Cambria County, Part 8 of 8: Conclusion

While I was researching my family hisotry, I thought it was weird the way James Birchall Jr kept popping up. He was my great-grandaunt Elizabeth (Smith) Mansell’s step-brother-in-law. Plus, his brother Thomas was a brother-in-law to my great-grandmother Mary Elizabeth Jodon. Who was this guy, and how did he end up related to me in so many ways?

It should have been obvious. They all went to church together.

His sister Sarah Ann Birchall married James Fullard Dukes (Sarah Ann Mansell’s oldest son) at the Saint Thomas Episcopal Church in 1896. In 1909, James Birchall married James Fullard Dukes’ sister, Mary Ann. In the summer of 1899, James Birchall had confirmation class with his future sister-in-law Sarah Ellen Jodon, when they were 14. Another future sister-in-law, 18 year-old Faith Dukes, was also in that class. In 1901, Henry Mansell Sr was confirmed at the age of 52. He was classmates with James' younger sister Martha, who was 13. June of 1900 saw several children baptized, including Arthur Dukes' daughter Faith (named after her aunt), James Fullard Dukes' daughter Ann, and Minnie Ethel Smith. In 1916, Minnie's niece Sara Smith was born -- my grandmother. Given all these relationships, it should not have come as a surprise to learn that through James Birchall, my grandfather had a family connection to my grandmother. Thomas Edward Jones was his wife’s uncle’s step-sister’s husband’s nephew.

To the extent that seems strange, it’s really a criticism of how uninvolved we are today in forming communities with the people around us. Interconnectedness is what happens when people form communities, and remember, at 3,000 people Barnesboro was defnitely a small community.

I have learned a few things.

Philip James Birchall's life and family history taught me that when people form communities, the webs of interconnectedness last for generations. Jennie Kinkead Edmiston's life showed me that those webs catch and hold people in distress. And in Edward Kinkead's life I saw that even after leaving to see the world, the place you grew up will always be special.