Siblings and Cousins- Ohana

Working on family history can be really exciting as we find new names and are able to go further and further back in time. That moment when you find the name of someone born in the 1800's is really exciting!

But it's also important as we find ancestors going back that we not forget about siblings. 

This is what I mean: my dad's side of the family on my family tree goes back several generations but it looks as though only children married only children and had one child. And for a German heritage that just doesn't seem accurate.

Then on my mom's side of the family, it might not go as far back as my dad's but every child and cousin is accounted for. I love that they cared about the siblings and bloodline of in-laws just as much as their own direct line. The result is a much fuller tree, and a far more accurate glimpse of what my family really looked like. 

Using another family history program I looked up my five greats-grandfather on both sides of my family. According to this program, that great-grandfather on my dad's side had fourteen descendants. My mom's great-grandfather had over five hundred.

Wow. Big difference! Obviously, the one on my mother's is more accurate because it had cousins, and siblings taken into account.

I love getting to see how certain family names were used and reused. For example, there was a generation that used flower names for the girls- lots of girls named Violet, Rose, Lily, etc. Then there was a generation of using presidents names- it's actually pretty awesome. Lots of George Washington Breeden, John Adams Breeden, Thomas Jefferson Dean- I love it!

Hunting to find siblings is a lot of work and doesn't move us farther back on the timeline of our family trees but it's fulfilling and helps our family trees be accurate and full.

Think of your family now. Wouldn't you want your own siblings to be included in a list of your family? I definitely wouldn't want mine forgotten. What if your cousins were left behind? No way! I love my cousins- I definitely want them represented on my family tree. 

Family is important and hunting for our ancestors in a full and complete way is exciting and rewarding. When we make sure that we include our ancestors siblings, and cousins then we are able to see the shape that our family takes. It's amazing to see how names get reused, and just how big our family really is.