The guru of fun, Randy Seaver says, “Hey, genealogy fans, it’s Saturday night! Time for some Genealogy Fun!
Your task, if you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music), is to:
He goes on to ask that we pick one of our four great-grandparents, the one with the most descendants preferred, create a descendants list, tell how many, living or dead are in each generation. Then, the kicker: “How many are still living? Of those, how many have you met and exchanged family information with? Are there any that you should make contact with ASAP? Please don’t use last names of living people for this – respect their privacy. And: “Write about it in your own blog post, in comments to this post, or in comments or a Note on Facebook.”
This should be a snap, right? Well, not exactly. I picked my g-grandfather, Charles Yearnd/Yournd/Ewuns/Euens, married Lena Detman/Detmann. Their descendents that I know of are:
- Children — 6, all deceased. I never met anyone in this generation, even though several died after I was born.
- Grandchildren — 10, all deceased. Of these I met my father and his siblings, a total of 5, but never met any of his cousins.
- Great-grandchildren — 7, at least 6 of the 7 are living. This is my generation, 4 of the 7 are me and my siblings, 2 others are my first cousins. I have met 6 all of those, but I don’t know anything beyond the name of the seventh.
- 3rd great-grandchildren — 13 that I know of, 11 or 12 are living. My children and their cousins, I have met 10 of the 12.
- 4th great-grandchildren — 7 that I am aware of, there are probably several others that I should know about, grandchildren of my first cousins. 5 of the 7 are my grandchildren. There are at least a couple on the way in this generation.
That is 43 descendants. I should make an effort to get information on the grandchildren of my first cousins, but they won’t be able to help me with my genealogical research.
There is one branch of descendants for who I have limited information. Carolyn “Carrie” Yearnd/Yournd married J. Clare Collins on 9 October 1900 in Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan. I am aware of one daughter of this marriage, Wanetta, who was born about 1904. I have been unsuccessful in contacting any descendants of this branch of the family, who would be descendants of the the person in #4 that I have not met. I am continuing to try to contact that branch of my family.
Facts are facts, and it is unlikely that I will meet a family member who can give me substantial information on Charles and Lena and their family.
