Book Research Connects Cousins

Cultural anthropologist and author Virginia Cornue of Montclair was working on a book about her ancestors when her research led her to a comment on Nanuet Patch written by Patricia Slade-Lander of Nanuet. Cornue thought they might be distant cousins and reached out to then Nanuet Patch Editor Kim Tran for assistance in contacting Lander.

That forwarded email from November 25, 2012 led to a reunion. 

Cornue was researching her book, “A Secret Upcountry,” about the life of her great grandmother, a Civil War widow and what happened when she had a bi-racial child in 1864.  Following a lead from a genealogist in the South familiar with Lander College in Greenwood, SC, Cornue reached out to Lander on the chance they might be distant relatives.  

Cornue, who is co-author of the Sandra Troux Mystery series, sent a list of relatives and Lander recognized some of the names.  Soon the "mystery" of the email was solved and it became clear that their great grandmothers were sisters born in the 1820's in South Carolina. 

The third cousins got together in Nanuet on January 12, 2013 and shared photos and stories. Soon they realized that there were more family mysteries to uncover dating back to the Civil War and other coincidences came to light.  Both are cultural anthropologists and Cornue had been friends with Lander’s parents in the 1970s. They had lived in the same apartment building in New York City and never realized they were related.  

The pair reunited again in Nanuet on June 29 and was joined by Cornue’s brother Frederick, who traveled from North Carolina. 

The third cousins had words of appreciation for Editor Kim Tran and Patch.

“Thanks, Nanuet Patch, for that original forward!”