Smyrna times., 1886-12-29
Very Mixed Relations.
PECULIAR CONNECTIONS CAUSED BY THE
CUSTOM OF INTERMARRIAGE IN
DELAWARE.

WILMINGTON, Del. Dec. 19.-The
New York World publishes a curious
list Of peculiar relationships by the Gus
tom of prOtracted intermarriages in
families prevalent among the inhabi-
tants of the land lying between the
Delaware and the Chesapeake Bays.
The most striking example isfurnished
by a respectable family of farmers,
bearing the old name of Smith, living
near Barnard's Wharf, on the road
leading to Cambridge. The present
head of the family, Mark Smith, is the
father of half-dozen of boys. Mark
Smith, his father, Johnathan Smith who
came FROM England, and Mark Smiths
sons, Tedrick and Samuel, all married
sisters. The women were the daugh-
ters of George Hurlbut, who formerly
lived near Barnard's Wharf. Mark
Smiths wife died ten years ago, leaving
no children. Mark then married his
fathers widow. She had been his
fathers second wife and was only
Marks stepmother. She had a daughter
by William L. Tilghman. After she
had borne Smiths a child he was divorced
from her, whereupOn she was welded
to Hurlbutt, the father of Smiths first
wife. She has had a child by Hurlbut.
70 further cOmpliCate matters. Samuel
Smiths wife died and he married
Tilghman's sister, who was a sister to
Hurlbut's wife. The climax was reached
when Tedrick Smiths son. JOhnathan.
married the daughter that his grand
fathers second wife had previously
borne by William l.. Tilghman. Was
there ever more mixed up family?
The Du POnt de Nemours family is
another curiosity. The family. of
HuguenOt extraction, has been settled
in and around Wilmington for genera
tiOns. Collectively the Du Pont de Ne
mOurs family owns $20OOO,OOO worth
OF property. Much of these vast Dos
sessions are held in common. and upon
the death of a member what he has as
his share is divided up among the rest.
In marriage, aS well as in mOnev-mak-
ing, the Du Points are a close corpora
ton. Rarely have they ever gone
further away from the blood than a
cousin for a wife, and the Du Pont
strain is as pure as that of Kentucky
thoroughbred. Itwould take profound
thought on the part of a skilled geneal-
oglst to figure out the exact relations
that the present generation of Du
Fonts bear to one another.
The Dashiell family and the Handy
family and the Jones family, in Som
erset county, Md, are so mixed up that
their family trees are absolutely inde-
cipherable. All three families are
socially distinguished and have con-
trlbuted many young men of mark to
the professions. The younger men,
bers of the Jones and Dashiell families
are more mixed than the Handys.
There is one of the Dashiells, a LAWYER.
who IS his own first cousin as we'll as
his own brOther-in-law. Another of
the Dashiellsis his fathers half-brother.
while another is his wife's brother-in-
law. One of the youthful scions of the
house OF Jones, who lives in Baltimore.
has been figured out to be his own
father. The advantage of being ones
own father will be Immediately appar-
ent to every reader.
Living near Beaver Dam, or. as it is
called now, Ingleside, in Queen Anne's
county, Maryland, are two brothers
Thomas George Roberts and Charles
Wise Roberts. They came from the
State of Ohio, where each had married
sisters. These sisters were first cousins
to the father of the Roberts bows. and
their mother had been divorced from
the elder Roberts. She had her daugh-
ters by Roberts first cousin, whose
name was Silver, and Silver. in turn.
was cousin to Roberts mother. The
mother of the wives of the Roberts
boys was a stepmother to the bows.
and their own mother was also their
fathers cousin. In this case, the elder
Roberts was not only father-in-law to
his sons wives, but he was also their
uncle and their stepfather. Their own
mother was also their own cousin, and
they are cousins as we'll as sisters to
each other. These people are bound
together almost as unanimously and
mulltudinOusly as Mark Smith and
his sons, and the marvel is that there
has never been crossing of the blood
nearer than the first cousin, although
in many instances the relationship
appears to be much closer.