Are we cousins? Or am I a cousin to your husband? I recently worked with an obituary that identified O. P. Stufflebeam, Morgan Stufflebeam, Miller Stufflebeam and Mrs. Margaret Burberick as cousins of the children of Harriet Foster Fleming. When I read those names, I immediately thought of you and your Empty Branches on the Family Tree blog and wondered if there is a connection.

Thanks to the FamilySearch tree, I found that these are the children of John Stufflebeam and Harriet Ostrander. It is the OSTRANDER line that connects Harriet Foster Fleming to the Stufflebeam children. Harriet’s mother, Caroline Ostrander, was a sister of Harriet Ostrander. Their father, Dr. Edward Ostrander, would be the common ancestor between myself and these Stufflebeam lines.

I was aware that we share New Brunswick lines. However, when I browsed the various topics you have written about, I found several other possible connections.

• Adams — My ADAMS research is part of my Garrard County, Kentucky CRAWFORD Fan Club research. While browsing her ADAMS posts did not reveal a connection, the presence of her ADAMS research in Overton County, Tennessee was intriguing. One of my close CRAWFORD yDNA matches is an Overton County, Tennessee brick wall.
• Kennedy – My Kennedy line is a New England line while her post is about Thomas Kennedy who died in Bourbon county, Kentucky. While this is a different Thomas Kennedy in early Kentucky, my CRAWFORD research connects to the KENNEDY family that owned land along Paint Lick Creek in Garrard County.
• Thompson – It will take much reading of her Thompson’s posts and research, but it is possible that my Thompson line connects to her research. The earliest information I have on my Thompson line is the birth of John Thompson in 1797 in Kentucky. I then have a John Thompson being apprenticed in 1810 in Ohio County, Kentucky.
• White — We both have the New England WHITE surname in our trees. However, when I found her Rev. John White on Family Search and looked at our relationship, our relationship is thru the WISE line and not the WHITE line.

• Wells – Like our common WHITE surnames, her blog contains information on a Thomas Wells. My WELLS line goes back thru three generations of men named Thomas Wells. Unfortunately, none of my ancestors are the same Thomas Wells. When I looked at my relationship to her Thomas Wells who married Abigail Warner, I did not find a relationship thru my WELLS line. Instead, the FamilySearch tree shows Thomas Wells and Abigail Warner as my ancestors going back thru Richmond Fisk Hammond’s (my second great grandfather) FISK line thru Jonathan FISK.

While we may not be closely related, I am thankful that Linda has so generously shared her research! Check out her Empty Branches of the Family Tree to see if your research connects with hers!