My Aunt Renee emailed me an article over the weekend about our Great (2x for her and 3x for me) Grandfather Benjamin Franklin Russell. Reading it I found information I never knew about him that I will share in another post. For this one I wanted to share the journey that the article set me on - how it ignited my excitement for research again and got me to exploring my family history through time.
While updating the pictures of Dr. B.F. Russell I found that his daughters Margaret (known as Nancy) and Frances Russell had married brothers by the name of Hendricks. Nancy married U.S. Grant - yest just like the President - Hendricks and her sister Fannie married his older brother George Hendricks. I've found many relations like this in my searching. There was another in the Russell line as well. Another example is my Great (x2) Grandfather William Harrison (Harry) Russell and his sister my Great (x2) Aunt Pearl Russell. Pearl married Anson Potter who was the older brother of Great Grandpa Harry's first wife Laura Potter.
It's funny now to think about marrying someone who is married to your brother or sister but in small town America at the turn of the last century that happened a lot. People didn't travel like they do now so you married those who were close and with whom you spent time. In a lot of cases that was a brother or sister of a friend or a siblings spouse. I also found that one of B.F. Russell's daughters or possibly granddaughters - the article wasn't specific on that point - was married to a man last name Endicott. I add that because my Great Grandmother Gladys Martin-Russell was married to a man by the name of Gerald Endicott before she married my Great Grandfather Irving (Jack) Russell. Jack was the only son of Harry and Laura Russell. Being that both the Russell and Endicott families were from Southern Oregon (Thurston, Lane county, etc.) the odds are good that the Endicott family that Gladys married into for a brief time is the same family that one of my Russell relations married into as well.
It just goes to show how like a ball of yarn geneaology can be - you just have to pull the right part of the string and the whole ball will unravel and show you a fascinating story.
While updating the pictures of Dr. B.F. Russell I found that his daughters Margaret (known as Nancy) and Frances Russell had married brothers by the name of Hendricks. Nancy married U.S. Grant - yest just like the President - Hendricks and her sister Fannie married his older brother George Hendricks. I've found many relations like this in my searching. There was another in the Russell line as well. Another example is my Great (x2) Grandfather William Harrison (Harry) Russell and his sister my Great (x2) Aunt Pearl Russell. Pearl married Anson Potter who was the older brother of Great Grandpa Harry's first wife Laura Potter.
It's funny now to think about marrying someone who is married to your brother or sister but in small town America at the turn of the last century that happened a lot. People didn't travel like they do now so you married those who were close and with whom you spent time. In a lot of cases that was a brother or sister of a friend or a siblings spouse. I also found that one of B.F. Russell's daughters or possibly granddaughters - the article wasn't specific on that point - was married to a man last name Endicott. I add that because my Great Grandmother Gladys Martin-Russell was married to a man by the name of Gerald Endicott before she married my Great Grandfather Irving (Jack) Russell. Jack was the only son of Harry and Laura Russell. Being that both the Russell and Endicott families were from Southern Oregon (Thurston, Lane county, etc.) the odds are good that the Endicott family that Gladys married into for a brief time is the same family that one of my Russell relations married into as well.
It just goes to show how like a ball of yarn geneaology can be - you just have to pull the right part of the string and the whole ball will unravel and show you a fascinating story.