ON THE MARKS

Scott’s parents will be married for 50 years this July.  What a feat!  They fell in love during the 1960s.  Each came from separate parts of the country to attend a small liberal arts college in Iowa called Coe.

They had never met, nor heard each other’s names.  Neither knew what to expect from this small college in the heart of the Midwest.

• Scott’s dad was born and raised in Texas.  His dad, in turn, was an Iowa transplant who had been orphaned at a young age.  His mom was from Illinois.  Scott’s dad grew up and went to high school in Corpus Christi, making only occasional trips back to Illinois to visit his mom’s family. 
• Scott’s mom was born and raised in New Jersey.  She lived in Morristown for her entire life.  Her family was about as New Jersey as they come.  Her family history dates back to the founding of Piscataway and eventual migration to Hunterdon, Somerset and Warren Counties.

These two individuals came from vastly different parts of the country.  And that is why I never really expected what I found when investigating Scott’s ancestors.

Scott’s parents were not the first family members to wed!  In fact, each of their 3G grandparents had siblings who wed each other.  Here is what I found:

What are the chances?  I found the common link in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.  There, I fleetingly ran across the name Dusenberry in census records.  The first time I saw the name, I had to reorient myself.  Wasn’t I researching the Hope family?  Not the Dusenberry’s!  I thought there was no way that the Hunterdon County Dusenberry’s had any connection to the Ohio, later Illinois Dusenberrys.  But I was wrong.  And I was blown away when I was able to connect Scott’s parents trees.

Just another exciting discovery that makes this genealogy quest so much fun!