Van Wicklers, Baldwins, and Smiths, OH My! Endogamy vs. Pedigree Collapse

When I visited the grave of my step-3rd great grandmother, Sarah Jane Andrews-Baldwin-Smith, at Greenfield Cemetery in Uniondale, NY on Thursday, January 28, 2021 I did not find a headstone for her but instead, found one beside her spot for Richard H. Van Wickler (1897 - 1974) and Ida May Van Wickler (1904 - 1999). 

I had no idea how Sarah Jane was connected to the Van Wicklers but I recalled her obituary mentioning Van Wicklers.

I found her obituary posted by on Ancestry by another Ancestry user. It does not identify the newspaper it was published in but it reads as follows:

Mrs. Sarah Jane Smith, widow of Gusham Smith, a well known farmer of the Smithville South section years ago, died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Samuel Van Wickler, 37 orchard street, on Wednesday of last week after a long illness of cancer of the stomach. Mrs. Smith had been a resident of Hempstead since the death of her husband, 15 years ago.  Funeral service was held on Saturday, her 75th birthday, from her late residence, by the Rev. William H. Burgwin of Amityville, L.I., a former pastor of Hempstead Methodist Church. Burial was in Greenfield Cemetery. Mrs. Smith is survived by five daughters, Mrs. Samuel Van Wickler of Orchard street, Hempstead, Mrs. C. B. Sares of Farmingdale, L.I., Mrs. William Duryea of Roosevelt, Mrs. L. Middleton of Pine Rush, N.Y., and Mrs. Herman Brandt of Roosevelt; three sons, Geo. Baldwin, Joseph Baldwin, both of Central Park, and Walter Baldwin of Roosevelt.

This obituary has a lot of helpful information. 

1. It mentions her husband; Sarah Jane's second husband who was my 3rd great grandfather, Gersham Smith.

2. It provides an approximate date of death for Gersham; 15 years earlier which would put it at 1907. Sarah Jane died on 11 January 1922. Gersham really died about a little over 16 years earlier on 5 November 1905

3. It tells me where Sarah Jane is buried.

4. It confirms the surname of her first husband with whom she had her children - Baldwin. Makes no mention of her step-children though.

5. And there is that Van Wickler name.

Now my assumption was that Richard H. Van Wickler who is buried next to Sarah Jane would turn out to be her grandson. However, that is not what my research turned up.

First I looked Richard up on Ancestry.com and was able to determine that Richard Henry Van Wickler was born July 4, 1897 and died in April 1974. Richard was the son of Andrew Foster Van Wickler and Emma Rhodes. (Rhodes - another surname that dances in and out of my family tree).

Richard Henry Van Wickler married Ida May Baldwin. Ida May Baldwin was born August 19, 1904 and died March 1, 1999. Ida was the daughter of Walter Baldwin and Ida May Batcher-Baldwin.

Wait a second. Walter Baldwin? Is that the same Walter Baldwin who is the son of Sarah Jane? Why yes, I do believe it is!

So it was not Richard Van Wickler who was Sarah Jane's grandson. It was his wife, Ida May Baldwin-van Wickler, who was Sarah Jane's granddaughter.

So the Van Wicklers and the Baldwins are all sorts of tangled up. 

Richard Van Wickler is related to Sarah Jane's son-in-law. Sarah Jane's daughter, Margaret Baldwin married Samuel Van Wickler, as indicated by Sarah Jane's obituary. From what I can see, I believe Richard Henry is the grandson of Samuel's brother, John Henry Van Wickler. However, I am really not trying to go down that rabbit hole since I have determined why Sarah Jane is next to Ida May Baldwin-Van Wickler in Greenfield Cemetery.

If I research it further I might find out Ida May and Richard were related to one another. This could be a case of endogamy. 

Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific social group or ethnic group. Endogamy is a custom, a practice of marrying within a limit group. For example, it is traditional for Jews to marry other Jews in the same community. It's not exactly marrying your cousin but it can be. There are cultures that reject people from other groups as unsuitable for marriage. 

Endogamy can also happen based on living within a small confined social group. For example I tell my clients and students that if you can trace your white ancestry back to the 1600s on Long Island you're pretty much related to everyone else who can trace their ancestry back to the 1600s on Long Island. I mean, how many people were there then? 

Those early American settler were isolated groups. After two or three generations, who was there to marry but people you were related to. I'm not saying people married their cousins but - - people married their cousins AND people they were closely related to. 

Endogamy is prevalent in many cultures including, but not limited to, Jews, early American settlers, the Amish, French Canadians, Cajuns, and Newfoundlanders. Anyone who follows my blog knows I descend from several of those groups - early American settlers, French Canadians, and Newfoundlanders to be specific. Thank God my people eventually moved around some or I would have a really rough time sorting out my DNA matches. That's a whole other topic. Anyway - - - 

Here we see Sarah Jane Andrews-Baldwin-Smith's granddaughter, Ida May Baldwin-Van Wickler married Sarah Jane's Son-in-law's great nephew. 

Were Ida Baldwin and her husband Richard Van Wickler related? Well not biologically through Sarah Jane but if we spread out and research their trees back several generations we might find they were distant cousins. I wouldn't be surprised.

Marriages such as this not only make for complicated family trees they can cause something called pedigree collapse. Pedigree collapse is not endogamy. Pedigree collapse is one or a few isolated incidents of cousin marriage, while endogamy occurs repeatedly over many, many generations. Endogamy is really more a practice. Pedigree collapse is - well - pedigree collapse is a mess. 

Pedigree collapse occurs when two related individuals produce offspring. As a result, the number of unique individuals occupying ancestor position in a pedigree chart decreases or collapses. I'll give you an example... 

Let's say first cousins marry - that doesn't happen much anymore these days. It is socially unacceptable now and illegal in many places but back in the day it happened. 

So let's say two first cousins marry. They have the same grandparents. So when they have a children that set of grandparents occurs in their family tree twice. That is pedigree collapse. And it extends out - say 4th or 5th cousins marry each other, their children will have a the same set of ancestors show up in multiple places in their tree. 

In short, it is a pain in the ass to keep straight, but then again I suppose it cuts down on one's research time. I mean, you don't have to research the same couple multiple times; if that is any comfort to you.

Oh what a tangled web.

For now I am content knowing the connection between Sarah Jane and the Van Wicklers buried next to her.