Wordless Wednesday: A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

The other day, I was working on the husband of my Aunt Katherine's second cousin once removed. Confused yet? It gets worse. While his name, George F. Ballenger, didn't ring any bells, his mother's name, Annie Spencer did, especially since George married Loraine Spencer. What was going on?

I looked at the 1920 census record for George again and noticed he lived with his mother and step-father, James D. Spencer. That's when all the puzzle pieces clicked together. James D. Spencer was a name I remembered. (I had a lot of trouble finding his death date.)

So George married the granddaughter of his step-father! Sometimes you just need a picture, or diagram, to keep all the relationships straight:

Relationship between George F. Ballenger, Jr., and his wife,
Loraine Spencer

A picture is worth a thousand words!