Thinking about your direct ancestors back through 2nd great-grandparents - in other words, ancestors #2 to #31 on your pedigree chart - how many children did they have? How many lived long enough to marry? How many died before age 10?The information below is based on currently known information; more research may uncover additional children, marriages, or early deaths.
#2-3 Lee Doyle (1913-1987) and Audrey Victoria Meinzen (1915-1997)
3 children: 1 son, 1 married; 2 daughters, 2 married
#4-5 Gust Doyle (1888-1933) and Beulah Mae Gerner (1888-1913)
2 children: 1 son, 1 married; 1 daughter, 1 died before age 10
#6-7 William Carl Robert Meinzen (1892-1979) and Emma Virginia Bickerstaff (1893-1973)
4 children: 4 daughters, 3 married
#8-9 William Doyle (1863-1941) and Tressa Rose Froman (1856-1936)
3 children: 1 son, 1 married; 2 daughters, 2 married
#10-11 Fredrick K. Gerner (1848-1926) and Elvira Bartley (1854-1943)
16 children: 6 sons, 6 married; 10 daughters, 8 married, 2 died before age 10
#12-13 Henry Carl Meinzen (1837-1925) and Elizabeth Armitage (1862-1920)
15 children: 7 sons, 4 married, 1 died before age 10; 6 daughters, 6 married; 2 infants, gender unknown, died before age 10
#14-15 Edward Jesse Bickerstaff (1871-1945) and Mary Thompson (1872-1940)
9 children: 5 sons, 5 married; 4 daughters, 2 married, 1 died before age 10
#16-17 Andrew Doyle (1836-1908) and Elizabeth Jane Laws (1845-1910)
14 children: 7 sons, 5 married, 2 died before age 10; 7 daughters, 6 married, 1 died before age 10
#18-19 John Froman (1841-1871) and Catherine Saylor (1844-1928)
7 children: 4 sons, 4 married; 3 daughters, 3 married
#20-21 Christian Gerner (~1820-1899) and Elizabeth Stahl (~1824-????)
4 known children: 3 sons, 3 married; 1 daughter, married
#22-23 Dixon Bartley (1805-1900) and Rebecca Smith (1820-1899)
9 children: 4 sons, 3 married; 5 daughters, 4 married
#24-25 Carl Meinzen (dates unknown) and Unknown
2 known children: 2 sons, at least 1 married
#26-27 Abel Armitage (1821-????) and Eliza Hartley (1812-1856)
2 children: 2 daughters, 2 married
#28-29 Ellis H. Bickerstaff (1840-1907) and Emma P. or V. Nelson (~1845-1878)
4 children: 2 sons, 2 married; 2 daughters, 1 married, 1 died before age 5
#30-31 John Thompson (~1850-1823) and Lydia Bell (1851-1930)
9 children: 2 sons, 1 married, 1 died before age 5; 7 daughters, 5 known to have married
Observations
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These generations span the years from 1805 to the present, from earliest birth to children still alive, more than 200 years! The births, however, span about 110 years (1839 to 1950).
- There were 104 children born in these four generations. I suspect some families may have had more children if one of the spouses hadn't died early (#5 Beulah Gerner Doyle, #18 John Froman, #27 Eliza Hartley Armitage, and #29 Emma Nelson Bickerstaff).
- There were 50 males and 54 females born.
Thanks for the fun, Randy. This was a great exercise to show gaps in families, holes in research. Some of these families I researched 15 years ago when I was a beginner and when access to records was more difficult. Further research now may uncover more information.
--Nancy.
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My focus has been on the child mortality rate, since so many of my Slovak family lost many children. Your ancestors were lucky to have so many children grow to adulthood.
ReplyDeleteI know you're right, Linda, that my ancestors were lucky to have so many of their children grow to adulthood. There is one family, the Armitage/Meinzen couple (#12-13), who had 15 children. All but 6 died before their parents, some as infants, one as a teen, and others in their early 20s and 30s. My heart breaks for Elizabeth to have lost so many. I'm sure that's true for you, too.
DeleteNancy, I also wonder, when I research the children of past generations, if all of the children were recorded. There may have been more little ones who died whose names have been lost with time.
ReplyDeleteI do, too, Colleen. When I see a family with more than a 2½- or 3-year gap between children I wonder if there was a miscarriage, a still-birth, or if a child died at a young age. I wonder this especially about families who lived before birth and death records were required. Thanks for mentioning that point.
DeleteThank you fir this insightful post. Looking at my family tree I see my paternal grandfather being #5 out of 13 children. On the other side Grampa was one of 2 children. It makes one wonder how they kept that family small or did she just have trouble getting pregnant? Questions we will never know the answers to, for sure.
ReplyDeleteWas it possible your grandmother, the mother of your Grampa, died young? Or perhaps she and her husband had a falling out that kept them separated? Who knows but it is unusual for families three generations ago to have only a few children.
DeleteVery interesting stats and observations.
ReplyDeleteYes, Wendy. Doing this is not something I would have thought to do on my own. I was surprised to see how many children were born during those four generations.
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