Consanguinity - The Cousin Factor
Our hypothesis is that there is a high degree of consanguinity amongst Cape Cod residents in the 1800s. Consanguinity refers to two people having a common ancestor. The more recent the ancestor, the higher degree of consanguinity. Check out our spreadsheet (download - a PDF updated 11 Apr 2015) showing people in the 1880 census for the Town of Dennis, (Cape Cod) Massachusetts.
Even more interesting than the actual list of 3,292 people living in Dennis is how many cousins they have living in town at the same time. This second spreadsheet download shows the Related Count of each person in town. So for example, my great-grandfather Elkanah Howes Sears is a cousin to 1,367 people (over 40% of those in town are his cousins!) The "most related" person at our current analyis is Mercy Baker - a baby when the census taker stopped by- daughter of Wilbur Cornelius Baker(1856-1898) and Mercy Ella Baker(1857-?) [yes her Dad was also a Baker] who is related to 2,355 townfolks - 71% - Has she got a few cousins or what?
Visit Dennis History
Captain Baker's House & Barn Museum | Link
1736 Josiah Dennis Manse Museum | Link
Dennis Maritime Museum | Link
Dennis Digital Archive | Link
Copyright © 2012 L. Ray Sears, III. All Rights Reserved