(The message below was originally sent last night, but was returned for reasons I have not yet determined - so here it is again...-B) My friends - Greetings from the Jackson Purchase. We arrived here earlier today and I will be traveling around the area until noon Wednesday, at which time we will be returning home. I want to take a moment and give you the solution to the little "fun" puzzler that I left with you on Friday. We had 17 folks who tried their hand at it and almost everyone spotted the fact that Selina Ann Skaggs and William Hamilton Wells were first cousins once removed by virtue of their shared ancestor, Richard Skaggs. Only one individual, however, noted the two other relationships that existed: 3rd cousin, by virtue of William H. Wells descent from Wm. Skaggs, and Selina Skaggs descent from Wm's. brother, Richard Skaggs; and 3rd cousins, once removed, by way of descent from the brother and sister Elizabeth Wells Skaggs(wife of William) & Samuel Wells. Elizabeth Wells Skaggs was William H. Wells great-grandmother, and Samuel Wells was the great-great-grandfather of Selina Ann Skaggs. I did not really give *all* of the relationships in the original puzzle narrative, in that we can go even further. Isaac Wells, who married Betsey Ann Skaggs, daughter of William and Elizabeth Wells Skaggs, was the son of Lewis Wells, a son of Philip Wells and a brother of Elizabeth Wells Skaggs, wife of William Skaggs. Therefore, Isaac Wells was both the nephew and the son-in-law of Elizabeth Wells Skaggs, wife of William. But there is more: Lewis Wells married Martha Hamilton, who was a sister of Anna Hamilton, wife of Samuel Wells(father of Elizabeth Wells, wife of Richard Skaggs). Still not confused enough? Then add this to the mix: Charles Skaggs, a first cousin once removed to Richard and William Skaggs, married, in 1815, to Rebecca Hamilton, daughter of Thomas Hamilton, who was a brother of Anna and Martha(all were children of David Hamilton). And, beyond that, Elias Meshach Skaggs, a son of William and Elizabeth Wells Skaggs, married, in 1842 in Calloway County, Manerva Jane Skaggs, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Wells Skaggs. Elias and Manerva were first cousins, and their son, David Crockett Skaggs was both a grandson and a great-nephew of his grandmother by way of his descent from the two Elizabeth Wells women. There are other relationship possibilities in all of this for which space and time will not permit a longer explanation. Over 20 years were required to put all of this together, and I am not certain that I have all of it even yet. Tomorrow, we will return to "The Best of..." series, in use while I am away from home. -B ============================================================