This one sounds really fun, as well as a great way to assess your research progress. Thanks, Geniaus and Randy!
The Ancestors’ Geneameme
Things you have already done or found: bold face type
Things you would like to do or find: italicize (colour optional)
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type
You are encouraged to add extra comments in brackets after each item
Which of these apply to you?
- Can name my 16 great-great-grandparents- 14 out of 16 documented
- Can name over 50 direct ancestors- Yup!
- Have photographs or portraits of my 8 great-grandparents- 5 (possibly 7) out of 8
- Have an ancestor who was married more than three times- Oh, yeah! My great-grandmother Dovie McBurnett had 6 (and counting)!
- Have an ancestor who was a bigamist- Not that I know of
- Met all four of my grandparents- Yup
- Met one or more of my great-grandparents- My 2 great-grandmothers, Mary Tennessee Turner and Marie Mistrot Carrico
- Named a child after an ancestor- Not exactly…my oldest daughter is Sarah, because I like the name…later found out that there are several Sarah’s in the family tree, the closest is my 2nd GGM Sarah Sharpe Vance
- Bear an ancestor’s given name/s- I am named after my great aunt Ruth Ann Starr
- Have an ancestor from Great Britain or Ireland- Suspicions….
- Have an ancestor from Asia- Not yet
- Have an ancestor from Continental Europe- More suspicions…
- Have an ancestor from Africa- Not yet
- Have an ancestor who was an agricultural labourer- Most of my 19th century ancestors where farmers in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky and Texas
- Have an ancestor who had large land holdings- My Turner ancestors from DeKalb County, TN were prominent land-holders pre-Civil War
- Have an ancestor who was a holy man – minister, priest, rabbi- My 2nd great-granduncle Daniel Brevard Vance was an ordained Baptist minister
- Have an ancestor who was a midwife-?
- Have an ancestor who was an author-Yes, my 3rd GGF Nathan Blunt Kennedy was a published poet!
- Have an ancestor with the surname Smith, Murphy or Jones- Several Smiths
- Have an ancestor with the surname Wong, Kim, Suzuki or Ng- Nope
- Have an ancestor with a surname beginning with X-Nope
- Have an ancestor with a forename beginnining with Z- My great-grandaunt Zora Belle Turner!
- Have an ancestor born on 25th December- I actually have 4 ancestors born on Christmas Day!
- Have an ancestor born on New Year’s Day- None…
- Have blue blood in your family lines- A couple of folks who seemed to think they were royalty…
- Have a parent who was born in a country different from my country of birth- Nope
- Have a grandparent who was born in a country different from my country of birth- Nope
- Can trace a direct family line back to the eighteenth century- Yup, my earliest documented is 4th GGF Miles Chappell, born in 1790 in Amelia County, VA
- Can trace a direct family line back to the seventeenth century or earlier- Working on that…
- Have seen copies of the signatures of some of my great-grandparents- Yup, from GGF Charles Arthur Rogers and GGM Dovie McBurnett
- Have ancestors who signed their marriage certificate with an X- Nope
- Have a grandparent or earlier ancestor who went to university- Several physicians in the family, including 3 GGF Nathan Blunt Kennedy (Tulane University School of Medicine, Class of 1860) and 2GGU Thomas Joshua Bennett (Tulane University School of Medicine, Class of 1883)
- Have an ancestor who was convicted of a criminal offense- If they ever caught him! My 2GGU James Bennett, Jr (brother of Thomas Joshua) was a documented murderer, horse thief and bank robber in 1880′s San Saba, TX and Wyoming and Montana.
- Have an ancestor who was a victim of crime- My 2GGU Benjamin Bennett (James’ brother!) was murdered in Hobbs, New Mexico in 1930 and another 2GGU, Pat Carroll, was murdered in March, 1906 in San Saba, TX.
- Have shared an ancestor’s story online or in a magazine (Tell us where)- Not yet…
- Have published a family history online or in print (Details please)-Does this blog count?
- Have visited an ancestor’s home from the 19th or earlier centuries- No
- Still have an ancestor’s home from the 19th or earlier centuries in the family- No
- Have a family bible from the 19th Century- I wish!
- Have a pre-19th century family bible- I really wish!