The Seltenreich Double-First Cousins: 52 Ancestors Prompt “Cousins”

                So what exactly is a double first cousin? Double first cousins arise when two siblings reproduce with another set of siblings, and the resulting children are related to each other through both parents' families. Double first cousins share both sets of grandparents in common, aunts and uncles in common,  and have double the degree of consanguinity than ordinary first cousins. In other words, double first cousins should NOT become kissing cousins or marry!

                In my family, several of my grandmother’s nieces and one nephew were double-first cousins. My grandmother had four older sisters, and the three oldest became enamored of a neighbor’s three sons, and ended up marrying them.

                The first couple to wed was Grandma Nora’s eldest sister, Grace Ida Hoffman. Grace was born July 15, 1889, so was ten years older than my grandmother. She married the eldest of the three Seltenreich brothers, Carl Oscar, who was born September 24, 1887. The wedding was May 6, 1912, when Grace was 22 years old. The couple farmed near Mankato. They had three children: Reuben Julius, born May 28, 1914; Stella Lucille, born June 26, 1916; and Smila Deloris, born August 13, 1930. 

             Oscar Seltenreich, Grace Seltenreich, and their children Stella and Reuben

                Martha Hoffman, the next oldest daughter born September 17, 1891, married the second oldest Seltenreich son, Julius “Jay” on September 20, 1916, when they were 25 and 24, respectively. Jay was born January 21, 1892, so was a little younger than Mart. Jay became a firefighter in Mankato, and they had one child, a daughter, Lucille Fae Seltenreich, born July 10, 1925.

                The third-oldest sister, Sadie Marie Hoffman, born February 12, 1894, married the youngest Seltenreich boy, Frederick Herman Adolph on June 6, 1917. Fred was born July 29, 1893. They were 23 and 24 when they married.  They lived just down the road from Grace and Oscar. Fred also farmed. Sadie and Fred had one daughter, Elnora June, born June 16, 1924.

Elnora Seltenreich as baby, and with boyfriend Bud Fisher and her parents Fred and Sadie Seltenreich.

                So these five children, Reuben, Stella, Smila, Lucille and Elnora, all shared the same four grandparents, the same aunts and uncles, and shared more genes than typical first cousins. I wonder if they ever realized how unusual their relationship was—that other cousins didn’t share the same grandparents and had a wider circle of relatives. They were very special cousins.