DESCENDANCY 8,000,000 and Counting

Gen 1 Mom & Dad Gen 2 Grandparents Gen 3 Greats Gen 4 G-Greats Gen 5 G-G-Greats Gen 6 G-G-G-Greats Gen 7 G-G-G-G-Greats Gen 8 G-G-G-G-G-Greats Gen 9 G-G-G-G-G-G-Greats Gen 10 G-G-G-G-G-G-Greats 1 Couple 2 Couples 4 Couples 8 Couples 16 Couples 32 Couples 64 Couples 128 Couples 256 Couples 512 Couples ME Around the year 1600 Direct Ancestors

Uncles, Aunts, and Cousins If each couple has 4 children… If each of these children marry, forming more couples, and they have 4 children… If this continues down through the 10 generations, how numerous are your family members?

“One study calculated that if we went back 10 generations and did the work for their cousins and the cousin’s descendants, there is the potential for about 8 million people if there were only 4 children per family. Many had much larger families. If you have done 8 million names, perhaps you are done and can help other people. But if you haven’t done 8 million names, there are names to find.” Elder Allan F. Packer

Family Search (familysearch.org) Find your direct ancestors—present to past

and even further back…

Purposes of Descendancy Research Filling in missing family data Helping others find information on their direct lines Discovering missing ordinance work

Descendancy Research Process Begin with direct line ancestor – 1800s recommended – Gives more access to records Look for cousins in your tree with no death dates Look for gaps between children in a family Fill in missing gaps in Family Search

Filling in Missing Family Data Gap

Helping Others Find Information

Discovering Missing Ordinance Work

Free Resources Familysearch.org partner websites: – ancestry.com – findmypast.com – myheritage.com – americanancestors.org Access these through familysearch.org/partneraccess

Family Search Partners

Free Resources, cont. Tied directly to familysearch.org: – kinpoint.com – puzzilla.org

Kinpoint

Puzzilla Ascendancy

Puzzilla Descendancy

Other Free Resources findagrave.com billiongraves.com chroniclingamerica.loc.gov – Newspapers cyndislist.com – Links to other websites usgenweb.org – State genealogy websites mesafsl.org – Links to other websites rootsweb.com