Shakin' the Family Tree

Some Calloway cousins I never even knew I had came knocking...

A brother and two of his sisters, as well as one of his first cousins.

They are descendants of William Arnett Calloway and Fannie N Mahar/Maher. They use the variant spelling of the surname with an O instead of an A. William Arnett's surname on his gravestone is spelled C A L L A W A Y, so I expect either his son changed the spelling or the gravestone carver made an error.

I've spent some of the weekend talking on the phone, texting and emailing with all of them, who suspected when they found my online family tree that we must be related.

We are fourth cousins, 1X removed - or so says the relationship calculator in my genealogy database. Our common ancestors are John S T Callaway and Amy Stamps.

I've told them the story of the inauspicious beginnings of our eldest ancestor on this soil, Peter Callaway, and how a bastard child gave rise to the colonial dynasty that is now known by the Callaway Family Association as the Peter line.

There are already some twists, turns and a couple of brick walls in their extended families.

Let's start with Fannie N Mahar/Maher. I cannot for the life of me find her parents. I'm beginning to think she hatched.

But I expect it's more likely that her surname has been badly misspelled.

I'm delighted to be able to add C A L L O W A Y to my tags list.