Dear Dwayne,
Absolutely, I appreciate your saying that… I laugh all the time when the Surnames crossover and usually back again.
My Great-Uncle Ben used to tell his kids (and he had a bunch of them) that, “You don’t go to your uncles house looking for a wife.” But its true that most families intermarried due to how close they were and how few outsiders. They went to all the same functions, school, church, etc. and knew each other, friends and friends of friends or a friends cousins, so you married that person you came in contact with and/or got to know. Its about accessibility.
I married my oldest sister’s, sister-in-laws, husband’s, brother. I know… but it’s been over 31 years now, soon to be 32, so I think it’s worked out.
Some relationships were decided when children were very young, you see that a lot, when you read old books. Royalty only married their nearest relative, usually a sibling. It doesn’t bother me at all. I think God puts us with the person He thinks we should be with.
Like you said, we’re a close family! I don’t want to make any Hillbilly jokes here, because FACT we’re all related, all the way back to Adam, just keep climbing that tree on both sides, sooner or later it won’t fork anymore. You get tired of reentering the same people like I did and just merged them all. So much easier.
I love the new How We’re Related link at Ancestry.com now. This way I can tell you how many times you’re removed from me on the Tree without batting an eye.
Sometimes, I think about poor old Greatest-Granddaddy William V Adkins, he didn’t have a clue as to how future families he would be responsible for, as none of us are really, when he fell in love with the daughter of Richard Parker and sired her children. If he had, he would have left us a lot more paperwork. I’m just kidding. I do have a great love and respect for a man and woman I’ve never met. Even though it’s 12 or more generations ago, somehow they feel very close.
Thanks for your comment and Welcome to the Family,
Sheila Jean Adkins Metcalf
