I Have How Many Grandparents!!!

I’m back….

not that anyone noticed that I was gone. I haven’t written anything since March but today is the day. I decided that I needed a list of grandparents to help with DNA matches and rather than write it down on paper, that I will no doubt lose, I’d put it here for safe keeping. I think that this will also help me find the empty branches in my tree. I am sure that I have not discovered all 2048 of my 9th great grandparents….wow. 

Cousins	Common Ancestor	Possibilities
1st	Grandparent	4
2nd	Great Grandparent	8
3rd	2nd Great Grandparent	16
4th	3rd Great Grandparent	32
5th	4th Great Grandparent	64
6th	5th Great Grandparent	128
7th	6th Great Grandparent	256
8th	7th Great Grandparent	512
9th	8th Great Grandparent	1024
10th	9th Great Grandparent	2048

Ancestry provides me with a list of ‘cousin matches’ along with an estimate of how closely we are related. This can be tricky when one is from a place like West Virginia where the branches of the family tree often twist together. No…I don’t mean cousins marrying cousins (although that happens everywhere) but I mean that I’m related to many people in more than one way. For example my Granddaddy Taylor’s sister Cora married Holly Cobb. Holly Cobb was Grandmother Taylor’s uncle. Cora and Holly’s children are ‘double cousins’. They are first cousins once removed on Granddaddy’s side and first cousins twice removed on Grandmother’s side. So… cousin matches may appear closer than they are because of the amount of DNA we share comes from more than one ancestor. Another example is my Whitt line. Hezekiah Whitt is my paternal 5th great grandfather. Hezekiah’s brother Archibald Whitt is my maternal 5th great grandfather. Confusing….you bet!

Grandparent	Paternal	Maternal
Grandparent 4/4	Omer Martin Taylor Reva Opal Cobb	Lewis Arthur Willard Grace Mae Carnes
Great Grandparent 8/8	William James Taylor Lucinda Westfall Harley Bennet Cobb Clora Casto	King Shadric Willlard Nancy Jane Wilson Levi Alvas Carnes Mary Margaret Godby
2nd Great Grandparent 16/16	Charles W Taylor Eliza Harper Abraham Westfall Mary Margaret Harper Charles Harvey Cobb Mary Susan Ray David L. Casto Melissa Jane Boothe	Henry Willard Harriet Elizabeth Richards Oliver Wilson Permelia Rider Arthur B Carnes Harriet Sarah Pendell Andrew M. Godby Martha J Thurston
3rd Great Grandparent 26/32 Paternal 16/16 Maternal 10/16	Thomas Ewing Taylor Mary Elizabeth ---- John A Harper Rachel Taylor Andrew A Westfall Mary Elizabeth Hyre Harrison Harper Sarah Sally Charles James Hiram Cobb Miram Board Zedekiah Ray Lou Ellen Clatterbuck John J. Casto Gracey McDade Charles Mathias Boothe Rachel Webb	---Willard David Richards Mary Hodges --- Wilson ---Rider Henry Carnes Jane Jarrett Pliney L Pendell Mary Pollard William V. Godby Rhonda Miller Robert B. Thurstan Nancy C Brown
4th Great Grandparent 35/64 Paternal  24/32 Maternal 11/32	James Harper Agnes Birchfield Elijah Taylor Lydia Bishop Zachariah Westfall Hannah Woolf George Charles Christean Michael Hewitt Cobb Nancy Minerva Ashley John William Board Nancy Ann Parsons Daniel Ray Sarah Thomas Wesley Clatterbuck Sarah Watson John Casto Sarah Zervia (?) James McDade Rachel Tanner Joseph Boothe Jane Cromwell Joseph Webb Susanna Whitt	---Willard Shadrack Richards Susannah Hamilton Abednego Hodges Sarah Keene ---Carnes Isaac Jarrett Mary Margaret Massie John Pendell Melinda Mack Francis Marion Godby Rhoda Whitt Daniel Miller
5th Great Grandparent 39/128 Paternal  28/64 Maternal  11/64	---Taylor ---Harper Jonathan Birchfield Lainey Peake George Bishop Nancy Anne Boothe Samuel Taylor Rebecca Patterson Cornelius Westfall Hans Michael Charles Catherine --- Fredrick Michael Christina Maria Mathaci William Cobb Elizabeth Morrison John Wiley Ashely Mary Alford Patrick Board Mary Keyser Charles Parsons Nancy Ann Flesher Thomas Ray Annis Ballard David Casto Phoebe Gandy ---McDade Edward Tanner Rachel --- Hezekiah Whitt Rachel Skaggs Charles Cromwell Stephen Boothe Nancy Ann Crosby	James Jarrett Elizabeth Griffey Jeptha Massie Mary Sowards Elisha Pendell Irena Boyton William Godby Suzannah --- Archibald Whitt Hannah Lowe Edward Richards Elizabeth Stuart
6th Great Grandparent 22/256 Paternal  16/128 Maternal  6/128	John Board Ann Bryant Jacob Keyser William Parsons Martha Hughs Henry Flesher Elizabeth Bush Richard Whitt Susannah Skaggs Stephen Boothe Ester Osborn William Casto Elizabeth Abbott Thomas Gandy ---Gagnet Edward Tanner Judith ---	William Godby Richard Whitt Susannah Skaggs Benjamin Richards James Robert Stuart Mary Anne Lafferty