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Lots of Cousins

August 8, 2025

I’ve always known there were lots of cousins on my Fernelius side of the family. As it turns out, I don’t have a huge number of first cousins on this side – only seven.

 

However, when I researched an earlier generation the number of cousins exploded. My dad was one of sixty-seven first cousins. They were all the grandchildren of Charles and Mary Fernelius, my great grandparents. Charles and Mary had eleven children, and all of them had children of their own.

 

In addition to these first cousins, my dad also had another set of close Fernelius cousins. These were the children of my grandfather’s double cousins. My great grandfather and his older brother married sisters.

 

The two families lived next to each other, and the children of the two couples grew up as if they were all siblings. These double cousins produced an astounding sixty-nine children who my father was also close to (they were double second cousins).

 

Although I wasn’t as close to these more distant cousins as I was to my first cousins, my dad kept in loose contact with many of them. I grew up knowing or at least acquainted with most of them. As an adult I lost contact with nearly all of them.

 

Genealogy has brought me back to all these cousins. They feature in dozens of trees all over the internet. Many of their names show up as the owners of the various trees or as people who submitted documents and other information to them.

 

My DNA matches are peppered with the same names. Almost every time I get a new DNA match, I can trace it back to one branch or another of the Fernelius family.

 

This week I decided to update my own tree to help keep track of some of the more recent generations of the family. It’s been interesting to learn about these more distant but still close distant cousins. It’s been even more interesting to find out how many Fernelius cousins there really are.

 

My dad’s generation had over a hundred members. I haven’t had the energy to track down all my own generation yet, but I know there are lots of them. I’m sure I’ll be seeing more of them as I continue my genealogy journey.

 

Carol Stetser

Researcher

Larimer County Genealogical Society

 

 

 

Ancestral Occupations

August 1, 2025

I’ve never paid much attention to the occupations of my ancestors. Like many family historians, I’ve assumed that most of them were farmers. I’ve recently realized that this means I know less about my ancestors than I might. Knowing someone’s occupation can help us understand why an ancestor lived where he did, why he married who he did and even why he died when he did.

 

In earlier eras, it’s true that most people were farmers – at least at a subsistence level – but many people also had other occupations. As people began to move to towns and cities, they were more apt to hold jobs.

 

There are lots of sources to help us find an ancestor’s occupation. Some of the easiest sources to access are the U.S. Censuses. The censuses from 1850 forward are the most informative since they list every person. This is important since not only men worked outside the home. Many women and even children held jobs, and this will be noted in the censuses.

 

Apprentice records can also be helpful in determining what jobs an ancestor had. Remember that training for a job did not mean that someone eventually did that job. Not everyone finished an apprenticeship. Some finished the training but decided to do something else. In the United States, this often meant moving west where opportunities were thought to be better.

 

Military records such as World War I Draft Registration cards include information about someone’s employment. Military pension records sometimes listed a person’s employment after they left the service.

 

Vital records such as birth records, marriage and death records sometimes list occupations. Other death records such as obituaries and wills and probate records are also good places to find out about the jobs an ancestor held. Wills and probates may not specifically list an occupation, but the lists of possessions may give strong hints as to the person’s job. For example, one of my ancestors left a large selection of shears and scissors, needles, various types of thread and material, several measuring tapes and a seam gauge. These tools pointed to the fact that he had been a tailor.

 

Some of the jobs an ancestor held may puzzle you. I once found a female relative who was listed in a census record as a “black borderer.” This made no sense to me, but I googled the term and learned that in Victorian times notices of deaths were mailed to friends and relatives. To prepare the recipients for the grim news, the edges of the envelope or postcard were inked in black. Young women, including my relative, did this piecework to help support themselves.

 

If googling doesn’t give you a satisfactory answer, you can try looking on the Family Search Wiki (https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Main_Page ). Search for the place and time you are interested in and then search for occupations.

 

If you’ve always believed that your ancestors were “just farmers,” you may be surprised at the variety of jobs an ancestor worked. Many of our ancestors were probably farmers, but some of them held other jobs as well. Checking out these occupations can give you new insights into an ancestor’s life.

 

Carol Stetser

Researcher

Larimer County Genealogical Society

 

 

 

 

Ancestral Divorces May not Have Been so Rare After All

July 25, 2025

Last week I wrote about finding divorce records. I mentioned that these records are searched for less often than other kinds of vital records. That’s because many of us don’t realize that divorce was an option for our ancestors.

 

Many genealogical resources state that divorces were very rare in America’s past. This tends to make many researchers jump to the conclusion that none of their ancestors ever divorced.

 

It is true that in earlier eras of American history, divorces were seldom granted. Up until about 1850, most divorces were granted by state legislatures and required special legislation. Few who petitioned obtained one.

 

However, by 1850, newer states and territories in the west often had more permissive divorce statutes and shorter residency requirements. Some of these states became “divorce mills” which attracted people from areas with stricter laws. The first of the so-called divorce mill states was Indiana. Iowa and Illinois soon joined Indiana in passing laws that made divorce easier and quicker.

 

Territories such as Utah and the Dakotas also had short residency requirements. In the 1850s Utah was an attractive destination for those who wanted to divorce since it allowed anyone who declared that he wanted to be a citizen of the territory to become one immediately. This meant that one-day divorces were possible. In addition, a Utah Territory Statute contained an omnibus clause which allowed a judge to grant a divorce to anyone whom he felt could not live in peace and harmony together.

 

Later, other western states such as Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming became known as divorce meccas since they had short residency requirements. By the 1930s, these states had recognized that migratory divorce provided economic benefits to them and actively advertised for divorce-seekers.

 

All of this means that divorces were available in some parts of the United States beginning in the mid-nineteenth century. If your ancestors lived in the western parts of the country, it is likely that some of them obtained divorces. For example, in my own family, I have found that one set of great grandparents and at least half a dozen collateral couples obtained divorces in the later part of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. All of them lived in Utah where divorce was relatively common and easy to obtain.

 

Even if your ancestors lived in some of the more restrictive parts of the country – most of the eastern states – it’s possible that they traveled to one of the divorce mecca states or territories to obtain a divorce.

 

If you find evidence of an ancestral couple living apart, it’s worth considering whether they may have been divorced. It turns out that for some areas during some periods, divorce was an option.

 

Carol Stetser

Researcher

Larimer County Genealogical Society