Just back in June, I was elated to share the news that I’d been able to identify a set of my 5th great-grandparents. That finding was on my mother’s side of the family.
And guess what? In the past week, I have identified TWO more sets of 5th-great-grandparents, this time, on my father’s side of the family!
I was working on the tree of my 4th great-grandfather, Robert Cox Sr. (1835-1908), and while searching records on Ancestry.com, found the entry in a North Carolina marriage index for him and wife, Amanda. Up until this point, I had not been sure of Amanda’s maiden name -but I learned it from the index record. Her name was Amanda Becton and they were married July 9th (my birthday), 1870.
But, not only that, I then followed up by looking for the marriage register itself because it is always a good idea to consult the original record, rather than just the index. FamilySearch has a collection of North Carolina marriage records online that include images so I checked there, North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979.
I’d actually covered this collection, albeit briefly, in Episode 2 of the “Let’s Talk North Carolina Genealogy” Summer Series I did with my geneabuddy Renate Yarborough Sanders when we had Drusilla Pair on as our featured guest. You can catch that episode online at https://youtu.be/XzeXn7B9Rqk.
Lo and behold, what was waiting for me there…
The details in the marriage register provided the names of BOTH of their parents! Robert’s parents were Edward & Chaney Cox. Amanda’s parents were George and Abby Becton. Edward, Chaney, George, and Abbey are all my 5th great-grandparents. Wow! A cousin of mine quickly pointed out that the names Edward and Chaney were passed down through the family for multiple generations and this definitely makes sense.
What I find particularly striking about this finding is that today, September 15th, is the anniversary of Robert’s passing. And, I make these discoveries this week?
Our ancestors speak to us, don’t they? They want us to not forget about them.
The sleuthing will continue!
Taneya, I am so excited for you! This is the kind of discovery that makes this journey so rich and rewarding, even after decades of research. The finds keep coming, and yes I know the spirit of our ancestors guide and assist us in this work. Congratulations! The genealogy happy dance is in order!
Robyn
Thank you Robyn! It certainly was good to find this and most of all, to be able to share it with my family! Thank you for your kind words! 🙂
Great blog! I love these kinds of discoveries.