Thank you to Jennifer Jones, Linda Teather, Bill Moore, Ann Rockley and so many of you for joining us and engaging in the conversation so actively today during Emma Cox’s live presentation and in your comments below. Your generous ❤️s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see.
NOTE: As of the time of this first release, Substack’s captioning and transcript service isn’t able to generate a transcript for this post. I’m working on the issue.
Today’s episode had Emma experimenting with a new format that had all audience members joining in on the conversation.
In each of these programs, Emma generously shares both her slides and the resources she used to compile the presentation.
To get us started, Emma began with Caroline Edith Rumpf, or was she Catherine, or any of four other combinations? And what about dates: Did she lie? Were they unsure?
From there, we explored with references from past episodes and mysteries. To help you in scanning through the video, these links may be helpful
Gateway ancestors: For those gateway ancestors that unlock a series of other connections.
Consider first arrivals in the new world, or a connection to Royalty, see “Fame, Gateway Ancestors and links to Royalty.”
Naming Patterns:
Patterns that repeat, see “Rosalina and Gylby - Unusual Names and Naming patterns,” and extraordinary families.
This initiated the “85-Grandchildren Challenge.” In her research, Emma discovered a relation, Sir Robert Wigram (1743-1830), who, through two different wives, fathered 23 children. That was pretty remarkable. But then there was James Blatch Cox (1801-74), whose 9 children produced 85 grandchildren (one son had 18 children). See “James Blatch Cox and his Cornish family and wider diaspora”!
⮕ Have an ancestor with more than 85 grandchildren? 👇 Let us know in the comments!
Full-text Search Results on FamilySearch:
Digging into Full-text Search as introduced by FamilySearch in 2025 and now available in Ancestry, and expanded on by FamilySearch as Simple Search. In “Philipps and Fonblanque Letters,” Emma shared how this flexible search approach revealed extraordinary connections in letters reprinted in a Family History.
About Emma Explores
All of our programs are recorded and shared in the Emma Explores section of the Projectkin Substack, the Projectkin YouTube channel, and major Podcasting platforms like Apple and Spotify and an RSS Feed for platforms like Feedly.
About Emma Cox
If you don’t already know Emma, you can find her here on Substack in two publications, first the one she uses to share research on her own family:
You won’t want to miss her second publication about the Journeys Into Genealogy podcast. It adds value to the ongoing podcast with references and a transcript:
I hope all of this is helpful, and I look forward to seeing next month. Remember to register to get your free Zoom link to join us. See all past recordings at Projectkin.org/emma-explores.
