December 1, 2023

Genealogy makes me wish I had a time machine. It would be nice to go back in time and ask my great grandparents why they decided to come to America and exactly when they arrived. Those are two questions I haven’t been able to answer despite years of research.

 

I’d also like to know who Elwood Usinger’s parents were. Elwood was my husband’s second great grandfather. He didn’t die until 1918. They kept good records in New Jersey by that time, but it doesn’t matter. Absent a time machine, I’ll probably never find out the names of his parents.

 

There are lots of genealogy questions like these I’d like to ask my ancestors if I could somehow visit with them. However, the real reason I’d like a time machine is to go back in time and change a few things.

 

Lately I’ve been trying to identify the descendants of Jonathan and Betty Hadlock, my fourth great grandparents. Jonathan and Betty had at least eleven children, born between 1769 and 1793 in New Hampshire. Most of them lived to marry and produce their own large families.

 

Tracing all these children and grandchildren has been a huge job. The job hasn’t been made any easier by the Hadlock children’s propensity for marrying their first cousins. Not only that, but the grandchildren continued the tradition and married their own first cousins. So far, I’ve traced the pattern for another generation or two. A few generations down from Jonathan and Betty, their family tree looks more like a family knot than a tree. Nearly everyone is entangled with everyone else.

 

The situation isn’t helped by the naming patterns the Hadlock’s used. Each of Jonathan and Betty’s children seems to have a child named Jonathan and one named Betty. In those earlier days when record-keeping was spotty, figuring out where the Jonathan’s and Betty’s fit is difficult.

 

Hence, my desire for a time machine. I know that Star Trek’s Prime Directive states that anyone who goes back in time cannot change anything about that earlier time. I don’t care. It would be so satisfying to line up the Hadlock’s and give them a stern talk about marrying their cousins.

 

I know that New Hampshire and Vermont were sparsely populated. I know that the terrain was wooded and mountainous. That meant travelling to find a bride or a groom was difficult. But was it necessary for four children in one family to marry four children from their uncle’s family? Surely, there were some other young people within a reasonable distance who weren’t so closely related.

 

As far as I can determine these cousin marriages seemed to work out. I haven’t found any evidence of birth defects or other problems. It’s just that I would like my family tree to have a few less kinks in it. I’d certainly fix it if I had a time machine. Probably just as well I don’t.

 

Carol Stetser

Researcher