Sometimes a genealogical discovery begins with something as simple as a familiar surname. A name you haven’t thought about in years suddenly resurfaces, sending you digging through old research, following branches, and uncovering a connection you never imagined existed. That’s exactly what happened to me this past weekend.

My youngest son’s girlfriend, Kailey, who has become quite the genealogist herself, was telling me about some of her recent discoveries. She mentioned that she had traced part of her family to Sandusky County, Ohio.

Well, that caught my attention because my youngest son also has ancestors who lived in Sandusky County.

When Kailey mentioned the name of her 4X great grandfather, Jesse Warner Tuttle (1793–1857), something clicked.

Tuttle? I knew that name!

Off I went to Ancestry, digging through my family tree, and sure enough, there was the Tuttle family.

As I began following the various branches, I discovered that Edward Kellogg Tuttle (1857–1936), a relative of Kailey’s ancestor Jesse Warner Tuttle, had married Miriam Elizabeth Larrabee (1860–1947) in 1882.

And who was Miriam?

She was the daughter of Maria Manley Larrabee (1835–1920), whose grandfather was Obed Manley (1768–1835), my 5X great grandfather.

Suddenly, two family trees that had been researched independently were connected through a marriage that took place 144 years ago.

Now, to be clear, my son and Kailey aren’t blood relatives through this connection. But their ancestral families intersected generations ago, long before either of them was born.

And here’s another fascinating part of this story.

Approximately 13 years ago, I collaborated with another descendant of the Tuttle family who generously shared an extraordinary collection of old family photographs with me. Those photographs have been sitting in my genealogical collection all these years.

Little did I know that more than a decade later, they would become part of a discovery involving my own son and his girlfriend.

This is exactly why I always encourage genealogists to research beyond their direct ancestors.

It’s tempting to concentrate exclusively on parents, grandparents, and the generations that came before them. But when we explore siblings, cousins, marriages, and the families that branch off from our direct lines, we begin to uncover a much larger picture.

Those collateral branches can reveal relationships, photographs, stories, and connections we might otherwise never discover.

And considering how families migrated, married, and settled alongside one another in early America, perhaps these unexpected connections shouldn’t surprise us quite so much.

Still, I can’t help but marvel at the circumstances.

Bio of Edward K. Tuttle’s father, Albert Gridley Tuttle.