How much do you know about your second and third cousins? I decided I’d like to find more of them and, while I always hope that cousins will find my blog (several have and those messages totally made my day), I need to proactively look for these families.

I’ve decided to look at the pedigree chart and bring as many of the descendants of my husband’s and my 2x great grandparents up to the present day as I can. That means 8 sets of 2x great grandparents for each of our family trees and since I do have some information and contact with a few of these cousins, it isn’t really an overwhelming project. At least it won’t be until I get to the Stufflebeans because I know there are a LOT of descendants in that family branch.

I’m starting off with a pretty simple, clean family branch with Emsley Harrison Brasher on Dave’s side of the family.

Here is what I already know:

Emsley Harrison Brasher
born 8 June 1841, Christian County, KY
died 23 April 1886, Cumby, Hopkins, Texas

He married 1) Mary Woosley Perkins on 11 July 1867 in Cedar County, Missouri. She was born 3 October 1846, Madison, Cedar, Missouri and died 4 March 1882 in Cumby, Hopkins, TX and 2) Finetta (Nettie) Sayles on 23 November 1882 in Hopkins County, Texas. She was born in 1852 in Tennessee and died in 1919, probably in Hopkins County, Texas.

Emsley and Mary had three sons:

1. Marcellus Hampton Brasher, born 9 August 1870, Jasper County, MO; died 15 February 1948 in Abilene, Taylor, Texas

2. Andrew W. Brasher, born 7 June 1871, Bona, Cedar, Missouri; died 13 September 1950, San Antonio, Bexar, Texas. He married Emma Lee Pendleton on 6 May 1900 in Hopkins County, Texas. She was born 17 April 1875, Texas; died 9 December 1961, San Antonio, Bexar, Texas. Andrew and Emma had no children.

3. Joseph Henry Brasher, born 17 November 1874, Hopkins County, Texas; died 31 December 1925, Noble, Cleveland, Oklahoma

Emsley and Nettie had two children:

1. Bessie Belle Brasher, born 1883; died 1889, both in Hopkins County, Texas. Bessie obviously had no children.
2. Omer Brasher, born 17 July 1885, Hopkins County, Texas; died 22 May 1929 when he drowned in Lake Purdy, Jefferson County, Alabama.

That leaves Marcellus, Joseph and Omer Brasher to trace.

Marcellus married Lulu Julia Snow on 25 December 1900, Moniteau County, Missouri. He was a teacher and eventually became a school superintendent.

They had two sons:
1. Charles A. Brasher, born 13 April 1908, New Mexico; died 3 March 1974, Lawrence County, Missouri. He married Louise Hicks on 2 September 1945, Lawrence County, Missouri. She was born 23 March 1913; died 29 October 1981. Charles was a medical doctor who practiced for many years in Lawrence County. He had two daughters and one son, all of whom I will be trying to locate.
2. Thomas Lowber Brasher, born 16 December 1912, New Mexico; died 16 June 1979, Austin, Travis, Texas. He married in 1947 and had at least one son. His wife and son may still be living.

Joseph Henry Brasher married 1) Minnie Mae Williams, 12 May 1895, Hopkins County, Texas. Minnie was born 23 March 1879 in Hopkins County, Texas; died 22 June 1945, Hillsboro, Hill, Texas and  2) Della M. Benton, 24 February 1904, Springer, Carter, Oklahoma. Della was born 17 June 1888, Texas; died 15 May 1953, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.

Joseph and Minnie Mae are my husband’s direct line and I have those covered. Minnie Mae had one son, Aulton Horne, with her second husband, Charles Horne, but Aulton and his wife, Elsie, had no children. Pearl Brasher is Dave’s grandmother.

However, Joseph and Della had three sons:
1. John Alsus Brasher, born 1907, Oklahoma; died after the 1930 census when he was a patient in the Oklahoma State Hospital, reasons unknown. I was in contact with his brother, Omer, who said that Johnie (sic), as they called him, died in his 20’s unmarried.
2. Wilmer Louis, born 7 August 1909, Oklahoma; died May 1978, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Louis, as he was called, married and he and his wife adopted a son, who might still be living.
3. Omer Andrew, born 12 August 1912, Oklahoma; died 14 January 1989, Stroud, Lincoln, Oklahoma. Omer said he had one son, still living.

Lastly, Omer Brasher, son of Emsley and Nettie, married Lucile Lee Jemison, probably about 1912. They had only one child that I have found, a daughter:
1. Maria Mims Jemison Brasher, born 16 January 1914, probably in Birmingham, Jefferson, Alabama; died 18 July 1987, Birmingham, Jefferson, Alabama.

Mims married John Hendon Williamson on 28 November 1940, Jefferson County, Alabama.  John was born about 1902; died 19 March 1967, Birmingham, Jefferson, Alabama. It is not known whether John and Mims had any children.

To recap, I am looking for the following people:

Charles Brasher – two daughters and one son
Thomas Brasher – a possible widow and one son
Wilmer Louis Brasher – one son
Omer Andrew Brasher – one son
Mims Brasher Williamson – any possible children

Not too long a list for the first set of 2x great grandparents.