I had been very busy with my practice and I had not heard from my friend Nancy Holmes Dodge for a while. When the boy brought a telegram from her, I opened it immediately to see what investigation she was pursuing. Many a pleasant adventure with her had started with a telegram inviting me to join her in the pursuit of the nefarious individuals who confuse history for us. Nancy said she was on the trail of Barbara Smith, who had eluded the lawful element for years. I immediately called Carruthers to see if he could help with my patient load for the rest of the day, and then I rushed over to Baker Street. Nancy was in high spirits and full of glee, where she was investigating the possibility that Barbara Smith was a daughter of Adam Koch (Cook) and Barbara Fleshman, who then married a son of Matthew Smith, Jr., and his wife Mary.
I agreed, "We seem to have a Barbara in that family about whom we have little information. Who would her husband be? There were three sons of Matthias Smith: Michael; Matthias, Jr.; and Samuel. Also we have an unidentified Peter Smith. Which one are you thinking about?"
"I will have to find some more confirmations but I think it was Matthias III. I am going through the church records and the civil records and looking for evidence."
"Surely, though, the trail is cold by now. What kind of evidence are you looking for?"
"Associations. Who the people were that she associated with. These are most often relatives by birth or marriage."
"But Nancy, how can you be so sure? People are always associating with someone. She can't be a relative of all of these people."
"My dear John, I have explained to you before about my methods. People usually chose to be with someone with whom they have been associated for most of their life. Then, if some of these people marry others, the courtesy is extended to them also."
"But Nancy, some of these people, like the Carpenters, Willheits, and the Blankenbakers, have so many relatives that anyone they associate with is a relative."
"Pshaw. You just have to classify the degree of the relationship. You are more apt to cozy up to a first cousin than a second cousin."
"You haven't convinced me yet that Barbara was a Cook, who married a Smith. Maybe she is one those women who choose never to marry."
"It is always a possibility. We have to look at all of the evidence we can, and make a judgement."
"Tell me how it goes. I must rescue Carruthers who is doing double work."
(04 Apr 02)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.