My father was both a fraternal twin and an only child. On 13 August 1945, my grandparents, William Stone Clinkinbeard (1922-1984) and Nancy Jane Eyrich (1924-1993) gave birth to a set of twins in Spokane, WA. Robert Martin (1945-2023) and Richard Weston Clinkinbeard (1945-2024)
Robert and Richard
This wouldn’t be noteworthy, except that Nancy had a rheumatic heart. Doctors told her she wouldn’t survive the birth of a single child, let alone two. Her condition left her unable to care for the two boys. Nancy’s parents, Frederick Martin Jakob Eyrich (1898-1963) and Fleta Lucille Craven (1899-1960) adopted one child, Robert, when he was 18 months old. During the adoption process, Robert Martin took his grandparents’ surname of Eyrich.
Thus Robert Martin Eyrich and Richard Weston Clinkinbeard are both twin brothers and uncle/nephew. What’s even more remarkable is that this isn’t the first time something like this has happened in this family line.
History Repeats
To understand how history repeats itself, we have to go back 89 years. Robert and Richard’s great-grandparents are Kinzea Stone Clinkinbeard (1842-1895) and Sarah Ellen Whitehead (1856-1933). Sarah Ellen Whitehead and her brother John Henry Whitehead (1856-1914) are also fraternal twins. They were born on 13 August 1856 in Placerville, CA, 89 years to the day before Richard and Robert. But that’s not the most interesting part.
Sarah Ellen and John Henry’s parents are Timothy Whitehead (1816-1878) and Mary Ann Coatney/Courtney (1830-??). Timothy died in 1878, when Sarah Ellen and John Henry were 22 years old. After Timothy’s death, Mary Ann married Alfred Burgess (1821-1890). At some point, John Henry changed his surname to Burgess, while Sarah Ellen did not.
Just like Robert and Richard, John Henry and Sarah Ellen are fraternal twins with different surnames.
The 13 August Twins Prophecy
In one family line there are two sets of twins, Richard/Robert and John Henry/Sarah Ellen, born on the same day, 13 August 1945/1856, respectively. In both cases, one twin’s surname was changed. Robert’s reflects his adoption by his maternal grandparents, John Henry’s to that of his step-father.
If this trend continues, another set of fraternal twins will be born on 13 August 2034, and something will cause them to have different surnames.
For more stories about genealogy, check out the genealogy section of my blog.