I haven’t participated Saturday Night Genealogy Fun lately but I came across this one and it seemed interesting so here is a tally of my 1st cousins, 2nd cousins and several degrees of removed cousins. I am several weeks late but you can find the original challenge at the link above. 

1) Take both sets of your grandparents and figure out how many first cousins you have, and how many first cousins removed (a child or grandchild of a first cousin) you have.

My Paternal Side

My father had 6 siblings.

His three brothers had no children.
His oldest sister had one son.
His second sister had four children.
His youngest sister had two daughters. 
I have seven first cousins on this side.

• Warren has two daughters. They have a total of seven children.
• Jan has three daughters and one son. They have a total of five children.
• Ernest has two children. No grandchildren.
• Anna has four children and three grandchildren.
• Maria has two children. No grandchildren.
• Dale has one child. Unknown number of grandchildren.

I have 14 first cousins once removed on this side and 15 cousins twice removed here.

My Maternal Side

My mother had three siblings. Both of her brothers died as children. Her sister had 3 daughters.

• Dee Dee has three children. They have eight children.
• Barbara has two children. They have five children.
• Marilyn has one son, who has two children.

I have three first cousins on this side, six cousins once removed and 15 cousins twice removed. 

This makes a grand total for me of  ten first cousins, 22 first cousins once removed and 24 cousins twice removed.

2) Extra Credit: Take all four sets of your great-grandparents and figure out how many second cousins you have, and how many second cousins once removed you have.

Second Cousins are the children of your parent’s 1st cousin and the grandchildren of your grandparent’s siblings (your granduncles/grandaunts).

Howard and Jennie (Allen) Turner – Maternal great grandparents

My maternal grandmother had two sisters. Neither of them married or had children. 

William and Mary (Jackson) Graham – Paternal Great grandparents.

My maternal grandfather, Mershell Graham, had four siblings.
Crawford and William disappeared from the records after 1880.
Jacob and Abraham died childless.
Annie had 4 children.  My mother had four first cousins.  That gives me four first cousins once removed.  Between them they had 20 children, giving me 20 second cousins.

Buford Averitt and Anna Ray Reed

My paternal grandmother Pearl Reed Cleage had 7 siblings.

• Josephine had two children. Unfortunately the family lost contact with those children after 1900.
• Sarah had nine children. Between them, they had 14 children.
• Louise had two children.  Between them they had six children.
• Hugh had four children. Between them they had 13 children.
• Minnie had 12 children. Between them they had 30 children.

My father had 29 first cousins on his mother’s side. He had 63 first cousins once removed on his mother’s side.  Josie’s Branch disappeared.  That gives me 63 known second cousins on this side.

Louis and Celia (Rice) Cleage

My paternal grandfather Albert B. Cleage had four siblings.
Henry had four children. They had a combined total of three children.
Edward had six children. They had a combined total of seven children.
Josie had five children.  They had a combined total of 22 children.

My father had 15 first cousins on his father’s side.  He had 29 first cousins once removed. That gives me 29 second cousins on this side.

So, on my father’s side I have 43 first cousins once removed and 93 second cousins.  On my mother’s side I have 4 first cousins once removed and 20 second cousins making a combined total of 47 first cousins once removed and 113 second cousins.

How Many Second Cousins Once Removed?

Then I realized that all of my parents second cousins were my second cousins once removed. So, I have been updating and looking at my ancestry tree. I think I’m about ready to take a count.