Which Reminds Me

Yes, we did notice, upon doing some thorough research, that my great-grandmother's uncle Edmund was married to Sara Jane De France, an eminent name in Pennsylvania history, but in our generation we have no idea who these people are or why we should care about that. Only upon reading great-grandmother's diaries do I learn that she was born in Pennsylvania. Oh, I didn't know that. When I was very young I just thought that everyone was from California, but obviously now we know it is more complicated than that. The name of James C. Smith appears somewhere in the paperwork but I have no idea who that person might be or why the Smiths imagine themselves related to me. I just have no idea who these people are.