As a personal historian, I make a distinction between what I do and genealogy. While a genealogist’s primary motive is creating an accurate, comprehensive family tree, I’m more interested in putting some fruit on those trees through the stories and memories of family members.
Genealogy and family history are, to me, close cousins of the same family. As I considered the relationships among cousins, it occurred to me that among the more interesting discoveries as one traces its family back through the generations is the not-all-that-unusual occurrence of intermarriage within a family, usually involving cousins of a certain distance.
To one who was raised in a state where marriage between first cousins is prohibited and who was taught that such unions would likely produce a generation of genetic misfits, I was surprised to learn that a minority of states actually prohibit such marriages. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia allow first-cousin marriages without restrictions and six states allow them with some restrictions. Still, only an estimated one in 5,000 American marriages is between first or second cousins.
The term for intermarriage is consanguinity and it’s much more common in other parts of the world. In southern Saudi Arabia, for example, the rate of marriage among blood relatives is as high as 70 percent.
Cousin is such a simple word. But understanding the many types of cousins is complex. Here’s a guide that even explains double cousins, who may not marry in North Carolina where first cousins are allowed to tie the knot.
Check out this informative site to learn more about Cousin Couples.
Larry Lehmer is a personal biographer who helps people preserve their family histories. To learn more, visit his web site or e-mail him.
Flickr photo courtesy of Trip Print Press.
I agree with the difference between Genealogy and Family History - personally I would rather do the latter. Much more interesting than just collecting names and dates. I enjoy visiting the areas where my ancestors came from and even seeing the homes they lived in - oh to have a time machine to travel back to get the proper feel of how they lived!.
Posted by: Carol Burns | July 15, 2007 at 07:59 AM
Given the lack of a time machine, Carol, that makes preserving family history in a historically and personally accurate context all that more important.
Posted by: Larry Lehmer | July 15, 2007 at 08:19 AM
I was just hoping to find a great-grandmother who, I had been told as a child, was a snob.
What I found has amazed me! Genealogy and so much more. Some of the stories are right out of fiction. This 'snob' grandmother, if the story was right had done the family history of the previous 200 years, so I thought I'd continue the story. I found her, as the insurance men like to say, "From the womb to the tomb" but have had no luck finding the story of her birth family. Her husband's family first showed up on these shores in 1629. They were not famous, they just walked beside, and entertained so many of them.
Genealogy is so much more than dusty dates...if I just knew how to write a book...
Posted by: J L | March 04, 2008 at 07:43 AM
Good for you, J.L. And good for your grandmother, too. You're right about family history being more than dusty dates. Keep pushing on your book. If you can't do it yourself, check out the web site of the Association of Personal Historians. There's a good chance there's a member fairly close to you. Good luck!
Posted by: Larry Lehmer | March 10, 2008 at 06:47 PM