Time for Week 7 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge! As noted in my first post of this challenge, I am starting with my most ancient known ancestors.

This week’s ancestor is LÄ«ze Mildere, born April 27, 1825, and died prior to October 1892. She is my great-great-great-grandmother, by way of my paternal grandmother’s paternal grandfather JÄ“kabs LÅ«kins.

LÄ«ze was born on the Melluži farm on Vecate estate in northern Latvia, another one of my ancestors from the Lake Burtnieki area. She is the daughter of JÄ“kabs Milders and his wife Ä’de. LÄ«ze had at least four siblings, Ä’de (c. 1813), IndriÄ·is (c. 1816), Jānis (c. 1819), MārÄ«te (c. 1822), and several probable half siblings, including Tenis (c. 1831) and another Ä’de (c. 1833) . While she was born on the Melluži farm, by the age of 9 she was living up the road at the ZÄ“rbele farm, according to the 1834 revision list (and was still living there according to her 1844 marriage record). I’m not certain why, her older sister MārÄ«te is still living at home, though the elder Ä’de is not – she would be 21 years of age in 1834, so she could have been married, or she may have died (given that there is a younger daughter named Ä’de as well).

For whatever reason 9-year old LÄ«ze was living separately from her family, she was still there on ZÄ“rbele farm in 1844 when she married LÄ«berts LÅ«kins on October 29, 1844 in MatÄ«Å¡i church. After moving with him to Jaunate estate, they had a number of children, one of the youngest being my great-great-grandfather JÄ“kabs LÅ«kins in 1862. She died sometime prior to JÄ“kabs’ marriage to my great-great-grandmother Karoline Matilde Baburs in 1892, since she is listed as deceased in his marriage record.

LÄ«ze’s family and home farm showcase the importance of paying attention to residences, ages and parents – for on the Melluži farm, LÄ«ze had a cousin by the same name only two years older, and, what’s more, the two women married within days of each other, leading to many opportunities for confusion, especially if one didn’t know that my LÄ«ze had moved to ZÄ“rbele farm. The other LÄ«ze’s parents were Jānis and MārÄ«te, and she was born on February 27, 1823. This Jānis was the elder brother of LÄ«ze’s father JÄ“kabs, and his other children also shared names with LÄ«ze’s siblings – Ä’de, IndriÄ·is, MārÄ«te, Tenis. What possessed a pair of brothers living on the same farm to give their children the same names, I don’t know, but this happens frequently within my family history, and is frustrating to no end.

Do you have any stories to share about cousins with the same names? Feel free to comment!