogy software to look for common listings and then tried to make contact with submitters.

For the future, we plan several items:

1. Review and update our information.
2. List names and locations about which we have information to share.
3. Print the entire list periodically for those who do not wish internet exposure.

I’d also like to suggest that a portion of the list be included in the loop that runs before the meetings.

Now comes the pitch—who would be willing to spend an hour or two contacting people and updating the list?  Contact me by leaving a comment to this blog post.  You never know, you might find a cousin!

MaryLynn Strickland

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