Chasing the Past

is for Ancestor.

I’ve been interested in genealogy for about 30 years.  I’ve always liked hearing the stories about where I came from and the people who made up my family, even when I was too young to put it all together.  Once I was actually grown, my mother began sharing her genealogy work with me.  Her work was compiled from other sources as well as information she found as well.

About 5-10 years ago, I decided I had to have my own proof.  While I’m glad I did, there’s still so much I haven’t been able to prove.  Sure, the new age of websites like family search and ancestry have helped the process along, I still want to see at least a copy of the source document and put it all together in my head.

And, I’m being long-winded in getting to the actually  what behind my letter for the day.

A is for Ancestor. Or Ancestors, as in, how many I know.

In my dad’s family, if I go back eight generations, here’s what I know:

• One Ancestor Ago:  1/1
• Two Ancestors Ago:  2/2
• Three Ancestors Ago:  4/4
• Five Ancestors Ago:  8/8
• Six Ancestors Ago:  16/16
• Seven Ancestors Ago:  12/32
• Eight Ancestors Ago:  5/64

As you can see, there is a significant drop off at seven generations.

Much is similar on my mom’s side.

• One Ancestor Ago:  1/1
• Two Ancestors Ago:  2/2
• Three Ancestors Ago:  4/4
• Five Ancestors Ago:  8/8
• Six Ancestors Ago:  16/16
• Seven Ancestors Ago:  24/32
• Eight Ancestors Ago:  15/64

Although a bit better at seven and eight ancestors back, I’m still pretty lacking.  This only shows me just how much more work I need to do.

Here’s to one day knowing all of those 128 ancestors!