Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

1)  Ellen Thompson-Jennings posted 20 questions on her blog this week - see Even More Questions About Your Ancestors and Maybe A Few About You (posted 27 June). 

2) We will do do these five at a time - Questions 1 to 5 tonight.

3)  Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook post.

Question 1: Which ancestor had the most children?

This was NOT an easy question to answer. I found a report in RootsMagic that told me the average children per family and maximum children per family.

However, I couldn't locate a report that would list the various families and the number of children. 
So, I created a 'pedigree' report and then worked my way thru the various branches to determine how many children were in each family. I added this number to this pedigree report.

I was able to determine that John Briles (1775-1855) had 14 children. 

Even though my statistical report said 20 children, I'm guessing that the family with 20 children is for a collateral line. 

Question 2: How many years have you been working on your genealogy/family history?

I started my genealogy research in 1978. Thus, I have been working for 41 years.

Question 3: Do you collaborate with other genealogist on your family history?

YES! 

Most of my major breakthroughs have come from hints from other researchers. Because others have helped me, I try to return the favor by sharing my research thru my website and blog.

Question 4: Have I hired a professional genealogist?

I haven't actually hired a genealogist to research my tree. However, I have hired a genealogist to do research in county records. 

Question 5: If you have family heirlooms, what are your plans for their future?

I have inherited photo albums and scrapbooks from both of my grandmothers. I also inherited some postcards and military pins.

I have scanned most of the photo albums and scrapbooks. I am sharing those images with family members via Facebook Groups. 

I try to do something to pass on the family history at Christmas time. I often create scrapbooks or photobooks to share the photos and stories with my immediate family members. One year, I framed several of the items and passed them down to my nieces and nephew.