Two Cousins Murdered

When stories come to us without any research effort on our part, I believe they should be shared in writing. Last week I was surprised with a story that was found during research by my second cousin, Kate Keller.

This story features Elgin Hobert Strait. The report below shows that Elgin Hobert Strait was my 2nd cousin 3 generations removed. His father Peter Addison Strait was a first cousin of my great, great grandfather James S. Strait.

This is the heart of the story Kate sent to me that was published in the Mason City, Iowa Globe-Gazette in March, 1977:

A few days ago I was looking through issues of newspapers at newspapers.com and literally stumbled upon this article when I noticed the “Flanders” name. My mother’s maiden name was Flanders and I’m related to most of the Flanders people in the United States.

This chart shows that Charles was my 6th cousin 2 generations back.

While these stories are heartbreaking, they’re evidence that often the most interesting discoveries are made when we least expect them and truly are not even looking for them. Family history research never gets boring!