16 Feb Find my ancestors How many generations are there in your ancestry?
Good morning fellow descendants,
I recall a cousin of my mom’s years ago, asking, “so when do you say you’re done with your search? When you get back to Adam and Eve?”
That is a good question, as a lot of folks like me research their family history, collecting thousands of pages of material, pictures, and documents. If you don’t take steps to say, “Ok, I could find more, but I am at the point, where I need to bring some closure, and put the materials in a format where they can be enjoyed and will survive for future generations.”
If you don’t ever reach that point, a descendant ends up with the burden, or worse it ends up in the trash. For those contemplating what to do with what they’ve collected or those before them collected, Dancestors Genealogy does a great job “putting a bow” on your legacy. We take what you have, add materials that we can find through subscriber databases, and then publish your legacy in a beautiful heirloom book.
In the meantime, if you were curious if anyone ever got all the way back to Adam and Eve, there was a researcher who many, many years ago had published several lines of descent from Adam and Eve, to Greek Mythology, to the Kings of the middle ages and royal lines. His sources were biblical records, Greek mythology, and accepted lines of royal descent in ancient kingdoms. He acknowledged, that much of this could not be easily supported, but was his best attempt to connect the beginning to the end. I’d consider this no more than an article of interest, and easy to poke holes in. I am by no means skilled at discerning these religious and historical references, so keep your expectations low. Keep in mind, that there aren’t a whole lot of written documents to take you before the time of Adam and Eve, so for all practical purposes that’s as far as any genealogist could get in their wildest dreams.
You can see listed below, that according to his work there would be 146 generations from Adam and Eve to my grandchildren. Of course, the first dozen or generations had tremendous longevity, with Methuselah being the record-holder. If the line of descent were true, it would make Adam and Eve my grandchildren’s 143rd Great Grandparents.
Comparatively, If you use the Alexandrian or Theophilus’ estimate of creation and 30 years per generation[1] (keep in mind we didn’t descend only from firstborn children), there would be 250 generations from creation to today. The Jewish/Christian tradition of the date of creation would give you 192 generations and Muslim chronology 182 generations.[2] If you don’t accept the accuracy of any of the religious texts, and you prefer to go with the scientific estimate of the first humans appearing some 6 million years ago (give or take a million years), that would be 200,000 generations. If you estimated 15 words to describe each generation, it would take 4 books the size of the English version of “War and Peace” just to list the names, so we need to get on that as that’s a lot of typing.
At the recommendation of a relative, I am reading Winston Churchill’s “The History of the English-Speaking People”. By far, most of the ancestors of my family and my client’s family’s trace back to England. In the first book “The Birth of Britain” Churchill shares this challenge to those who would think of precisely tracing your English line back to the early ages. The rough excerpt is from comments the Roman Cesar made of the Britons:
By far the most civilized inhabitants are those living in Kent (a purely maritime district), whose way of life differs little from that of the Gaul’s. Most of the tribes in the interior do not grow corn but live on milk and meat, and wear skins. All the Britons dye their bodies with woad, which produces a blue color, and this gives them a more terrifying appearance in battle. They wear their hair long and shave the whole of their bodies except the head and the upper lip. Wives are shared between groups of ten or twelve men, especially between brothers and between fathers and sons; but the offspring of these unions are counted as the children of the man with whom a woman cohabited with first.
So, for most of us, if you go back far enough, we are cousins of ourselves. Speaking of cousins did you know that you likely have just shy of 600,000 8th cousins?
https://isogg.org/wiki/Cousin_statistics
If you’re looking to downsize or even just declutter, besides Dancestors Genealogy helping with your family legacy records, here are folks who can help with the rest.
Downsizing Your Home Is Hard. How to Decide What’s Worth Keeping.
Firms and services that specialize in downsizing can help you let go of your stuff—and the emotions attached to it—before the big move.
Read in The Wall Street Journal: https://apple.news/AnHKYYXCvQRGmFMgrYkxibg
Some of you may have seen the short videos on Facebook or on the Dancestors Genealogy YouTube Channel referred to as “On the Road Again”. Here’s little more information on traveling to research your family history.
After your Ancestry.com DNA test: How to find your family tree through genealogy travel
The internet has made it easy to find your family tree, but when the digital trail runs its course, many inquisitive travelers hit the road.
Read in USA TODAY: https://apple.news/ACEWT0sZgQXmWiAlprH_XBg
Of course, the original preserved genealogy books, are holy books such as the Bible, the Koran, and many other religious centerpiece texts. Much of the detail in terms of years is debated, and little of this should be considered authoritative work.
1 Adam and Eve
2 Seth was born when Adam was 130, and he lived to 912 years of age.
3 Enos was born when Seth was 105. He married his sister Noam. He lived to 905.
4 Kenan was born when Enos was 90. He married his sister Mualeleth.
5 Mahalelel married Dinah.
6 Jared’s father was 65 when he was born. He married Baraka. He lived to 962.
7 Enoch’s father was 162 years old when he was born. He married Edna. He lived to 365.
8 Methuselah’s father was 65 years old when he was born. He lived to 969.
9 Lamech’s father was 187 years old when he was born. He lived to 777.
10 Noah’s father was 182 years old when he was born. He lived to 950.
11 Shem’s father was 500 years old when he was born.
12 Arphaxad or Cainan’s father was 100 years old when he was born. He lived to 600.
13 Salah married Milcah
14 Heber or Eber. He married Mu’ak. He lived to 464.
15 Peleg or Phaleg’s
16 Reu’s
17 Serug’s
18 Nahor lived to 148.
19 Terah’s father was 29 when he was born.
20 Abraham
21 Isaac lived to be 180.
22 Jacob lived to be 147.
23 Judah was born in 1566 BCE.
24 Zarah and Mahol- gets messy here for a couple of generations as it jumps from religious records to Greek mythology
25 Mahol
26 King Dardanus of Dardania and Balea.
27 Erichthonius
28 Tros
29 Illes founder of Troy. He married Eurydice
30 Laomedon
31 King Priam of Troy
32 Helenus
33 Genger of Zenter
34 Franco
35 Esdron
36 Gelio- from here on to the Frankish Kings there isn’t a lot of information.
37 Basabiliano
38 Plaseno
39 Plesron
40 Eliacor
41 Gaberiano
42 Plaserio
43 Antentor
44 Priam
45 Helenus
46 Plesron
47 Basabiliano
48 Alexandre
49 Priam
50 Getmalor
51 Almadian
52 Diuglio
53 Helenus
54 Plaserio
55 Dilugio
56 Marcomir
57 Priam
58 Helenus
59 King Antenor of the Cimmerians
60 Marcomir
61 Antenor
62 Priam
63 Helenus
64 Diocles
65 Bassanus
66 Clodomir
67 Micanor
68 Marcomir
69 Clodius
70 Antenor
71 Clodomir
72 Merdocus
73 Cassander
74 Antharius
75 King Francus of the West Franconians
76 Lord Clodius
77 Marcomir
78 Clodomir
79 Antenor
80 Ratherius
81 Richemer
82 Odomir
83 King Marcomir IV of Franconia
84 King Clodomir IV of the Franks
85 King Farabert of the Franks
86 King Sunno of the Franks
87 King Hilderic of the Franks
88 King Bartherus of the Franks
89 King Clodius III of the Franks
90 King Walter of the Franks
91 King Dabobert of the Franks
92 Duke Genebald I of the East Franks. He died in 550 AD.
93 Duke Dagobert II of the East Franks. He died in 679.
94 King Clodius I of the West Franks
95 King Marcomir I of the West Franks
96 King Pharamond of Westphalia of the Franks. 365-430 AD
97 King Clodio Crinitus of the Salic Franks d. about 450.
98 King Merovee of the Salic Franks. 411-458.
99 Deuteria and Tonantius Ferreolus
100 Tonantius
101 Ansbertus or Ausbert of Moselle
102 Bishop Arnoul of Metz 550-611
103 Bishop St. Arnolph of Metz 582-645
104 Anchises or Anseigel 600’s
105 Duke Pepin II of the Franks. 635-714.
106 King Charles Martel of the Franks. 688-741.
107 King Pepin III of the Franks. 714-768
108 Charlemagne Holy Roman Emperor. 748-814. From here the line is well documented.
109 King Louis of Franks, Holy Roman Emperor
110 King Lotharius I of Italy, Holy Roman Emperor
111 Ermengarde of Lorraine and Count Giselbert of Darnau
112 Count Rainier of Hainault
113 Duke Giselbert of Lorraine
114 Albreda of Lorraine and Renaud de Roucy
115 Ermentrude de Roucy and Count Alberic II of Macon
116 Beatrice de Macon and Count Geoffrey I of Gatenois
117 Count Geoffrey II of Gatenois
118 Fulk IV
119 Fulk V
120 Count Geoffrey V Plantagenet of Anjou
121 King Henry II of England
122 King John Lackland of England
123 King Henry III of England
124 King Edward I of England
125 King Edward II of England
126 King of Leon and Castile John of Gaunt
127 Marquis John Beaufort of Somerset
128 Duke John Beaufort of Somerset
129 Margaret Beaufort and Thomas Stanley
130 George Stanley
131 James Stanley
132 Henry Stanley
133 Edward Stanley
134 Thomas Stanley
135 James Stanley
136 William Stanley
137 Hannah Stanley and Thomas Benbow
138 William Benbow
139 Thurza Benbow and Caleb Hunt
140 Mary Ann Hunt and John Harvey
141 William Arthur Harvey
142 Glen James Harvey
143 father-in-law
144 wife
145 daughter
146 grandkids
Dan Nelson
[2] The primary reason for the disparity seems to lie in which underlying Biblical text is chosen (roughly 5500 BC based on the Greek Septuagint text, about 3760 BC based on the Hebrew Masoretic text). Most of the 1,732-year difference resides in numerical discrepancies in the genealogies of the two versions of the Book of Genesis. Patriarchs from Adam to Terah, the father of Abraham, are said to be older by as much as 100 years or more when they begat their named son in the Greek Septuagint than they were in the Latin Vulgate (Genesis 5; Genesis 11) or the Hebrew Tanakh (Gen 5; Gen 11). The net difference between the two major genealogies of Genesis is 1466 years (ignoring the “second year after the flood” ambiguity), 85% of the total difference.
