Oh, It's You Again: When Genealogy Isn't So Challenging

You know what I really love about family history? The hunt.

I'm drawn to genealogy as a sport hobby because of the dynamic challenge of contextualizing history and my ancestors' place in it. Sleuthing out historical records and reassembling a long-forgotten puzzle is an engaging detective game that demands mental acuity. It challenges me. I like that.

Success - finding another link to my historical past - hinges on learning history, locating and interpreting records of the time, and stepping out of my 21st century mindset.

Successful completion of one level ("I found my 2nd great-grandmother!"), like any good game, propels you to the next more challenging playing field ("What do you mean the courthouse records naming my 3rd great-grandmother were destroyed in a fire?!").

Where's The Challenge?
Sometimes, though, genealogy isn't challenging.

I have this ancestor who is everywhere in the historical record and just lacks the luring excitement of what I find most entertaining about ancestor hunting.

My fifth great-grandfather Ambrose Jones fought in the American Revolution. His service is to be commended and I count myself honored to be among his many descendants. But that's just it. There are many many descendants who have thoroughly documented his service and life. There's little hunt left to be done and I'm constantly reminded of it.

For example, when I log into my preferred genealogy website, I can be sure that among the new hints vying for my attention are a handful for Grandpa Jones.

When I review my new DNA matches, I have to trudge through an overwhelming abundance of cousins who descend from this single man. I'm regularly reminded of his prodigious progeny.

Even Grandpa Jones' ancestral line allegedly connects me to a million other people. How fitting that Ambrose's purported great-grandfather John Lewis may link me to famous cousins.

I know his life's story was amazing. So amazing a descendant wrote a book about it. I don't begrudge him that and I am glad for it.

He presents no real genealogical challenge and is always around the corner with hints and DNA matches. When I'm struggling to piece together a slew of murky family lines in more recent history, I can be sure Grandpa Jones is ready to boast about his pervasive and ever growing presence.

He's like the Charlemagne of my recent ancestry. Everyone can and does claim him.

How about you? Who's your family's Charlemagne?

My 2017 Ancestor Tally: Researching The Romance Novel

A genealogist's work is never done. Like any profession that's always in demand, sleuthing for ancestors keeps us occupied because the numbers are forever in our favor.

One you. Two parents. Four grandparents. The numbers expand exponentially as you climb further back into the family tree. An army of ancestors stand behind each of us. Without any one of them we would not exist.

As family historians, we're charged with the imperative of identifying them and remembering their lives.

A Numbers Game With Meaning
This isn't merely a numbers game of no consequence.

Sure, when you climb back each generation the numbers balloon and become quite daunting. For example, eight generations ago you had 128 fifth great-grandparents. If you add these 128 people with the six descending generations down to your parents, you have 254 people. That's enough folks to fill an average-sized movie theater (what I wouldn't give to see that movie!).

Don't let the numbers fool you. These were people - singular individuals - who lived, breathed, achieved, struggled, loved, and died. In a sense they're each a chapter in the story of our existence.

The genealogist may tally numbers, but the family historian recounts the life lived.

Remember Tim Urban's excellent article, Your Family: Past, Present, and Future, on his Wait, But Why blog? He poignantly observed that the past eight generations, which "only represents the last 200 years of your ancestry, contains 127 romantic relationships, each involving at least one critical sex moment and most of them probably involving deep love. You’re the product of 127 romances, just in the last 200 years alone."

When you put it that way, it's clear that we're really researching a great ancestral romance novel.

Tallying Deep Love
After reading Linda Stufflebean's Ancestor Count for 2017 on her Empty Branches on the Family Tree blog, I decided I too wanted to begin tallying the ancestors I've traced. I plan to make this an annual update for the blog, so we can check in on both the numbers game and see what stories I've uncovered about the many lives (and deep love) that led to me.

As of the opening month of 2017, I've traced just 29% of my ancestors in the past ten generations. I know who all of my third great-grandparents are, but the work begins in the previous generation where nine ancestors remain unknown to me.

At this generation, it's difficult and slow-going work. Records are limited and collective memory is dim. Two years ago, I knew 53 of my fourth great-grandparents. Two years later, I've uncovered the identities of just two more people. Two. Perhaps that number will climb in the year ahead.

How about you? What's your ancestor tally? Let's see where we all stand in twelve months.

Genealogy Goals in 2017

Every January I set goals to guide my genealogy research in the year ahead.

I don't like to get too granular and only want broad goals to nudge my research along. After all, I want to remain open to the many surprises - sometimes serendipitous - that genealogy can offer.

In 2017, mindful of my progress last year, I'm cutting myself a bit of slack and going light on the goal setting.

A Recap Of The Year That Was
In 2016, I set an array of goals that included the following:

• Continue to collect and scan family photos from relatives near and far.

• Write narrative biographies of my ancestors, beginning with my great-grandparents.

• Join a local genealogical society and attend meetings.

Oops! I accomplished only one of these.

Last year, I did continue to collect and scan family photos. Did you see the most recent example in Family History Coded in Shorthand? In 2017, I still aspire to tackle all three of these goals.

In 2016, I also set a handful of lofty goals to break through some of my brick walls. No, not one or two. Try four. I intended to break down four brick walls.

How'd I do? I broke down none of them. Zero. They remain standing. Impenetrable and daunting. They loom over my research taunting me. No worries. I'm plotting my plan of attack in the shadows.

Where I did make significant progress in 2016 was in conducting an exhaustive investigation of my fifth great-grandfather Thomas Kirk. With a dozen blog posts written about the man and my efforts to learn the identity of his parents, I've uncovered a slew of information including the identity of a previously unknown daughter, mapped out property he owned, and tabulated the taxes he paid over several decades in the early 19th century. I'm exhausted, but his parents remain unknown and the hard work remains.

The Year Ahead
In 2017, I'm open to letting my research go where the records, family lore or photos may take it. But I would like to focus on a few areas in particular.

For my ongoing research into Thomas Kirk's ancestral background, I plan to:

• Locate Kirk ancestors overseas to Y-DNA test and, hopefully, link my paternal line to the Old Country.

• Collect autosomal DNA samples that will allow me to re-create, so to speak, the DNA of Thomas Kirk and Vachel Kirk of Butler County, Ohio - a contemporary of Thomas whose paternal relationship is confirmed by Y-DNA, but whose specific familial relationship remains unknown.

More generally, I would like to pursue the following in the year ahead:

• Record more oral histories. I had quite a bit of success with this approach to storytelling in 2016, and want to document more stories.

• Write biographies for my ancestors. It's time to piece together all of the data I've culled and create a narrative that tells their stories in a compelling fashion. I believe this is how I will engage with the biggest non-genealogist audience.

That's it. Those are the goals I'm setting for the year ahead. I think these are feasible. What do you think? Wish me luck and we'll check in and see how I did in twelve short months.