It runs in the family

1:25 a.m., 1 liter bottle of diet Mtn Dew in hand, 7 windows open on the screen, 2 word documents, completely absorbed in my research...

I'm *ahem* slightly obsessed with my genealogy right now.

It is fascinating to think about how these three names I have written down were men who KNEW each other, worked with each other, and probably didn't even suspect that over a hundred years later they would share a granddaughter: me.

I want to learn about each of the names on this list. I want to know the little things. Tonight I found out my Great Great Great Great Great Great Grandmother (Brigham Young [of BYU]'s mother Abigail "Nabby" Howe Young) had "blue eyes and a yellow-brown hair which had natural waves and ringlets. She had a gentle and lovable disposition with a doll-like face." How fantastic is that?!

I love when a name becomes no longer just letters on a page, but a person with a disposition and eye color and a story.

My Great Great Great Great Great Grandfather James Little was a short man "with great powers of endurance. He was never known to complain of being weary." And "it is also said he was well read and an intelligent man who possessed quite a collection of books." He was a vegetable farmer who was the first man in New York to sell seeds in packages. Also, tomatoes were considered poisonous at that time (early 1800s) and, having a permit from the Governor to sell tomatoes, he introduced them for table use.
Fascinating.
He was only 32 when he was killed. They believe he was on his way home in the dark of night when a wheel of his wagon slid into a pit on the side of the road, flipping the loaded wagon onto him, pinning him underneath.

(side note:  James Little's son [Edwin] married a woman named Harriet, my Great x4 Grandmother. After he [Edwin] died she married a man named Ephraim...my Great x3 Grandfather on a different line.

So my Great Grandma is also my Step-Great Grandma... I just learned that tonight.)

(Harriet's mother married James Little's uncle late in life... making Harriet her own niece by marriage?)

(I just found a picture of James Little's son Feramorz [Edwin's brother] with Ephraim [Edwin's wife's second husband.] Interesting...)



I love that I live where a lot of my ancestors lived. There is talk of them buying acreage in the Provo Valley, near the Provo River. I am three minutes away from the Provo River.




But it makes me curious how I will be known in the future.

Great Great Grand Aunt Susannah was taller than average, with ash brown hair and hazel eyes (though she denied the green tint until well into her 20s.) She was a lazy little git with a wide cheeky grin, who was often heard giggling.

Bwahahaha!