Abstract
The thesis of the article is that taking a social network approach to genealogical problems of origin and parentage can, where applicable, result in two noteworthy benefits. The first benefit is that it may more quickly and effectively lead to matrilateral kin by helping to reconstruct a kinship network. The second benefit is that it will lead to a deeper understanding of social circles in which a husband and/or wife participate. This approach turns the usual genealogical practice of unravelling a female’s position in a cluster in relation to her husband on its head—the male’s position in a social network is reconstructed by backtracking one of his significant females (wife, mother, or sister). As background, the article briefly discusses networks, the importance of women as connectors in kinship networks, and cultural practices of kinship, in this case, eighteenth-century Germany/United States. It then presents a case study of Catharine Minnich, a Pennsylvania woman of German descent. In addition to analyzing relations by blood and marriage, it recognizes the important role of baptismal sponsors in aligning a multi-family network.
Highlights
This article begins with an overview of the theories of social networks and females as key connectors in kinship networks
That theoretical foundation underlies the methodology of identifying women who played key roles in building and nourishing family alliances that formed extended kinship networks in some cultures during some periods of time
The hinge-pin metaphor alludes to a woman’s crucial role in building the family social network and to her serving as a connector between or among family members
Summary
This article begins with an overview of the theories of social networks and females as key connectors in kinship networks. In these kinds of situations, experienced practitioners often follow the FAN (friends or family, associates, neighbors) principle, or approach (Mills 2012a, 2012b, 2012c), to find collateral lines or others whose migration paths or origin may be parallel and more traceable because of relevant extant evidence These are people with whom the research subject may have interacted or with whom the ancestor had something in common such as belonging to the same society, military unit, church, or neighborhood. The more genealogically important social network one attempts to uncover is a kinship network This leads to an increased understanding of the reasons why the ancestor was linked to the close associates one finds in FAN research. This is evident in some cultures and eras, and one of those is eighteenth-century German culture, both in Germany and in countries into which Germans of that century immigrated, such as America
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