The Essential Family Tree

The illustration below shows most of our known ancestry, with the pre-marriage names of thirty-eight parents, grandparents, and seven levels of great-grandparents—and the year each couple married. My siblings and I inherited a bit of DNA from each person on this tree.

Figure 3 – Essential Family Tree

Family names that appear more than once are color-coded. For aunts and uncles (siblings of these ancestors—of which there are many) and cousins (children of those siblings), see the Family Reference.

A quick aside on genealogical terminology:

You will notice that our great-great-great-great-grandfather, John J. Durbin, married Patience Logsdon, with whom he shared great-grandparents William Logsdon and Honor O’Flynn. This made them second cousins. (Third cousins share great-great-grandparents, and so on.)

Robert Anselm Durbin is also a second cousin of Patience, but once removed, due to being one generation apart. The “removed” concept works both up and down the tree: Christopher Durbin is also a second cousin once removed, and Pius Anselm Durbin is a second cousin thrice removed. The ten children of Bill and Lorraine Durbin are, therefore, second cousins six times removed from Patience.

The marriage of John and Patience was not the only time a Durbin married a Logsdon—it happened repeatedly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. But this is the only known instance within our direct ancestral line.

Now for the stories behind this tree.

Next: 1. Samuel & Ann Durbin 1703-1770
Previous: The Story in a Nutshell
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