The challenge for Week 2 is a “favorite photo.” I have no clue how to pick a favorite photo. So, I asked others and I ended up with this 5-generation photo.
Shown in the photo are Judge Sharpless Klinefelter, his daughter Blanche Klinefelter Thomson, her son Alexander Thomson, his son James V. Thomson, and his children. Judge lived to be 100 years of age and this was taken during the last year of his life. The thing that makes it interesting is that within a two month span Judge, Blanche, and Alexander all died. And, in another 4 years, only the young children were living. So many generations were condensed into one so very quickly.
Clusters
Clusters of deaths seem to happen in families. The cause is unclear. In this case, Blanche went first. Then her father. A few days after her father, her son died. It might be stress, random happenings, or something more mysterious. However, it seems to happen from time to time in families.
The same thing happened in my family in 2005-2006. In January 2005, my dad’s youngest sister Kay passed. In September, his oldest sister O’Ella died. Then in October, my mother passed away. She wasn’t a blood relative, but had been married into the family for over 45 years. And, in early 2006, her youngest sister Ruby died. Thus, over a span of one year, 4 members of my family died.
Common Dates
Also common in families is having patterns in birth/death/marriage records. It is not at all uncommon for me to find a family that has multiple of the same month/day events as my family does. It is also common for the same day to show up in a family in different months. In my own family my mother and I were born in different months, but on the same day of the month. Likewise, my dad, my sister, and one of my sons were born on the same day of the month. Ok, maybe this is a random occurrence.
But, see if the dates in the following family that I was researching today (descendants of Louisiana Matteer) could possibly be random. The man and wife had 8 children. So, we have 10 birth dates, 9 of which I know. We have 6 death dates as the parents and 4 of the children are not living. So, let’s analyze the days of the month that these 15 specific dates fall on.
- The mother was born on the 27th of the month, as were two of her children. Additionally, one child died on the 27th.
- The mother and father died on the 16th of the month. One child was born on the 16th.
- Two children were born on the 13th of a month and died on the 14th of the month in different years.
Thus, out of 16 known dates, 11 (68.75%) of them are covered by the patterns listed above. It is hard to see this as a coincidence.
I have to believe there is something in the rhythm of the Universe at play!