So, today again was not the day for me and Joe’s family. Our family. I was on a hot lead. This time with the name Laisen. But alas, thanks to the Scandinavian Patronymic surnames, I had an Ole Larson from the wrong century. And because the ancestors in question were from the 1770’s and 1880’s, the surnames didn’t transcend to the next generation. 

But, I did pick up a whole new crop of in-laws for various fourth-great-grandparents and associated aunts and uncles. Some people say this is a waste of time and just a way to make your tree over-grown and unruly. But, these are possibly the same people who have never experienced 17th-18th century endogamy or pedigree collapse.

So having knowledge of an ancestor’s in-laws actually could lead to finding out  the identities of additional marriages between the same two families. There are several occasions in my tree where this happened as well as a great-grandfather marrying his deceased wife’s sister, in order to help raise the children left behind and to “keep house”.

But not only is revealing in-laws and siblings good for finding these relationships, but I’m hoping this continued practice will lead to connecting to Cousin “Fake Name” Joe’s family once and for all. And from both sides. 

Come listen to the “Twice Removed Podcast” where we discuss this and many other genealogy related topics. The show is available wherever podcasts are served and on YouTube.