Need a tool to riddle out those second cousins from the first cousins twice removed?
While I’m sure there are much fancier worksheets out there in Internet Land, here is one my brother sent me that is quick and dirty and doggone easy to use. Instructions are below.
My daughter and two of her third cousins share the name Camilla, which makes sense because their common ancestor is their great-great-grandmother Camilla Maree Butler. The cousins are Camilla Deaton Waldrop, of Arlington, TX, and Camilla Grace Patrick of Dallas. I have a couple of treasures from Great Grandmother, who was known to her grandchildren and to me as Sunshine. One is a fan, which came to us via my dad via his Aunt Molly, about 10 months after my daughter was born.
My great-grandmother’s church fan, date unknown but probably 1910s
Aunt Molly’s note reads:
My Dearest Tommy,
I am sending a treasure your way…
It is my mother’s fan that she used in church in Buena Vista [TN]. I would like for your Camilla to have it with all my love. Please keep it safely for her until she is old enough to appreciate it. I have no idea how old it is but is very fragile.
In the old days, funeral homes provided fans for the churches and they were left there for the next user. This one would predate those fans…
Love you 49 bushels.
Aunt Molly
