I can't believe how many times I'm cranking away on my family tree in Ancestry.com, finding records with spouses and children and thinking "hey, that name sounds familiar" - and come to find out, yup! I've been here before - on the other side of the tree. Both sides are second or third or kissin' cousins. I guess that's what happens when you have a lot of ancestors in Kentucky... (ducks and runs)
My 4th great-grandparents were 3rd cousins, and their daughter married her 6th cousin. I tell ya, those New England Quakers make me dizzy!
My son and his wife are 10th, 11th, and 12th cousins through 4 different lines going back to Rev John Wing. I am related to Lizzie Borden through 4 different lines! My famous relatives
Hey, don't knock it, it makes the tree that much simpler. My grandfather's grandfather was the brother of my grandmother's grandmother. That trims one whole branch from my tree and gives me two fewer names to research at the 3x great grandparents level.
There are a lot of cousinly marriages and cross-overs in my family tree on all sides, too, from the early eastern seaboard of the colonies in US to the quite cousinly attractions and marriages among the early Californio families. It's not just hillbillies either LOL.
Yes, it's happened to me too, and not just with my Tennessee ancestors; two of my Norwegian ancestors were second cousins! They married after they immigrated, but they were in Minnesota.
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My son and his wife are 10th, 11th, and 12th cousins through 4 different lines going back to Rev John Wing. I am related to Lizzie Borden through 4 different lines! My famous relatives