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Two Marvins, two Watkins. two Cramers — what fun ... Resources For Communicators A Faith - Values Newsletter
My uncle, Keith Marvin, labored-all the while I knew him-on rich,
definitive histories of his mother's and his father's ancestors, the Marvins/Mervyns and the Silvemails/Silbemagels. Both families can be traced to the 15th century. My uncle Keith exchanged information with another Mr. Keith Marvin! He was not really even a shirttail relative, but a son of Dwight Marvin who had edited the Record Newspapers in Troy, New York. I love that they both had the same name. Another of Uncle Keith's correspondents was the Rev. Gerald Watkins, in England, who knew of the Marvin/Mervyns there. I write this note for my sister, Janice Cramer, who is unofficial (and, I guess, only) historian of our immediate family these days. The rest of the world can be amazed, too, since this is on the Web. (For folks reading this in print, it's www.rfcnews.com). When I was still in seminary (now Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in Rochester, New York — my Uncle Keith's city, where he was an associate architect in the school district)-I received a gift of money from ... the Rev. Gerald Watkins! Yes, the same name again, this time across a sizeable pond. This Gerry Watkins was associate pastor of the Lake Avenue Baptist Church in Rochester. Dr. Watkins told me that one of my great-uncles, brothers who were rural physicians in northern New York state, had helped him with a gift of money when Gerry was a student at Colgate Rochester ( as it was then). I don't remember if it was Dr. Lansing or Dr. Will Cramer! But there we go again: two people sharing the same last name. The Rev. Gerald Watkins (the New York state one) had waited nearly the rest of his life, he told me, before finding the one best person to whom he could pass along the gift. I was overwhelmed, of course. I confess that I haven't found the right person yet — and at 73, with no social security, may well have to hand her or him an IOU! But I imagine there is an opportunity waiting somewhere. Meanwhile, as Judy and I prepare to leave in a few days for London, Ramsey and Great Bentley, England —my ancestral homes — I feel like noting the very strange convergence of pairs of names in family connections. Just imagining the chances of this blows my mind. — Bob Cramer, updated January 28, 2009. www.rfcnews.com/?p=105
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