A family of pilgrims? Sort of

     The connection is distant. Very distant. But it exists nonetheless. Today my Uncle Jerry sent me a photo of a stained glass window my 2nd great aunt bought and donated to St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Glynwood, Ohio where her family attended. Her name was Catherine Higgins and her name appears at the base of the window. Eventually Catherine married a man by the name of Frank James Carey. 

     Upon receiving this information I decided to do some quick research on Ancestry and discovered Catherine's husband, Frank, was a sixth great grandson of a man named John Carey/Cary, who was born around 1612 in Somersetshire, England. He came to America in 1651 and is widely known in many genealogy and historical circles as John "The Pilgrim" Cary. Here's a short youtube video about Mr. Cary. 

     Well, as it turns out, my wife's 9th great grandfather is also John "The Pilgrim" Cary. While she's a direct decedent, my biological family married into the Cary line. Regardless of how, I suppose this very distant connection makes up kissin' cousins, multiple times removed. Which at this moment is no real consolation to my wife who honestly feels a bit weirded out. 

     I tried to do the math to figure out exactly what our connection is and how far removed we are as cousins but the math hurt my head. Uncle Jerry, please help!

Uncle Jerry did the math: Frank Carey, the wife of my 2nd great aunt, Catherine Higgins, is my 6th cousin 3 times removed. Frank's 6th great grandfather was John "The Pilgrim" Carey/Cary.