Determine who is one of the most prolific fathers in your genealogy database or in your ancestry. By prolific, I mean the one who fathered the most children. Tell us about them in a blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a comment on Facebook.
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| Fred and Elvira (Bartley) Gerner with 11 of their children |
One of my paternal great-great-grandfathers, Fredrick Gerner, was the father of 16 children (who all had the same mother!). Fred married Elvira Bartley in July, 1872, when he was 24 and she was 18. Their first child was born in May, 1872. All but two of their children lived to adulthood and married. These are their children.
- Ida Adelia (1873-1904)
- Alfonzo F. (1874-1952)
- Alonzo J. (1874-1940)
- Lana Ellen (1875-1943)
- Edward G. (1877-1918)
- Della Virginia (1879-1968)
- Alma Mary (1881-1952)
- John N. (1882-1970)
- Bessie Leota (1884-1973F
- Mabel Lodenia (1886-1974)
- Beulah Mae (1888-1913)
- Warren Franklin (1890-1957)
- Ethel Clair/Clare (1892-1897)
- Netta Mildred (1894-1894)
- Brendice Kathryn (1895-1996)
- Paul Victor (1898-1972)
Two other grandfathers, Henry Meinzen, a maternal great-grandfather, and Andrew Doyle, a paternal great-grandfather, both had 14 children.
The premature deaths of two other great-great-grandfathers prevented them from fathering more children. William Doyle died at the age of 36 with six children. John Froman died at the age of 30 with seven children. Who knows how many more children they might have had had they lived longer lives.
Congratulations to the fathers. Even more congratulations to the mothers who bore the burden of pregnancy, childbirth, and child-rearing in the 1800s.
Thanks for suggesting this fun activity, Randy.
—Nancy.
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You had several prolific ancestors. I can't imagine having that many children! It looks like only Netta died in infancy, so that is pretty remarkable, too, given infant mortality rates.
ReplyDeleteYes, just Netta died as an infant, Linda. Her cause of death was enlargement of the liver, which today we call hepatitis. Her father also had liver problems and died of hepatitis.
DeleteNetta's next older sister, Ethel, lived just five years, but all the others grew to adulthood.
I can't imagine having so many children, either! Life would have been devoted to motherhood with a new baby every two years! (Not that devotion to motherhood is bad, it's just tiring.)
Wow! I am impressed! My second great-grandfather had 18 children (in Lithuania), but by two wives. Elvira is awesome!
ReplyDeleteI think Elvira's pretty amazing, too! I'm sure I could never have had and raised so many children! Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment.
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