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An OKGenWeb Project

Hook 'em Young
by Sharon McAllister

Start with an aging pioneer, a man with an incredible memory for detail.
One who moved his family to Oklahoma Territory in 1889 after his father
made the Run, and who then made the Run of '91 himself. One who had a
long and varied life, with many stories to tell of family and local history
-- O. M. COLE. Give him a great grandchild, a little girl with an insatiable curiosity 
-- Sharon McAllister.

Then let fate play its hand. There would be no more great grandchildren for some years, but the little girl became an almost daily visitor and they entertained each other for hours while the generations in between did those things that they considered important.

He told stories. She asked questions. The schoolteacher he'd been in his youth resurfaced and he started quizzing her to see how much she remembered. When she proved to share his mind for mental challenges, he turned her incessant questions into a genealogy game.

Now decades have passed. The old man is gone and the little girl has grown up. The time has come to teach the game to a new generation. Not grandchildren or great grandchildren this time -- to a new generation in cyberspace.

Grandpa Cole's Genealogy Quizes

Beginner Level -- Pre-school.

He started by naming a blood relative whom I knew, and I'd have to tell him exactly how that person was related to me. Proper terms and naming ancestors. Not just "he's my cousin". It had to be "we're second cousins because ____ and ____ were our great grandparents" or "she's my third-cousin, once-removed because her grandmother and my great grandmother were first cousins, granddaughters of ____ and ____".
It worked fairly well. When I started the first grade I knew that a certain classmate was my half-second-cousin-once-removed -- but to my surprise he didn't even know that my greatgrandmother had been his grandfather's half-sister!

A Little Harder -- early grade school now.

He brought relatives-by-marriage into the game -- like "his uncle married my first-cousin-thrice-removed", or "her first cousin married my aunt".  There aren't even accepted terms for most of these, but in Luther these relationships count.

Harder Still -- about grades 3 & 4.

He not only branched out to include shirttail kin, but he also added a new wrinkle to the game by challenging me to name someone I WASN'T related to.
Certain restrictions applied. Had to belong to white families -- he always said he was "related to half the town, friends with the other half" -- and anyone who'd lived there less than 25 years was disallowed.
I'm not sure which of us was the sneaky one, but by carefully choosing my candidates I learned a lot of answers concerning the links he'd been quizzing me about.

Advanced -- grades 5 & 6.

He extended the game back in time to relatives he knew about, even ones who died before he was born. I was starting to study some history in school and he tied family relationships to historical events.
He'd also name two different people, and I'd have to tell him how they were related. Same rules -- but I was no longer one of the principals and they usually weren't blood relatives. Or he'd challenge me to name two people who WEREN'T related. Sounded easy at first. I confidently offered the name of a schoolmate whose family I thought I knew well -- and he informed me that my great grandmother's half-brother had married a GRAY, whose brother had married a ROGERS, whose niece had married my friend's uncle.

Next?

That was over 40 years ago, and I didn't immediately take up genealogy. But when I did, many of the relationships, times, and places he taught me proved to be valuable clues. I just wish I'd paid more attention to those REALLY distant cousins he talked about back in KY, TN & the Carolinas.....