The Book of Cousins

By: Fred Coffey

Primary Web Page for family tree:

www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree

Since retirement, I've become interested in exploring my family tree, including an interest in using DNA to explore relationships. The latter interest required searching for living descendants of various branches of the family, then trying to persuade them to participate by giving up a DNA sample.

I finally decided to expand my objective, and try to tabulate and locate as many as possible of the descendants of my 8 sets of Great-Great-Grandparents, down as far as the fifth generation or the 1940 census, whichever came first. I didn't realize how BIG a project this would be, but once started I just couldn't quit!

So here's my starting point:

On my father's side:

Newton Eli COFFEY (1823-1890) and Martha Louise VERMILLION (1827-1904)

Jesse III BARBRE (1811-1881) and Susan WEEKS (1815-1867)

Moody ROBINSON (1811-1881) and Mary KIVET (1815-1867)

Aaron Kimble ATEN (1812-1901) and Dorcas GLASS (1814-1892)

On my mother's side:

Bartlett yancy WALKER (1819-1912) and Frances Nixon MAXEY (1827-1891)

David MYERS (1809-1876) and Sarah THOMAS (1815-1895)

George Washington MACHLAN (1832-1912) and Elizabeth Ellen MANN (1836-1906)

Jacob Sylvester ARNEY (1839-1927) and Linia Ann BARNES (1840-1880)

Jacob Sylvester ARNEY (1839-1927) and Lucinda C RYAN (1846-1928)

(Jacob Arney was married twice. After his wife Linia died, he married the widow Lucinda (Ryan) Officer.)

So, how many descendants of each of these families was I able to find?

Head Count by Generation Number

# 2

# 3

# 4

# 5

Total*

224

426

367

1095

*(Descendants only: There are also 470 spouses in the database.)

And how many of these were (a) still alive and (b) found in the 1940 census?

Found in 1940 Census

# 2

# 3

# 4

# 5

Total

115

249

241

611

Is this a complete list? Absolutely not! For a variety of reasons, I was not able to find everybody. The biggest single problem is that female descendants change their names when they get married, and the "trail" is thus often lost. So they, and all their descendants, are missing from the list.

Also of note, "Generation 5" was not yet complete in 1940, which is the latest census record available. Members of that generation had yet to be born in 1940. The census becomes available after 72 years, so in year 2022 I will be able to get a more complete picture by using the 1950 census.

THE BOOK:

DEAR READER: Are you holding a physical (paper) notebook in your hand? If so, someone has already created a printout for you, and you'll understand what I mean when I say "look at the cover".

However if you're reading this on a computer screen, then you'll also be looking at all the parts on screen. You'll have to click on a hyperlink like to following, to call up each "page" as I discuss it. Got that? OK, now "look at the cover"!

www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/TheBookOfCousins/NotebookCover.pdf

THE FAMILY:

A rough sketch of my father's side of the family (Coffey) is shown on the left, and my mother's side (Walker) is on the right. The only complicated one is "Coffey", so I'll explain that first:

I’ll use this to explain a bit about the family, and some of its unusual characteristics. Down the center of the page, in yellow, are the 8 "Coffey" ancestors named above. To their immediate left are the four of their children, in a peach color, that are my own ancestors. And to the right are all their other children. In a moment you’ll see why it’s done this way.

Note that two of the brothers from the first family (William and Benjamin Coffey) married two of the sisters from the second family (Malcena and Lucy Barbre). The children from their families are therefore “Double First Cousins”. This happened again when two of the brothers from the third family (Moody and John Kivett Robinson) married two of the sisters from the fourth family (Ellen Arminda and Martha Jane Aten). Again, their offspring are “Double First Cousins”. For both of these, those with a double cousin relationship are shown in green on the left and the right.

Then on the left side “Double Cousin” Newton Coffey from the first group married the unrelated “Double Cousin” Gertrude Robinson from the second group. And on the right side, this happened again when Lena Leota Coffey married Perry Allen Robinson. And as a result, on the left versus right side, we have the children of two families, shown in blue, who are “Quadruple Third Cousins”!

The right half of the cover is the Walker family, and it is very simple. The ancestors are shown in yellow, and their first generation children in peach. The only complication is that there are five families; Jacob Arney remarried and had additional children after his first wife died.

Now look inside the "book". The first tab is the introduction, which is what you are now reading.

"FAMILY FINDER" DNA TESTING:

And now look at "Tab #2" in the "Book" for an exhibit about DNA Testing:

www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/TheBookOfCousins/DNATesting.pdf

The DNA testing firm, Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) at www.ftdna.com , offers a DNA test called “Family Finder”. And my cousin (actually quadruple third cousin once removed) Tim Peterman is managing a big project using this testing procedure. This test can compare the DNA profile of any two individuals, and estimate if and how they might be related. The test can with 90% confidence spot a relationship out five generations (to the third cousin level), and can often go well beyond that.

This chart is in many ways a variation on the previous “Cover” chart. However it goes into a different level of detail, showing, in red-border boxes, individuals who have agreed to participate in the DNA testing. On the far left you will find myself (Leo Frederick Coffey) in the 5th generation. On the far right you will find Tim Peterman in the 6th generation. Note that the DNA Project is testing a number of individuals who are NOT connected through the double or quadruple cousin lines.

The purpose of this study is NOT to identify or confirm the relationships between the individuals shown here – we already know how they are related. Tim is looking beyond these individuals, to those among the thousands of others doing the same test whom FTDNA’s computer identifies as relatives to our families. And with so many KNOWN cousins tested, Tim can often look at the overall picture and identify how these newly-discovered cousins might be connected.

You will find all of the people on this chart in the genealogy that follows.

THE GENEALOGY:

Now turn to the next section of our book:

www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/TheBookOfCousins/Genealogy.pdf

Note that the printed version of this section runs to more than 40 pages. There are a LOT of ancestors, uncles, aunts, cousins and spouses here. There are more than 1500 people tabulated.

The first two pages are a table of contents, showing where to look for information on each of the people in the first two generations. The third page starts the actual genealogy tabulation.

For each person, the second column shows the name and generation level. And the third column shows the family connection. Here "Co" indicates Coffey ancestry, "Ba" for Barbre, "Ro" for Robinson, "At" for Aten, "Wa" for Walker, "My" for Myers, "Ma" for Machlan, and "Ar" for Arney.

Of course people have multiple ancestors. A "CoBa" would have Coffey and Barbre ancestors. My father is "CoBaRoAt", and my mother is "WaMyMaAr". And of course that makes me and my sisters "CoBaRoAtWaMyMaAr" - which I've shortened to "All". Put another way, some of us are related to EVERYONE here. (That's assuming you're willing to think of the spouse of a cousin as a "Cousin-In-Law"?)

(Spouses of descendants are easy to spot because their name is shown with an "&".)

The report then shows a column for every census from 1850 to 1940 (except for the 1890 census which was destroyed by a fire). And the numbers under each column show if that person was found in the given census. The numbers are census line numbers - you'll see how the census reports are organized in a moment.

There's also a column for an "Iowa Birth Index", which offers information on the births of several of the individuals. And on the far right there is a column with "Links, Observations & Sources". I've used this for random notes on additional sources of information.

THE CENSUS REPORTS:

Most of the rest of our "Book" consists of census reports, as follows:

www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/TheBookOfCousins/1940Census.pdf

www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/TheBookOfCousins/1930Census.pdf

www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/TheBookOfCousins/1920Census.pdf

www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/TheBookOfCousins/1910Census.pdf

www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/TheBookOfCousins/1900Census.pdf

www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/TheBookOfCousins/1880Census.pdf

www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/TheBookOfCousins/1870Census.pdf

www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/TheBookOfCousins/1860Census.pdf

www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/TheBookOfCousins/1850Census.pdf

www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/TheBookOfCousins/IowaBirths.pdf

As you look at each report, you'll see II haven't captured all of the information from each census - only the parts which help identify the person. Also the column "Name on Census" is as it appears in the index to the census. Some of these are a surprise: Sometimes the census taker didn't hear correctly, sometimes he couldn't spell, and sometimes the indexer couldn't read the taker's handwriting!

The last three columns on each page link the person to the above genealogy via a line reference, and also shows the basic source family and the name and dates from our own records.

Most of the census reports are organized geographically. And since the largest numbers of people were found in Iowa and Illinois, I show those states first, with people grouped by county.

I grew up in Decatur County, Iowa, which is between Clarke and Wayne county. I was born in 1942, so I didn't personally make any of these census reports. But the names I grew up knowing are in the 1940 census. However I was much surprised by the number of neighbors from the 1940 census whom I did NOT recognize as relatives!

The way to figure out the connection for those you don't recognize is to note the line number for the genealogy report reference, and then flip to the genealogy and look up that line number. THEN it should become apparent how the person or family connects!

WANT TO PRINT YOUR OWN "BOOK"?

Each of the above "reports" above can be printed and assembled into a loose-leaf notebook. If you are looking at this on a computer screen, and want a hard copy, just print everything.

Then go out and buy a set of "12-Tab Avery Ready Index Table of Contents Dividers". And assemble your book. The following can be printed as the Table of Contents page for these dividers:

http://www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/TheBookOfCousins/IndexTabs.pdf

METHODOLOGY:

This was all created on an Excel spreadsheet. I will send that source to anyone who wants it.

CAN YOU HELP ME?

I mentioned that there were a lot of people I couldn't find, most often involving a woman who changed her name when she married. If you know what happened to any such "missing" people, I would welcome a note from you.

Best wishes,

FredCoffey@aol.com