If you’ve ever wondered how much trouble two parents could cause a genealogist nearly 200 years later, allow me to introduce twin brothers, Leman and Lyman Smith. Same (very common) surname, nearly identical first names living in the same place at the same time. One of the twins, Leman Smith (1806-1888) is my 4X great grandfather, and as is my habit, I also examined the lives of his siblings, many of whom remained in Monroe County, New York, in order to get a fuller picture view of their family. After exhausting Leman and Lyman’s records, I then turned my attention to their sister, Celia Maria (Smith) Hall.

And that’s when the Smith family handed me a surprise I definitely wasn’t expecting.

Following the Smith family backward, lead me to their parents, Comfort Smith (1766-1853) and Sarah (Dodge) Smith (1772-1844). But it was Celia’s obituary that revealed a rather famous branch hiding in the family tree.

Celia’s obituary states that her mother, Sarah Dodge, was a second cousin of Samuel F. B. Morse, the American inventor best known for his role in developing the telegraph and the code that bear his name.

And that is genealogy at it’s finest. You follow one person to another, one marriage leads to another, and one old obituary sends you down an entirely new path – and suddenly Samuel F. B. Morse wanders into your family story.