Monday, January 26, 2015

A New and Exciting Cousin Connection

Watson (Frederick) Emory Webster


I have very exciting news to share with you. A few months ago, I was contacted by a gentleman because he saw my genealogy blog while doing an internet search. It turns out that this gentleman is a cousin. This new cousin connection is quite a happy surprise for our family.

This isn't a distant cousin connection. This is a close cousin connection. You'll see what I mean as you read further in this post.

This cousin's name is Marco and he lives in Brazil. Marco left a comment on my personal blog's Facebook page.

Here's a little bit of background so you know how Marco fits in my family tree.

My regular readers will probably recognize the name of my great-grandfather, Watson (Frederick) Emory Webster. I refer to him as
"The Traveling Dentist" here on my blog. Watson changed his name to Frederick sometime during his life. Throughout the rest of this post, I'll refer to him as Frederick.

Frederick and his second wife,
Esther Matus Villatoro, who I descend from, had five children:
  1. Carlota Adelia Webster
  2. Edna Lillie Webster
  3. Debs Warren Webster (my grandfather)
  4. Eugene Rollin Webster
  5. Alice Webster
Carlota and Debs were the only children to survive to adulthood.

With this background in mind, I'll explain what happened when Marco contacted me. He told me that his mother was a daughter of my great-grandfather, Frederick. I wondered if he was mistaken. As I mentioned, only two of Frederick and Esther's children survived to adulthood, my grandfather and his sister Carlota. In 1955, my grandfather traveled to Mexico to visit his sister Carlota and her family. And Marco wasn't one of Carlota's children.

Well, through a series of emails in which Marco and I shared photos, documents, and information, it turns out that his mother is in fact a daughter of my great-grandfather, Frederick! It appears that late in life Frederick did have another child. And that child is Marco's mother.

This means that my mother has a newly-discovered aunt (Marco's mother) and I have a newly-discovered great-aunt. And Marco is my mom's newly-discovered 1st cousin and my 1st cousin once removed. See? This cousin connection is a very close cousin connection.

The photo at the top of this post was sent to me by Marco. It's a picture of my great-grandfather Frederick holding Marco's mother (right) and a young boy (left). I wondered if this little boy was Frederick's child too, but Marco told me he was not Frederick's son.


My mom and I are so excited about this new cousin connection. And we're so happy that Marco found my genealogy blog and contacted me.

Thanks for reading!

Jana
 
© 2015 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

35 comments:

  1. What a great connection! Congratulations on having a new cousin in your life --

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  2. Cousin bait in action! So glad you could connect!

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  3. What we are always hoping for! Unexpectedly close even. Congrats, enjoy it!

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  4. Oh Jana that's wonderful! That's why we blog, right? You never know what cousins may be out there waiting to be found or trying to find you. Very happy for you.

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    1. Thank you Andrea! And yes, this is definitely one of the reasons we bloggers write about our ancestors. :)

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Schalene! Yes, this is just such a wonderful discovery. :)

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  6. Whoo hoo! Congrats. I've been contacted by four heretofore unknown relatives as a result of my blog. It's just so exciting when it happens, and when you are able to fill in new pieces of the puzzle together. So happy for you!

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    1. Thank you! And congrats on your own cousin connections. That's awesome!

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  7. What an exciting discovery, Jana! And to think you would possibly never have discovered this connection, if it weren't for this cousin getting in touch with you, thanks to your blog.

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    1. Thank you Jacqi! And you're so right. If it wasn't for my blog, I may never have known about our cousin in Brazil. I sure am glad I started writing my genealogy blog. :)

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  8. Interesting connection! How exciting for you.

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  9. How exciting! Lots and lots of information to be shared!

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    1. Thank you Debi! It's been amazing sharing information and photos with Marco. So fun!

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  10. Oh Jana! This is just the best! And why we just have to keep on blogging....we just never know what it will turn up. Great news.

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  11. Wow, that's an exciting development! How nice to meet such a close relative online. Blogging has so many benefits, but this is really a good one.

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    1. Thank you Erin! Yes, this is a fabulous benefit of genealogy blogging. :)

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  12. That is so exciting! And very encouraging and inspiring to the rest of us who hope some relative will read our blog and open more doors to our family story.

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    1. Thank you Amy! It really is so exciting!! Blogs really can work as cousin bait.

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  13. That's terrificly exciting! And such fun! Congratulation!

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  14. Hi, Jana,

    Just wanted to let you know this post was highlighted in my Friday Finds and Follows: 30 January 2015 post on my genealogy blog, AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors.

    Best,

    Miriam

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    1. Thank you so much for the honor of being listed in your Friday Finds Miriam!

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  15. I know our blogs are supposed to be "cousin bait", but I don't think we expect to find cousins that close. Nice! And, you even got another photo. :)

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    1. Thank you Dana! This is such a close cousin connection. It's amazing. And the photo of my great-grandfather is the frosting on the cake. Thanks for stopping by!

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  16. I'm late to the party but am joining in with this celebration. Not just a new cousin but a whole new layer of relatives -- that's HUGE! Your family tree has taken on a whole new shape. Cooler than cool.

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    1. This really is HUGE Wendy. It's so amazing to add another branch to my family tree with this newly-discovered cousin and his family. Truly a blessing.

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