Last night I read that New Hampshire marriage records have been updated on FamilySearch so I reviewed some of my Phelps ancestors. My 3rd great grandparents are Arva Phelps (1797-1870) and his wife Betsy Bartlett (1811-1850). I knew that Arva’s sister Mary was married to Jackson Blood and, for some reason, I spent some time tracing the ancestry of Jackson—which I had in my database. I think I was simply drawn by his name. Jackson’s 3rd great grandparents were Richard Blood and Isabel Wilkinson, as you can see on the chart above. I often prepare descendant reports in my RootsMagic file just to see who all is connected to a family. I love looking at, and studying, NAMES.
I noticed that Richard Blood had a great-granddaughter who married a Spaulding. When I saw that Spaulding name, I remembered that my (adopted) son Matt had Spauldings somewhere in his ancestry. I looked it up and found the connection, then prepared the chart above to illustrate it so I could show my husband. It shows Matt’s 5th great grandparents--Phoebe Spaulding and Martin Lamb. Phoebe’s father Josiah Spaulding is a 4th cousin of Jackson Blood, who was married to Mary Phelps, my great, great, great grandaunt!
Connections like these seem irrelevant to those who profess “We’re all related anyway”, but I don’t think along those same lines. I find relevance in these connections and it excites me to make discoveries like this. The enthusiasm that I feel is what keeps me doing the research. There’s a surprise around every corner!
