Anna (Hannah?) Annie Edmonds

There was a show in the 1970s called the Brady Bunch.
One of the things I'd never wondered was "What if Greg Brady married Marsha?" That is ... until now.

"A lovely lady"

Anna Edmonds came from Bristol, in southwestern England. William was from Wales, which is just north across the Bristol Channel. Both were big coal mining areas, so it's likely that William had gone to Bristol to work.

The two married in 1882, and moved to the United States after their daughter was born. There, they had two sons -- William and Edward -- along with five other children.

Sadly, William (the elder) was gone by the time of the 1900 census, leaving Anna to take care of eight children – with the youngest only a year and a half old.

"A man named … Flook"

Joseph Flook and his wife Roseanna Rogers were also from Wales. They married in 1878 in Llanfihangel, which today is a mere hour's drive from Bristol. Their daughter was born in 1880 in Talywain, and they moved to the U.S. in 1883.

After their arrival, they had more two daughters -- Gertrude and Thursa -- and then three boys.

Sadly, Roseanna passed away in 1898 from complications following the birth of their youngest, and Joseph was left with six children – the youngest a mere two months old.

“When the lady met this fellow…”

Joseph and Anna probably already knew each other. They’d lived in the same coal mining community for several years and were actually on the *same census page.* Their houses were probably right down the street from each other.
Sometime between the census in June 1900 and June 1901, Joseph and Anna joined their two families together. With 7 children from Anna’s first marriage and 5 from Joseph’s (the oldest of each having moved out) it would certainly have been crowded.

And then in true “yours, mine, and ours” fashion, they added three more.

But wait, there’s more

At this point, you might think that 17 children – grown or not – makes a crazy enough story. But in 1901, Anna’s son William turned 16. Joseph’s daughter Thursa was six months younger.

Now, there are many details in this situation that have not made it into traceable records, but one thing is clear – Anna’s son William married Joseph’s daughter Thursa in 1903. That made William simultaneously Joseph’s step-son and son-in-law. (This just about broke the family tree.)
And through my great-grandfather Edward, Thursa became my great-great-grandmother Anna’s both step-daughter and daughter-in law.

Mr. Flook’s expression in this picture summed up my reaction nicely.