Two of my ancestors died on the same day : November 26 1673, now 334 years ago ...
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It is more than probable that they have known each other : the churches of the two villages, Pamel and Okegem, were less that a kilometer apart, as the crow flies.
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Times were bad - filled with poverty, wars and pestilence : surviving was the only priority. Far from them the idea that three centuries and so many generations later, common descendants of both of them would be walking the earth - and God knows how many of them there are.
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In those small villages, up to the French revolution, and even to the nineteenth century, intermarriages were very common : almost everyone was in some way related to everyone else. It is improbable that my line is the only one in which their genes have been intertwined.
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If I were not more than fully occupied with my own ancestors, finding out in how many ways their descendants were inter related would be a nice - although daunting - project.
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