So this is cool. My great grandfather on the Kitchens side (Lee Davis Kitchens) was married to Emma Katherine Mercer from Macon, Georgia (one of those family traditions held that we were related to the Mercers of the university of the same name, but I’ve never found any proof of that). Anyway, my great grandmothers brother had the (fortunately) very distinct name of Durward Belmont Mercer.
Unfortunately, he was also the victim of a gunshot wound in 1921.
But just prior to his death, his wife was pregnant with their only son: Durward Belmont Mercer, Jr.
I just love uncommon names in genealogy.
This Durward was a juvenile court judge in Bibb Co., Georgia from 1960-1965 and served our country admirably during World War II.
I only suspected that he had children because while Durward Jr. died in 1984, I still found activity for a Durward Mercer in Macon. He a competitive bridge player. Unfortunately, I was never able to find an online presence for this potential son.
I had just opened my Legacy Family Tree file to check a lead my mom gave me (on another line) and ended up on Durward Mercer’s page by mistake. Figuring it had been awhile since I googled him (that just sounds wrong), I did it again.
And lo and behold! I found someone else who was talking about Durward Mercer Jr. Not only did she refer to him in her blog post, she referred to him as her father in law! It turns out the Lucy Mercer who runs the site “A Cook and Her Books” is married to one of his sons.
“One of”
This means that there is more than one child. I’m so excited at the potential of filling out more of a family line.
I’ve emailed Lucy and look forward to hearing from her soon with details!
How we’re related…
Lucy’s husband (?), son of
Durward B. Mercer Jr., son of
Durward Belmont Mercer, brother of
Emma Katherine Mercer, mother of (wife of Lee Davis Kitchens)
James Eugene Kitchens, father of
Alfred Montgomery Kitchens, father of
ME! Kevin Lee Kitchens
This makes her husband my second cousin, once removed.