{52 Ancestors} #10 an #11: Twins! - Miles and William Baines

William Baines | Miles Baines

(December 1843 - 20 June 1903)   |   (December 1843 - 27 July 1908)

How exciting was it to stumble upon the fact that two of my ancestors are twins! Twins aren't unique on my family tree; indeed, on my maternal side there is a set of twins every generation for at least 3 generations so far (note to self, look for additional twins in my tree)! But I stumbled upon this set of twins purely by happenstance.

Although I'm not directly descended from this set of twins (they're my g-g-g-g uncle), I've been researching Miles's records from the Civil War, particularly his pension file. I just love reading these original pieces of history in the National Archives. It was this pastime that lead me to this discovery:

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But the discoveries didn't end there. G-g-g-g uncle Miles also helpfully share where his family came from before the war. Specifically, who held them in slavery. He states:

Was born on Western Branch near Churchland VA, a slave to Tom Mackey (dead). My father's name was [William] Bains (dead) and he was a slave to Cornelius Bidgood...My mother's name was Lucy Bains and she was a slave to Tom Mackey. She is dead.

Wow! Just, wow!! If you are an Af-Am genealogist or family history researcher you know how amazing this little nugget of information is. I literally jumped out of my seat in the Archives and let loose a (muffled) squeal of delight when I read this. It was near definitive proof of what I suspected and had begun to uncover regarding the origins of my g-g-g grandfather Isaac.

So, now I have somewhere to aim as I try to break down the 1863 brick wall blocking this branch of my tree -- the Bidgoods and the Mackeys of Churchland/Western Branch, Portsmouth, Virginia!