Yesterday, my sister Brenda asked me if we were related to Ruth Carnahan. Ruth had been a close friend of our Grandma DeMoss, and it had been hinted at that Ruth and Grandma were cousins.

The answer, dear sister, is YES, we are related to Ruth, but not through Grandma. Let me try to explain.

Joseph Reeve is one of our 4th-great grandfathers.  He was married twice.  The first time to Sarah Ireland.  One of their many children was Louisa Reeve who married Isaac DeMoss.  They are our 3rd-great grandparents coming down the DeMoss line.

When Sarah died, Joseph remarried.  His second wife was Elizabeth Baker Carmichael.  They only had a daughter, Mary Florence Reeve.  Mary married Alexander Boyer and they had two children, Rex and Ruby.  Ruby married Melville Mix and they had three children, one of which was Ruth.  Ruth then married Bob Carnahan.

So, we are related to Ruth Mix Carnahan through our grandfather and she is our half 2nd cousin 3 times removed.

Now, I can almost guess what the next question will be.  Are we related to Kathy’s boss Dirk?  Technically, I guess you could say we are, the generic answer being “very distantly by marriage”.  We cannot, however, call him a cousin.  The definition of cousin states that the two people have to have an ancestor in common which we don’t.  Specifically, according to my Family Maker software Dirk is the grand nephew of the husband of our half 2nd cousin 3 times removed.  

So, that clears up that myth.  If you have others, please pass them along and I’ll try to verify them for you.