Thursday, August 11, 2022

But Wait, There's More

When we last went down my family's genealogical rabbit tree (just go with it, man), we learned that I can count a handful of relatively famous folk as distant relatives. Just this week, I was reminded of a much closer brush with family ties.

My Mom, she of the assiduous documentation of our heritage, texted me a few days ago to say, "Found out today that one of my friends here [in Jacksonville] is related to the Nantucket Coffins. You're related to them thru Granny Russell [my Dad's mother]."

Hey, Cuz!
Coffins, you say? That's a unique surname, and it's one that happens to be the middle name of a FOGTB and fraternity brother. 

When I told my Mom the same, she said, "You're likely cousins many times removed. You go back to two of the sons of Tristram who was one of the first settlers there. One line comes through Jethro who owned what is now the "oldest" house." Don't think the 'Old' reference there didn't resonate with me.

My sister chimed in at this point to say, "We have a Jethro in the family? Damn. I would've named Max Jethro."

I reached out to the FOGTB in question, who responded by saying, "Pretty cool! The Coffin family is also mentioned in Moby Dick. I once had an argument with my high school English teacher because he said the name was symbolism and I argued it was just a common name in Nantucket at the time. Damn English teachers want to see symbolism in everything."

To which I said, "Fucking Pellicane".

And, scene.

TLDR, I'm related to one of my good friends. His side got more height than mine. Bygones. 

Genealogy is pretty neat.

18 comments:

  1. How about that? Sometimes tracing down ‘old’ relatives has interesting results.

    I just got served an ad for the eagles tour. They’re playing hotel california ‘front to back’. If they really want to tempt me, just gimme that solo
    At the end and cut all the other crap.

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  2. wow!

    and couldn't it be both? a common name AND symbolism? things are allowed to be two things at once . . . ishmael does float away on queequeg's coffin at the end of the book.

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  3. you could just watch me fake the solo at the faculty follies, during our parody of hotel California (EB cafeteria) I wish the words were in the video, but it's just me solo. . .

    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xm87XPScJiE

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  4. pretty quiet around here. you guys boning up on 18 U.S. Code § 793, too?

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  5. After 7 glorious days at the Martha Wood Cottage, I returned home Thursday… and got in the car yesterday AM to drive the 5-6 hours with my elder daughter to South Carolina. Nice evening with both girls.

    In a hurry to get back today, so flying back this AM. Like clockwork, flight to DC is delayed several hours, so I’ll be missing the connection. Mother pus bucket.

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  6. But the Old/rob linkage is awesome.
    Toucan Sam and Rocky the Flying Squirrel.

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  7. Also, whilst in Columbia, I drove on Hootie and the Blowfish Blvd. So there’s that.

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  8. up the bees! dave’s on a bender.

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  9. Geez. Was it as bad as the score suggests?

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  10. Leicester. Tough sledding these days.

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  11. Suck it, boehly. I hope the tv showed you with a smug look of disbelief. At least that’s how I imagined it on radio.

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  12. move in day for my kidlet in boulder. some feels in the air.

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  13. found out today that my kid gets $1000 in nil money each semester. she thinks it’s a scholarship, so I’m torn between making her use it on tuition and letting her keep it as spending money.

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  14. She earned that NIL money like any paying job. If she were my kidlet, that's spending money!

    And, ICYMI in Bloomberg:
    Billionaire Turns From Finance to Living Out His Inner Ted Lasso
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-12/billionaire-turns-from-finance-to-living-out-his-inner-ted-lasso

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  15. yeah, i’m not really torn. it’s hers. it was interesting to see her try to figure out what it was - she’s not all that up on the state of intercollegiate athletics.

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  16. Good for the kidlet. That is awesome. Just make sure she saves enough to pay the taxes on it.

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  17. the nest, she is officially empty.

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  18. i'll be flying back east tomorrow. i expect someone to post something futile and stupid.

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