On This Day in Family History - January 14

Top: Daisy & Dennis Leeth, Ima & Mima Parker

Bottom: Lottie & Luttie Thomas, Melanie & Mike Radde

Top left: Opie & Obie Arnold (with their mother Jessie)

Top right: Obie Arnold and Vernie Davidson with twin sons Coy & Toy (left), Gerald and Zenus

Bottom left: Elisha Herdman with sisters Sarah (left) and Eva (right) - Elisha and Eva were twins 

Bottom right: Caryl and Daryl Carwell (children of Linda Sue Slocum)

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  Today's post On This Day in Family History featured twins Clyde and Clifford Shelton. I thought that would be a good springboard for a particular interest of mine -- twins. As some of you may already know, a psychic (whom I trust because of a number of other verifiable things she has told me) told me that I had a twin in the womb. My twin, for whatever reason, did not develop -- and my mother never knew that it was a twin pregnancy. Nowadays, with early ultrasounds, we know that in about 1/3 of twin pregnancies one of the embryos does not develop and its tissues are absorbed into the uterine wall or placenta, or sometimes into the body of the other fetus. In my case, I absorbed the tissues of my twin (sister, according to the psychic). "There are two of you" is exactly what the psychic said to me when she first met me, before we investigated to find out exactly why she got that immediate impression. Apparently, my twin sister's spirit has stayed with me as a sort of guide/companion throughout my life. I was aware of her presence when I was a little girl, but lost that awareness as I grew up.

   Well, you can believe all that or not, it makes no difference to me. However, it did trigger my intense interest in the twin phenomenon. Since I started working on the family history and genealogy, I was curious to find out whether or not twins "run in the family" ...

   Boy, howdy! I have found (so far) 32 sets of twins, in all branches of the family tree! 

TWINS

1. Twin girls Carter 1864, Ned Carter and Melinda Clingan

2. Twin girls Rhoades 1895, Margaret Carter and John Rhoades

3. Twin infant boys Garrett 1948, Verlie Arnold and John Ed Garrett

4. Michael and Melanie Radde 1968, Beverly Jones and Ted Radde

5. Obie and Opie Arnold 1917, George and Jessie Tamsett Arnold

6. Toy and Coy Davidson 1937, Obie Arnold and Vernie Davidson

7. Dora and Lora Gibson 1877, Asa Gibson and Adaline Gard

8. Twin infants Gibson 1881, Asa Gibson and Adaline Gard

9. Mosella and Rosabell Lough 1865, Charles Byrne and Sarah McKenzie Lough

10. George Washington and Martha Ann Lough 1845, Prudence Gibson and Peter Lough 

11. Sarah Ann and Susan Squires 1835, Elizabeth Gibson and Elijah Hedding Squires Sr

12. Amy and Frederick Burford 1966, David Burford and Judy Lisman

13. Don and Donna Burton 1974, Barbara Searcy and Donald Burton

14. Daryl and Caryl Carwell 1967, Linda Sue Slocum and John Carwell

15. Edward and Russell Gibson 1896, Frenchman Gibson and Matilda Lake

16. Perl and Verl Gibson 1910, Lawrence Gibson and Bertha Mason

17. Clyde and Clifford Shelton 1925, Edna Gibson and Eldon Shelton

18. Doris and Dorothy Gibson 1949, Perl Gibson and Lorene Taylor

19. Harrison and Marion Gibson 1859, James Gibson and Patience Ocheltree

20. Justus and Resin Gard 1807, Seth Gard and Mary Brown

21. Abner and Alice Armstrong 1854, John Armstrong and Abigail Pixley

22. Mary and Joseph Gard 1699, Joseph Gard and Mary Ball

23. Charity and Jacob Gard 1751, Daniel Gard and Elizabeth Davis

24. Elijah and Elisha Burns 1810, Alexander Burns and Lucretia Horton

25. Eva and Elisha Herdman 1862, Michael Herdman and Hannah Bennett

26. Dennis and Daisy Leeth 1905, Beckie Parker and Leslie Leeth

27. Ellis and Flossie Gard 1908, James Gard and Berdella Jordan

28. Lottie and Luttie Thomas 1892, William G Thomas and Nettie Durren

29. Twin girls ~1876, Emma Arnold and Alex McReynolds

30. Earl and Pearl Barnett 1896, Calvin and Emma Barnett

31. Ina and Mina Parker 1907, Pearl Parker and Ola Leeth

32. Frank and Fannie Thomas 1852, John Peleg Thomas and Susan Maxon

Twins are usually born prematurely, and before modern medicine they often did not survive long after birth. So many of the twins on this list were not named. My great-great-grandmother, Adaline Lucretia Gard Gibson, actually gave birth to two sets of twins. One set of twins died at birth. The other twins lived. One of  them was my great-grandmother Lora Gibson Burford. She was smaller than her twin sister Dora, and was not expected to live. But her grandmother took special care of her and she did survive, and lived to the ripe old age of 93. Her sister Dora lived to age 85.  

Photo: Lora Gibson Burford (seated). Clockwise from left: Judy Burford White, Wathada Burford Thomas, Juanita Burford Hombs, Dianne Thomas (me), Helen Burford Walters. This picture was taken in August 1965 at Judy's house in Brinkley, Arkansas.

Photo: Lora Gibson Burford (left) and her twin sister Dora (right), with their sister Julia (center).