Searching for Outlaws

 

It was a long time ago when I first heard the term "outlaws" applied to relatives of relatives—a word delivered with a smile and a wink, the first time my cousin introduced me to some of his relatives who weren't exactly mine.

There's been a lot of family history that's been researched after that first discussion of "outlaws" but that cousin has never let me forget the story of his side of the family. While he has been extremely helpful with my pursuit of our mutually shared line—my paternal, his maternal—he has his own family story which spans generations and includes fascinating stories, too. In gratitude for how he has helped my research, it's only fair that I take a month to assemble and organize what I've found on his other side of the family.

The Eggert story is the story of enterprise and invention, with a unique business handed down over the generations. Sometimes, in the hearing of it, my mind tends to collapse the generations, yet another reason for getting the details down on paper. And paper it will be, for my cousin's oft-repeated request has been for me to print up a family tree so he can refer back to it in real life, rather than via a computer screen. There is just something about the tangible-ness of grasping—literally—the ins and outs of relationships, especially through multiplied generations.

For my last of the Twelve Most Wanted monthly research goals for this new year, in honor of my cousin's long-time support of my research, I'll revisit this "outlaw" line of my father's brother-in-law's ancestors from the New York City metro area.