How we are related? Part 2

The Removed, Half , Step and Blend

In the process of determining family relationships, I found the term “removed” when describing a relationship between cousins. First cousins share the same grandparents. Removed means that there is a generational difference between the cousins. What is considered a generation? I found two definitions that can apply. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary a generation is the average span of time between the birth of parents and that of their offspring. The English Oxford dictionary defines a generation as the average period, generally considered to be about thirty years, in which children grow up, become adults, and have children of their own. I have recently found my second cousins because we share great grandparents Gerald Hollins and  Eddie Brumfield Sr. is my second cousin one time removed.

A half brother or half sister means you have one biological parent in common. A step brother or step sister have no blood or genetic relationship. Step siblings are related by marriage because one parent with children married another person with children. Step siblings usually cause the formation of another family tree. 

A blended family is a family consisting of a couple from this and all previous relationships. In my family tree, Liddie and Calvin Caston had a blended family with two sets of children Brumfield and Caston who are half siblings.  

----- The Tree Gardener

How Are We Related? Part one

Genealogy is about tracing the line of decent and relationships within a family. Part of my excitement about family tree is discovering family members. I now know about previously unknown relatives.   I call all my new relations “cuz” because I have not figured out our real connections.  We all know the basic relationships of mother, father, sister, brother, aunt, uncle and grandparents. It often becomes confusing when trying to explain a familial relationship beyond the basics. It is even more confusing when there is a blended or step family involved.  I have decided to tackle and decipher the family relationships in my family tree. I would like to mention the familial designations and terms maybe different in other cultures and countries. 

THE BASIC (five generations)

Every child has parents; mother and father

A child may have siblings; sisters and/or brothers which are other children of the same mother and father.

A child has four grandparents; the parents of the mother and the parents of the father

A child has eight great grandparents; parents of the mother’s grandparents and parents of the father’s grand parents

A child has 16 great-great parents; the  8 parents of the mother’s great grand parents and the 8 parents of the father's great grand parents.    

Aunts and Uncles 

A child may have many aunts and uncles or none if both their parents were the only child of their grandparents.

A child may have aunts and/or uncles which are the siblings of the mother and/or father or their spouses.

A great aunt is the sister of your grandfather or grandmother.

A great uncle is the brother of your grandfather or grandmother

A great-great aunt is the sister of your great-great grandfather or great-great grandmother

A great-great uncle is the brother of your great-great grandfather or great-great grandmother

COUSINS

A first cousin is a child of and aunt or uncle. First cousins have the same grandparents

Second cousin share the same  great grandparents.  A second cousin is the grandchild of  your great aunt or great uncle  

Third cousins share the same great-great grandparents (aka second great grandparent)

Fourth cousins share the same great-great grandparents (aka third great grandparents)

The In-laws

In-laws are relatives by marriage.  Usually the term is used for parents, sister and brother of your spouse. The terms aunt in-law, uncle in-law or cousin in-law is generally not used.  I however used the term cousin in-law. It would probably be proper to say my cousin's wife or husband.

More information to come

-----The Tree Gardener