Relatively Speaking Blog

During the month of August I have been rehearsing at the American Legion in Delmont where I stroll through the New Salem Presbyterian Church cemetery to get there. I have visited this cemetery before as some maternal distant cousins are buried there. As I pass by the headstones of Sarah Ludwick Black and some of her family, I quietly observe the shared connections we have. Sarah is my first cousin four times removed as well as my second cousin four times removed. But what does that really mean?

People are clear on immediate family relationships: brother, sister, father, mother, and grandparent. The brother or the sister of a parent is, of course, an uncle or aunt respectively, and most know the children of one’s aunts and uncles are first cousins. But after that, determining what the relationship is for distant relatives is unclear for many. Terms like second cousin, third cousin, as well as twice removed and great uncle are often misused. But evaluating the relationship between two people is really not difficult.

One key to figuring out how people are related is determining the closest common ancestor they share. Cousins who share grandparents are first cousins, which is the closest shared relationship cousins can have. The distance of the cousin relationship increases as the shared common ancestor is further back in their tree. For instance, if great-grandparents are the shared common ancestor between two cousins, then they are second cousins; third cousins have great great-grandparents as the common ancestor, etc. One helpful hint I heard to determine the cousin number is to count the “G”s in the shared common ancestor relationship: grandparents have 1 “G”, making first cousins; great-grandparents have 2 “G”s, second cousins; great great-grandparents have 3, so third cousins, etc.

The chart above illustrates the connection between Sarah Ludwick Black and my line. Jacob and Anna Magdalena Ludwick had a number of children including Jacob Jr. (father to Sarah), and Abraham (father to John, my 2nd great grandfather). Sarah and John have the same grandparents, Jacob and Anna Magdalena Ludwick, thus they are first cousins. Continuing down the generations, Sarah and John’s children are second cousins, since they share Jacob and Anna Magdalena Ludwick as great-grandparents; their grandchildren are third cousins since they share the same 2nd great-grandparents. With each new generation the cousins become more distant.

But what if the relationship to the shared common ancestor is different for each? For example, Sarah’s grandparents are Alpheus’ great grandparents. Some might incorrectly state they are second cousins; however, this is when the term removed should be applied. When two people do not have the same relationship to the common ancestor, one of them is removed a number of generations from the other.

Viewing the chart, Alpheus’ father John is Sarah’s first cousin and this is where the closest parallel relationship can be identified, thus the starting point for calculating. Alpheus is one generation below his father, so he and Sarah are first cousins once removed. John’s grandchildren would be twice removed from Sarah, and each subsequent generation of John’s descendants would be one step further removed her and her siblings. In comparing Sarah with me, John’s 2nd great grandson, our closest common ancestors are Jacob and Anna Magdalena Ludwick. The parallel relationship along my line to Sarah is my 2nd great grandfather John, who is first cousins with her. I am four generations removed from John, so Sarah and I are first cousins four times removed.

You might also recall that I stated Sarah was my second cousin four times removed. How can I have two relationships to her? It is because John has a relationship with Sarah on both his paternal and his maternal side. As the chart below shows, John’s parents, Abraham and Mary, were first cousins to each other. In addition, Mary is a first cousin to Sarah’s father Jacob, which makes Sarah and John second cousins on his mother’s side. As I mentioned above, I am four generations from John, so Sarah and I are second cousins four times removed through Mary’s line.

To further complicate matters, Mary is also an aunt by marriage to Sarah. Some might say that Mary and Abraham are a great aunt and great uncle to Sarah’s children, such as Anna. Although great aunt or uncle is widely used, the correct term is grand aunt or uncle. Anna’s grandfather Jacob is a brother to Abraham; a grandparent’s sibling would be one’s grand aunt or uncle; a sibling to one’s 3rd great grandfather, would be a 3rd great grand uncle, like Abraham is to R.C., his 3rd great grandnephew on the chart.

I am fortunate to have made connections to a number of distant cousins. With some it has been an introduction and a few exchanges. With others, correspondences that began with comparing genealogical information have developed into friendships. One of these is with Sarah’s 2nd great granddaughter Joann, who would be my fifth or sixth cousin, depending on which line one looks at. I’ve even discovered distant familial connections with friends I’ve known for some time, which demonstrates that you never know who might turn out to be a relative. Whether I can calculate how I am related to others is insignificant. Most important is recognizing that with a cousin, we share a common history, heritage and family connection, regardless of how far removed or distantly related.