PILGRIMS, PIONEERS & ALIENS

By Diana L. Smith

Genealogical Research by Steps and Halves: Using Other Marriages to Find Your Ancestors

We've been told that genealogy is the research of our blood lines, right? So why bother with those who are not full blood relatives? I suggest at least two reasons for that ... one practical and one more emotional.

First, the practical reason: So many times it seems that our direct ancestors never left any good records. (Of course, it's not usually true that NONE of them left records - it's just that we get stuck on those who didn't so they stand out in our minds.) To get around that road block, I often propose the use of collateral lines, and those "steps" and "halves" are the best bet (after full siblings, of course). For example, finding the second marriage of an ancestor may give information on the first spouse; the remarriage or births of half-siblings give an approximate range for the date of the death or divorce of the first spouse; and second marriages often come from the common circle of friends and relatives (I've found a number of cases where the second marriage is to a very close relative of the first spouse - sister, brother, first cousin, etc.).

The second, more sentimental reason: when a parent dies while a child is young, the step-parent who comes into the family plays a significant part in the growth and development of that child. For decades (at least) sociologists and others have argued over the "nature vs. nurture" issue - is heredity or environment more important? Since we don't have a definitive answer to that question, I want to know all I can about the step-parent who actually raised the child, to see how that person's background influenced my ancestor's life.

This month we'll discuss why and how to research these other spouses and their families, and how to keep track of them without losing your sanity.

Definitions

Here are a few terms that may be used in discussing these supplemental relationships. (Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. Second Edition. New York: Random House, 1998.)

Adopt: to take and rear (the child of other parents) as one's own child, specifically by a formal legal act.
Bloodline: the line of descent; pedigree or strain
Collateral: a relative descended from the same stock but in a different line.
Environment: the social and cultural forces that shape the life of a person or a population.
Foster child: a child raised by someone who is not its natural or adoptive parent.
Half-blood: a person who has only one parent in common with another person, such as half sister or half brother.
Heredity: the transmission of genetic characters from parents to offspring.
Nature: the particular combination of qualities belonging to a person by birth, origin, or constitution; native or inherent character.
Nurture: to bring up; train; educate.
Sibling: a brother or sister.
Step-: a prefix denoting connection between members of a family by remarriage of a parent and not by blood.

Who To Research

I suggest that you ALWAYS try to at least find the parents, other marriages, and children (from all marriages) of step-parents. When I refer to step-parents, I really mean all other spouses of the direct ancestor. This can get a little crazy sometimes, but can be quite informative.

For example, one ancestor we've researched was married four times. His four wives had a total of at least four other marriages, and at least one of those spouses had yet another marriage. It appears that one of the daughters from his third marriage married her own step-brother - the fourth spouse's son from her previous marriage. There is no blood relation, but they very likely lived in the same household part of their youth. A very interesting situation - and just a tad confusing!

Understanding all these relationships can also help in determining migration paths. If the family moved on before the first spouse died (especially shortly before), the survivor might well return to the old residence to find a new spouse. The children also might visit the step-parents' former residence and meet a prospective spouse there, so knowing where that former residence is can be a clue to the next generation's ancestry.

What To Research

Once you've identified that your ancestor had another marriage, begin looking for all the evidence you can find on that union. My general rule is to research the siblings of each ancestor, plus one generation each way. In the case of other marriages, this means finding all other marriages, the children of all such marriages, and the parents of the spouse (and his/her spouses). That may sound like overkill, but it is amazing how often those "step-relatives" end up marrying into the family in the next generation.

Recording Your Findings

Since your pedigree charts only show your bloodline, you will probably want to make a separate pedigree chart for each "step-parent." It is helpful to color-code them or otherwise make a clear visual indication that these are NOT bloodline relatives. Give the chart a number that makes sense in your system. For example, if you use the ahnentafel numbering system and number each chart with the number of the person in the first position on the chart, you might use the ahnentafel number of the direct ancestor this person married, followed by a letter or number to indicate the sequence of the marriage.

Additional family group sheets should be made for each family unit (birth parents of each set of children). These should also be clearly marked for immediate visual identification as "non-bloodline" research subjects. They may then be filed in the same surname folder with the ancestor, or in their own appropriate surname file (depending on the depth of research conducted).

Further Reading (please!)

Books and Magazine Articles:

Allen, Desmond Walls. First Steps in Genealogy: A Beginner's Guide to Researching Your Family History. Cincinnati, Ohio: Betterway Books, 1998..

Croom, Emily Anne. The Genealogist's Companion & Sourcebook. Cincinnati, OH: Betterway Books, 1994. [Note especially Chapter One regarding Cluster Genealogy.]

Szucs, Loretto Dennis, and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking. The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy. Revised edition.

Magazines:

Curran, Joan Ferris, "Numbering Your Genealogy: Sound and Simple Systems," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 79, Number 3, September 1991.

Devine, Donn. "How to Number People in Pedigrees and Genealogies," Ancestry Newsletter, Volume 4, Number 1, January/February 1986.

Dollarhide, William. "Descendancy and Collateral Numbering Systems", Genealogy Bulletin, Volume 15, Number 5, Issue 53, September/October 1999.

Web Sites:

Smith, Diana L., Pilgrims, Pioneers & Aliens column, March 1999: "Researching Around Brick Walls: Using Collateral Lines" http://members.aol.com/dianahome/column8.htm

StateGenSites. A "jumping-off" point with links to sites for genealogy of all 50 states. [A bonus: regular columns on a variety of topics, including my "Let's Talk Genealogy" column.] http://www.stategensites.com/

Cousin Relationships. http://www.rootscomputing.com/howto/cousin/cousin.htm

Pence, Richard A., "Numbering Systems in Genealogy." http://www.genealogy.org/~st-clair/numbers/

Przecha, Donna. “The Bigger Picture” http://www.genealogy.com/38_donna.html

“What Is a First Cousin, Twice Removed?” http://www.genealogy.com/16_cousn.html

Other Resources:

Repeat Performance records many presentations at national and regional genealogical conferences. These are available on audio cassette for about $7.50 each on-site, through mail order, or through their web site. A search engine also allows you to search for other presentations by title or presenter. http:/www.repeatperformance.com/ Specifically look for these:

Joslyn, R., "A Sibling Is A Small Crawling Animal: Help Among the Collaterals," Richmond, VA: NGS Conference in the States, 1999. NGS090.
Lehmann, Joy. “Collateral Relatives: Who Are They and Why Should I Care?" Denver, CO: NGS Conference in the States, 1998. DEN98W23.

I am always interested in hearing from readers, so if you have any comments, suggestions, or questions, please email me at: thegenealogist@ancestry.com. However, I regret that I am unable to help readers with specific research.

Happy Hunting!

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01-Jul-2000