I'm my own sixth cousin. Yes, it's true. I have to come clean and admit it. And, I guess while I am fessing up......the ancestors who caused this relationship ..... me to myself, that is.......came from West Virginia. As today is West Virginia Day, I thought I would share my WV roots.

Now, most of us know that cousins are children of siblings. Second cousins would then be the offspring of the 1st set of cousins. And third cousins the offspring of second cousins, etc. So, in order to be my OWN cousin, somewhere up the line cousins (of some degree) would have had to have gotten married.

Yes, my great great grandfather, Ebenezer Martin married his second cousin. Now, it was a long time ago and there weren't too many people in West Virginia and Ohio in 1832 when they were married....well, heck, Minerva Zane was actually Ebenezer's 2nd wife....he married his 1st wife in 1811 and she was his 1st cousin (and Minerva's aunt), once removed....a sorta cousin and a half, LOL. I know, I know, the removed muddies the water a bit, what the heck is removed. The "removed" just means how many generations removed from the cousinship. So, if Joe and Pete are second cousins, Joe's children are second cousins once removed to Pete. Got it?

Come to think of it, Ebenezer Martin's mother was a Zane....oh, grief...I think I am my own grandpa, or something.

It was a long time ago and hopefully the gene pool has been diluted by Ebenezer's children marrying people from Wales and England and Germany....I think I'm ok, really. Honestly, I am.

I have been collecting family history information for years and the Zane/Martin connection is the most interesting as it is part of the history of West Virginia and Ohio. To keep all my information for posterity I have started a website and while it is under construction and I don't want to share it all yet, I can offer up a link to my page on the family of Zanes where two of the brothers (Ebenezer & Jonathan)were my direct ancestors. I am proud to be descended from these West Virginian's as well as old Ebenezer Martin across the river in Martins Ferry Ohio, whose mother was Ebenezer Zane's eldest daughter. I'm sure you have it all straight now. Good.

There are lots of internet links in the web page to take you to source documents and/or articles if you are so inclined.
Martin Family History - the Zanes

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