We all have family members who married 1st and 2nd cousins and probably even siblings. My family tree is full of such twigs.
For instance, my 5th great grandfather, Richard BYRD, married two sisters. Not at the same time, however. He married Susannah O'DYER sometime prior to 1742. She died when she was about 28, I'm not sure if they had children. He married Susannah's sister Mary roughly 10 years later. I'm told Mary gave birth to Edward (my 4th ggf), but I do not have solid proof yet. Or as solid as it gets in the 18th century.
The O'DYER sisters were the children of Dennis O'DYER and wife Ann. Or so I'm told.
Then there's the HASWELL girls. Who married the PLEASANTS brothers. Sarah HASWELL married William Robert PLEASANTS in 1912. Their siblings, Maude HASWELL and Jessie PLEASANTS married 7 years later. That makes for a variety of relationships. For instance, not only are Maude and Sarah sisters, but now they are sisters-in-laws. These folks are my first cousins 2 times removed.
I have a slew of relations who married cousins, which was pretty common back in the day when travel was difficult and folks married the gal or guy down the road. They tended to keep it all in the family.
When I was about 10 years old, my father and I sat at the kitchen table and drew a family chart with a chewed and nubby old #2 pencil and a sheet of notebook paper. I still have that paper, yellowed and creased. It was the start of a life long hobby and one of the greatest gifts my father gave me. I study the Allen family of Wake County, NC, the Davis family of Granville County, NC, the Stancil and Johnson families of Johnston County, NC and all their collateral lines.
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