Paper Ahnentafel

When was the last time you wrote out an Ahnentafel? We have computer programs and databases that will do this for us. Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings puts out a Saturday Night Genealogy Fun. Yesterdays prompt: Who is your MRUA - your Most Recent Unknown Ancestor? This is the person with the lowest number in your Pedigree Chart or Ahnentafel List that you have not identified a last name for, or a first name if you know a surname but not a first name. I decided to write about my gr-gr-grandfather, Philip McCall. I needed his Ahnentafel number, so I quickly jotted one out. Looking at it I realized that I had two Unknown Ancestors with lower numbers (but same generation) than Philip.


My challenge is for you to sit down and write out your Ahnentafel. How many generations back can you go from memory? What is your highest number that you have research for?


I went back 8 generations. From memory I was able to trace one line all eight generation and another seven. I can trace the first back further, but it's kind of cheating; the next three generations of men are all named John Nichols. The highest number I can trace is (that I have research for) is 16008 Robert Tucker, he is generation 14 and my earliest immigrant to America.