Why would they be "twice removed", considering the description offered puts them in the same generation? Wouldn't they just be "third cousins"? Carl -----Original Message----- From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dave Davis Sent: Monday, April 6, 2015 5:25 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Mark Twain & Religion Interesting. Is there good documentation anywhere of their family connection (Cyril & SLC)? On a quick search I found this -- "Mr. [Cyril] Clemens said his great-great-grandfather and Samuel Langhorne Clemens' great-great-grandfather were brothers=E2=80=94and therefore, he an= d the famous writer and humorist were third cousins, twice removed." http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/s/c/o/Mery-B-Scott/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0151.html Cyril's father was James Ross Clemens, and apparently SLC referred to him as "a cousin of mine" in the 1897 mixup: http://www.twainquotes.com/Death.html (Image of the "report of my death" statement at the link.) A 1929 writing from James Ross Clemens himself, on topic, is included in Gary Scharnhorst's "Twain in His Own Time" (2010) on p. 222-224 (But I have never thought about it before today, so I don't claim to know anything. I bet others do.) DDD