Determining family relationships

Sometimes, especially when working on your family history, it's handy to know how to describe your family relationships more exactly. The definitions below should help you out.

Cousin (a.k.a "first cousin")

Your first cousins are the people in your family who have two of the same grandparents as you. In other words, they are the children of your aunts and uncles.

Second Cousin

Your second cousins are the people in your family who have the same great-grandparents as you., but not the same grandparents.

Third, Fourth, and Fifth Cousins

Your third cousins have the same great-great-grandparents, fourth cousins have the same great-great-great-grandparents, and so on.

Removed

When the word "removed" is used to describe a relationship, it indicates that the two people are from different generations. You and your first cousins are in the same generation (two generations younger than your grandparents), so the word "removed" is not used to describe your relationship.

The words "once removed" mean that there is a difference of one generation. For example, your mother's first cousin is your first cousin, once removed. This is because your mother's first cousin is one generation younger than your grandparents and you are two generations younger than your grandparents. This one-generation difference equals "once removed."

Twice removed means that there is a two-generation difference. You are two generations younger than a first cousin of your grandmother, so you and your grandmother's first cousin are first cousins, twice removed.

Instructions for Using a Relationship Chart

1. Pick two people in your family and figure out which ancestor they have in common. For example, if you chose yourself and a cousin, you would have a grandparent in common.
2. Look at the top row of the chart and find the first person's relationship to the common ancestor.
3. Look at the far left column of the chart and find the second person's relationship to the common ancestor.
4. Determine where the row and column containing those two relationships meet.

Common Ancestor	Child	Grandchild	G-grandchild	G-g-grandchild
Child	Sister or Brother	Nephew or Niece	Grand-nephew or niece	G-grand-nephew or niece
Grandchild	Nephew or Niece	First cousin	First cousin, once removed	First cousin, twice removed
G-grandchild	Grand-nephew or niece	First cousin, once removed	Second cousin	Second cousin, once removed
G-g-grandchild	G-grand-nephew or niece	First cousin, twice removed	Second cousin, once removed	Third cousin

Finding the Originals of the O'Neal letters

Through a connection I made on ancestry.com, I was able to locate two O'Neals in the Tecumseh OK area. One was the the granddaughter (Rosemary) of William H. O'Neal to whom these letters were written, the other was the great-grandson (Jack) of William H. O'Neal. Through the helpfulness and graciousness of these family members, I was able to find and look at the originals of the letters and was able to fill in some of the areas where the copies were illegible. I also met with a granddaughter of Lucinda O'Neal McBride. It was truly a pleasure visiting with these rediscovered cousins.

I also went to Brown Cemetery outside Tecumseh where Thomas A. O'Neal was buried, as well as Lucinda O'Neal McBride and her husband Robert Hugh McBride. Jack's wife Gena was so helpful in locating these graves and providing information on other various family members who were also buried there.

One of the most exciting things was to actually get a picture of the mastodon bone. See it on the post "I am a going to be rich!"