It has taken me a couple of months to work my way through the History and Genealogy of the American Descendants of John and Ann Chamness of London, England. I have painstakingly transferred all 126 typewritten pages of Chamness distant cousins into my family tree.

While this might seem like cheating or circumventing the research process, I should point out that the book was published in 1922. This means it’s up to me to bring the tree into the 21st century and that will require a lot of research. All of my distant cousins who were children when the book was published are most likely dead by now. So, I am on my own when it comes to identifying their potential great great grandchildren, my 7th cousins.

I should also point out that my ancestor, Lydia Chamness, who was the 11th child of Anthony and Sarah (Cole) Chamness, is all but missing. She is listed as one of their children and that’s about it. Most of the Chamness descendants migrated from North Carolina to Indiana. They are well-documented thanks in large part to the Quakers who kept very good records. Lydia and her husband, however, did not go to Indiana and the author clearly did not know where to find their descendants. If you’re wondering how I know these folks are related to me, I have a plethora of Chamness DNA cousins on Ancestry.com who are descendants of the folks who stayed in North Carolina and of those who journeyed west into Indiana. You gotta love modern science.

I decided that while I could do the research on my own, it would have been wrong of me not to use the book. For it was clearly a labor of love and the author, Zimri Hanson, wanted people to have this information.

Zimri’s name appears on page 71. He married into the Chamness family in 1875 when he exchanged vows with Isabel Chamness, my 3rd cousin, 4x removed. He described himself as a farmer and a school teacher. He does not mention the book. I know this was a labor of love because Isabel died in 1916, six years before it was published. He does not mention her passing either. He must have continued researching her family after she died because he identified descendants who were born as late as 1920. The book is not just a list of names and dates. Zimri included stories and anecdotes about as many of my cousins as possible so they would seem like real people.

I cannot fathom how he pulled this off. He had no computer, no Internet and no way to easily call up folks on a telephone. And, no Family Tree Maker, either, to keep everyone squared away. Quite simply, I am in awe of what he was able to accomplish almost a hundred years ago.

If he wrote about his Hanson ancestors, I haven’t come across it yet. I suspect that I won’t find it because Zimri probably devoted all of his time and energy to Isabel. 126 pages of in-laws doesn’t happen by accident.

Kenfolk: Utlauts
Relation: Husband of 3rd cousin, 4x removed
Common ancestors: None that I know of (yet)

Reference:
Henson, Z. (ed.) (1922). History and Genealogy of the American Descendants of John and Ann Chamness of London, England. n. p., p. 71.