How Many First Cousins did my Maternal Grandmother Have?

I have been curious about this for some time now. My Grandmother was born in Dorchester NB and lived there until she was about 10 years old.  When she was seven, her father was lost at sea, somewhere off the coast of Cape Cod. This left them with no income or insurance money to help out. When she was nine, her little brother died from Scarlet Fever, at almost three years of age.  This left my Grandmother and her mother very much alone, which prompted them to move to the States, first to Bath, ME, then to East Boston, MA and eventually to Winthrop, MA, a peninsula in Boston Harbor. I believe they did travel back and forth a few times and relatives did come to Winthrop to visit, but I don’t think it was often. Therefore, my Grandmother had little opportunity to know just who her cousins were. I never heard her talk about very many cousins. There were a few that kept in touch, but not many. I thought it would be fun to see just how many cousins she actually had.

Alvina Chambers Broderick In Winthrop MA

My Grandmother was born Alvina Chambers at Cole’s Point (this is what she called it), in Dorchester NB in 1880. Her mother was Rebecca Ellen Cole and her father was Alexander Scott Chambers. Rebecca was one of 9 children, being the fifth child and smack in the middle of the pack. Three of her older siblings died, two as teenagers and the other at age 24. This left Rebecca with one older sibling, Lucinda, who, with her husband William Buck, had 10 children, but only 3 survived to adulthood.  Rebecca’s younger four siblings had 12 surviving children, collectively, making 15 first cousins when you include Lucinda’s three.

They were:

Lucinda Cole Buck-

          Arabella Buck Lawrence

          Edward L. Buck

          Wildie Buck Ward

Edward Cole –

          Mabel Cole Dooe

          Harley Cole

          Catherine Cole Houghton

          Edgar Cole

          Alice Cole Marney

          Margaret (Luella) Cole Elder

          Marion Cole Morine

Mary (Mame) Cole Muldoon –

          Walter Cole (Illeg.)

Emma Cole Cole (She married her 2^nd cousin)

          George Cole

Margaret (Maggie) Cole Mitton –

          James Mitton

          William Mitton

          Hedley Mitton

Rebecca’s husband, Alexander Chambers, was the oldest child in his family. According to the 1910 census, his mother gave birth to 13 children, but by the time of that census only 4 were still living.

The Chambers children were –

Emma Chambers Hicks –

          Ada Hicks

          Stella Hicks

Nancy Lavinia Chambers Vincent –

          William Vincent

          Elizabeth Vincent

          Lena Vincent

          Alice Vincent

          Rupert (Roy) Vincent

          Phoeby Vincent

William Chambers –

          Frederick Chambers

          Ethel Chambers

          Gertrude Chambers

          Wilma Chambers

          Bessie Chambers

          Ida Chambers

          Walter Chambers

          Albert Chambers

Ella May Chambers Turner Tavernor

          Clara Turner

          Myrtle Turner

          Walter Tavernor

This list is as accurate as I can make it concerning the children who reached adulthood.. I’ve used Vital Records, census records, cemetery records and any other reliable source I can find to gather this information. Other sources indicate up to 15 children died before reaching their teens. These have not been counted in the final tally. On the maternal side it appears that my Grandmother had 15 1^st cousins and on her paternal side, she had 19 for a grand total of 34 1^st cousins. I believe she knew of most of her Cole cousins but probably only a few of her Chambers cousins. This woman, who grew up an only child, had a very large, extended family.

9th Great Grandparents

After recently reading one of Dick Eastman’s always interesting newsletters, where he addressed the issue of “We are all Related,” I decided to try an experiment.  Based on the research I have done and others have done before me, I decided to see how many 9^th great grandparents I could come up with. Counting myself as Generation One, I ran an Ahnentafel report on 12 generations of family names; it takes that many generations to get to the 9^th great grandparents. Mathematically, there should be about 2048 names. What most researchers know is that there are often sets of great grandparents that appear multiple times. This happens when you have a descent from say three or four of their children. Even so, I would find it almost impossible to come up with even half the number (1024) of people that math says there should be. So let’s say I can only find 25% of my 9^th great grandparents. I am still woefully short of the 50% or abysmally shy of the 100% numbers.

9x gt. grandparents = 2048 people

1. Atwood, Thomas & Sullivan, Honora
2. Bassett, William  & Tilden, Elizabeth
3. Baxter, George, b. 1600 & ??
4. Blake, William, b. 1620 Pilminster, Somerset, Eng., d. 1663 Dorchester, MA &        Lyon, Anne, b. 1626 Plymouth Colony, d. 1680
5. Bliss, Jonathan, b. 1625 Daventry, Eng., d. 1687 Rehoboth MA, & Harmon, Miriam, b. 1620 Eng., d. 1706 Rehoboth MA
6. Boorman, Thomas (Sometimes spelled Bowerman), b. c. 1630 & ??
7. Bowen, Richard, b. 1590 Ilston, Glamorganshire, Wales, d. bef.  1673 Rehoboth, MA & Bourne, Anne, b 1600 Swansea, Wakes, d. 1654 Rehoboth, MA
8. Briggs, William, b 1646 Hingham MA & Macumber, Sarah, b. 1645 Marshfield MA, d. 1680 Taunton, MA
9. Brooks, Timothy, b. 1629, d. 1711 Cohansey, NJ & Russell, Mary, b. 1645 Charlestown, MA, d. 1680 Billerica, MA
10. Brown, William, b. c 1625 England, d. 1694 Eastham, MA & Murdock, Mary, b. 1625 Smarden, Kent, England
11. Clark, Robert & ??
12. Clifton, Thomas & Butterworth, Mary. both b. Eng.
13. Cole, James, b. Eng. & Feake, Mary
14. Covel, Nathaniel, b. c. 1620 & ??
15. Deane, Stephen, b. 1605 Eng., d. 1634 Plymouth, MA & Ring, Elizabeth, b.c. 1602, Ulford, Suffolk, Eng., d. 1687 Eastham, MA
16. Eddy, William, b. c 1558 Bristol, Eng., d. 1616 Eng. & Fosten, Mary, b. 1568           Cranbrook, Kent, Eng., d. 1611 Cranbrook, Kent, Eng.
17. Eldredge, John, b. c. 1600 England  & ??
18. Finney, John b. 1604 Lenten, Nottinghamshire, Eng., d. 1687 Swansea, MA &        Bayley, Elizabeth, b. 1634 Barnstable MA, d. 1684 Bristol, MA
19. Fisher, Anthony & Saxon, Joanne
20. Freeman, Edmund, b. c. 1596, Billingshurst, Suffolk, Eng., d. 1682 Sandwich, MA & Hodsall, Bennett, b. 1596, Pulborough, Sussex, Eng.,    d. 1630, Pulborough, Eng.
21. Fuller, Caleb  & ??
22. Garnzey, Henry, b. Eng. & ??
23. Guild, John, b. 1616, d. 1682 Dedham MA & Crooke, Elizabeth, d. 1669
24. Hardin, John, b. 1625 Plymouth Colony & Hurst, Hannah, b. 1627 Plymouth Colony
25. Higgins, Richard, b. 1604, d. 1674  & Yates, Mary, b.1610, d. 1702
26. Hinckley, Samuel, b. 1589 Tenterden, Kent, Eng., d. 1662 Barnstable, MA & Soole, Sarah, b. 1600 Hawkhurst, Kent, Eng., d. 1656 Barnstable, MA
27. Hopkins, Giles, b. 1608, Hursley, Hampshire, Eng., d. 1690, Eastham, MA & Weldon, Catherine, d. aft. 1690 Eastham, MA
28. Hopkins, Stephen, b. 1580, Hursley, Hampshire, Eng., d. 1644 Plymouth Colony & Kent, Mary, d. 1613.  Eng. (This marriage is still considered a possibility.)
29. Hudson, Henry, d. 1611 Labrador NFLD, Canada
30. Joyce, John b. 1602 Derby, Eng., d. 1666 Yarmouth MA & Cochet, Dorothy, b. 1608 Mickel Over, Derby, Eng.
31. Knowles, Richard, b. 1614 Lancashire, Eng., d. 1675 Eastham, MA  & Bower, Ruth, b. 1616 Lincolnshire, Eng., d. 1687 Eastham, MA
32. Lombard, Thomas b. 1581 Thornecombe, Dorsetshire, Eng., d. 1685, Barnstable, MA & ??
33. Lumpkin, William, b. 1600 Lincolnshire, Eng., d. 1671 Yarmouth, MA & Constable, Thomasine, b. 1605 West Rasen, Lincolnshire, Eng., d. 1682 Yarmouth MA
34. Martin, John, b.1634 Ottery St. Mary, Devonshire, Eng., d. 1713 Swansea, MA & Esten, Joanna. B. 1645 Herefordshire, Eng., d. 1733 Swansea, MA
35. Mayhew, Thomas, b. 1593 Tisbury, Wiltshire, Eng., d. 1682 Edgartown, MA & Parkhurst, Abigail, b. 1600, d. bef. 1635
36. Mayo, John, b. 1598, Cattistock, Eng., d. 1676 Yarmouth MA & Brike, Tamsin b. 1600 England, d. 1682 Yarmouth MA.  Rev. Mayo was a minister in Eastham MA.
37. Munnings, Edward & Ardley, Sarah, both b. Eng.
38. Nickerson, William, b. 1604 Norwich Eng., d. 1689 Monomoit (Chatham) MA &        Busby, Anne, b. 1607 Norwich, Eng., d. 1686 Monomoit (Chatham) MA  (3x)
39. Paine, Thomas, b. c. 1600, Wantage, Berkshire, Eng., d. 1631  & Galland, Jane, b. 1602, d. 1666 Edgartown, MA
40. Prence, Thomas, b. 1600, Gloucester, Eng., d. 1673, Plymouth Colony, & Brewster, Patience, b. 1600, Scrooby, York, Eng., d. 1634, Plymouth Colony. Arrived 1621 in the ship Fortune. He was the 4^th, 8^th and 12^th Governor of New Plymouth Colony.
41. Pye, William, b. 1617 Bodinnick, Cornwall, Eng. & ??
42. Rider, Thomas & ??
43. Ruggles, John b. 1579 Sudbury, Suffolk, Eng., d. 1656 Boston, MA & ??
44. Savery, Thomas, b. bef 1572 Hannington, Wiltshire, Eng., & Woodrorke, Mary, b. c. 1574 Hannington, Wiltshire, Eng.
45. Shelley, Robert, b. Nazeing, Essex, Eng. & ??
46. Smith, Ralph, b. 1610 Hingham, Norfolk, Eng., d. 1685 Eastham, MA & Hobart, Elizabeth, b. 1612, Hingham, Norfolk, Eng., d. aft. 1654, Eastham, MA (This is not the minister of the same name.)
47. Smith, Thomas, b. Brinspittal, Dorsetshire, Eng. & Doane, Joan
48. Snow, Nicholas, b.c. 1578, Hoxton, Middlesex, Eng. & Rowles, Elizabeth, b.c. 1580, Hoxton, Middlesex, Eng.
49. Snow, Nicholas, b. 1599, St. Leonard’s Shoreditch, London, Eng., d. 1676 Eastham, MA & Hopkins, Constance, b. c. 1606, Hursley, Hampshire, Eng., d. 1677 Eastham, MA  (2x)
50. Tibbes, John, b. Eng. & Harris, Margaret, b. Eng.
51. Toogood, William, b. 1626 & ??
52. Tower, John, b. c. 1609, Hingham, Norfolk, Eng., d. 1702, Hingham, MA & Ibrook, Margaret, b. c. 1620 Eng., d. 1700, Hingham MA  (2x)
53. Upham, John, b. 1525 Bicton Devonshire, Eng. D, 1584 & ??
54. Watts, Jeremiah, 1635 Eng., d. 1698 in MA & ??
55. Whipple, John , b. 1517 Eng., d. 1685 Providence RI & They, Sarah, b. 1626 d. 1666 Providence RI
56. Williams, Thomas, d. bef. 1696 in Eastham, MA & Tarte, Elizabeth, b. 1619           Tenterdon, Kent, Eng.  (2x)
57. Wood, Thomas, b. 1642 Plymouth Colony, d. 1704 Newport RI & Hale, Rebecca, b. 1644 Bristol, MA

 

There are still family names being researched that haven’t reached the 9^th great grandparent = Buck, Broderick, Palmer, Harper, Lacy, Snow (different family), Kennedy, Thistle, Pye (different lines), Chambers, Miller (or Millard). Boyle, Sagerton, Sheehan, Wade, Reynolds, Hubley, Scarr. Pike, Kahler, Thompson, Keillor. Matler, Spinney, Horn, McPherson, Carmichael, MacBurnie, Doane, Perkins.  Some families are only at the 5^th, 6^th, or 7^th generation so there are names I haven’t even found yet.

The better share of my 9^th gt. grandparents came from England. Some were born in Plymouth Colony of English parents. Add in the known Scottish, Irish and Welsh ancestors and you could pretty much say I am a UK mutt.

What this boils down to is this list is really, really short of the 2048 people who should populate the role of my 9^th gt. grandparent.