May 26, 2009 - A Smith Puzzle

Afternoon,

There's a bird in the conservation area in our backyard... Actually there are a lot of birds and other things just behind the house, and every time that "charming" bird tweeters, I get up out of my chair and I saunter over to the laundry room to check on the dryer. The bird has the same tweet as my dryer... And repeats it with, I'm sure, the same acumen as the dryer beeper-signal. (I know acumen is not the exact word I should use, but it just seems to fit!) And I know that this bird friend is an escapee from a Bosch cage someplace... And it sure knows how to push my button.

I found a 1912 St. Patrick's Parish baptism registration, from microfilm FHL1523752, Item 9, this past week of 2nd-cousin-once-removed Lilian, (could be Lidian), Grace SMITH. I've included the page from the Register. The Baptism entry is No. 1275. To my amazement this registration has eight relatives' names, that I know of, included in the entry. I'm not sure of the other three.

It gets somewhat confusing when I try to figure out that family connections. I come up with two 1st Cousins-twice-removed; one 2nd Cousin-once-removed; three 2nd Cousins-twice-removed; one 3rd Cousin-once-removed; and an Uncle who was the husband of a Great-grandaunt. Mathematically the numbers do not add up, but make sense; seven names and nine relationships to me; by blood and by marriage. And to Lilian Grace, I calculate six names, excluding her's, and 13 relationships. Confused? Trying to make heads-or-tails of ancestral relationships and connections can leave me, at times, listening for the Tweeter-Bird...

Check Cyndi's List, specifically the link at Cousins & Kinship. Links to related genealogical information and sites are provided at Cyndi's List. This website is a great resource.

Enjoy,

Jim