Two Degrees

 

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music):

1)  Using your ancestral lines, how far back in time can you go with two degrees of separation?  That means "you knew an ancestor, who knew another ancestor."  When was that second ancestor born?

My first thought was that I knew my great-grandmother, Josie Crawford.

Christmas 1953: Marcia, Winnie, Josie

Crawford Line: Josie Hammond Crawford was born in 1874. She would have known her grandfather, Horatio Hammond (1798-1879) and grandparents, James Barr Ralston (1811-1904) and Nancy Jane McCormick (1818-1907).

Josie would have also known her in-laws: Washington Marion Crawford (1838-1889) and Mary Foster Crawford (1842-1929). Josie's father-in-law was a prisoner of war at Andersonville, as was her father, Richmond Fisk Hammond (1840-1928).

Currey Line: I kne my grandmother, Winnie Letha Currey (1903-1992). Winnie did not know any of her grandparents since they all died prior to her birth. Her mother, Winnie Mae Hutchinson, died in 1913, when my grandmother was ten. My grandmother did not know much about her heritage. Her thirst for knowledge about her mother's family is what started my genealogy quest.

Briles Line: I knew my grandfather, Edward Osmond Briles (1891-1956). His grandfather, Noah Washington Briles (1840-1879) died before he was born. His grandmother, Sarah Jane Thompson Briles (1843) was still living in Coffey county, Kansas near where his parents lived. Also living in the area were his other grandparents,James Marshall Ricketts (1847-1920) and Rachel Elmeda Christy (1845-1927). Also living in the area was E. O. Briles' great grandfather, Alexander Briles (1813-1900). Several of his other great granparents were living, but not in Coffey county, Kansas. William Taylor Thompson (1820-1898) and his wife, Polly Ann Evans (1821-1896) were living in Wapello County, Iowa. Orilda Matilda Reed Ricketts (1828-1900) was living in Clinton county, Indiana. Samuel Christy (1819-1904) was also living in Clinton county, Indiana. Whether the families visited each other is unknown.

Mentzer Line: I knew my great-grandfather, Charles Oliver Mentzer (1869-1955). He would have known his grandfather, John Minnick (1822-1903).

I connect within two degrees of separation to my third great grandfather, Horatio Hammond. Horatio Hammond was living in Knox county, Illinois where Josie Winifred Hammond was born.