Cousin bait : LaMaster

Just received an email from a LaMaster, trying to find out how we are connected.  Wrote him back and asked for as much information he has tracing his line back, so I can compare notes and see if I can find the line in the books I have on the family.  Spelling variations aside, if we are related, it's likely pretty distant.

The branches I'm aware of that spell the name LaMaster from the "Lemasters USA" book by Howard Lemaster would be at least 5th or more distant cousins, provided I can find the link of my branch in to those lines.  

I'm still working on the paper trail to that line, hoping to save my money and do a Y-DNA test to connect to others who have a better paper trail.

This blog continues to be good 'cousin bait' with people finding me and reaching out.

Lemaster Marriage Records, Shelby County, Ohio

After locating the information about the marriage Newman Smith and Martha Lemaster in Shelby County, Ohio, I searched the FamilySearch database to see if there might be other marriage records in the county for my relatives. 

Because the surname is sometimes spelled with an 'a' or with an extra 's' at the end, I did a wildcard search for L*master* marriages in Shelby County, Ohio, and this is what I found in the indices of their databases:

S.S. Leymaster married Sarah E. Mills on 4 October 1877.

Martha Lemaster married Newman H. Smith on 25 August 1861.

Lemuel Lemasters married Hannah Allbright on 24 May 1832.

Hannah Lemaster married Joel Brandenburg on 5 June 1853.

Luman W. Lemasters married Nancy Young on 19 January 1832.

Martha Lamaster married Newman H. Smith on 25 August 1861.

Hannah Limasters married Joel Brandenburg on 5 June 1853.

S.S Leymaster married Sarah E. Mills on 4 October 1877.

Roscoe Leymaster married Harriet J. Hetzler on 4 October 1900.

Hannah Lemasters married Ruben Claton on 1 June 1851.

Elvira Lemasters married Lewis Clayton on 6 March 1855.

Jane Lemasters married Thomas Mcvay on 15 March 1831.

Luman W. Lemaster married Nancy Young on 19 January 1832.

Martha Lamaster married Newman H. Smith on 25 August 1861.


Some of these are obviously the same marriage record, though in separate databases and in some cases, indexed with different spellings of the surname.

Know relatives in this mix are my 3rd-great grandparents, Luman W. Lemasters and Nancy Young.   The Lemuel Lemasters who married Hannah Albright is Luman's brother, and the Jane who married Thomas McVay is a sister.

I have some theories as to the identities of the others in the county I will be exploring in future posts.