Saturday Challenge: Ancestors Geneameme

Randy Seaver has done another of his Saturday Night Fun Challenges on GeneaMusings that I am jut getting to. Here are my responses to the challenge:

Some of my Irish ancestors and collaterals

 1)  Jill Ball created a 40 question "Ancestors Geneameme" in 2011, and Linda Stufflebean recently expanded it to 70 questions on her Empty Branches on the Family Tree blog.  

2)  Let's do Linda's expanded list this week for SNGF.

Here's mine:

1.     Can name my 16 great-great grandparents.   YES

2.     Can name my 32 great great great grandparents   NO 15/16 of gg grandfathers 14/16 gg grandmothers- counting one I don’t know her maiden name yet

3.     Can name over 50 direct ancestors  YES

4.     Have photos or portraits of my 8 great grandparents  YES

5.     Have an ancestor who was married more than three times Not sure about direct- but definitely collateral amongst them

6.     Have an ancestor who was a bigamist   NO, not that I know of

7.     Met all four of my grandparents  NO, my paternal grandparents died three years before I was born.

8.     Met one or more of my great grandparents  NO

9.     Bear an ancestor’s given name/s  NO- as a middle name

10.  Named a child after an ancestor  NO- no children

11.   Have an ancestor from Great Britain or Ireland  YES

12.  Have an ancestor from Asia  NO

13.  Have an ancestor from continental Europe   YES

14.  Have an ancestor from Africa  NO

15.  Have an ancestor who was an agricultural laborer  YES

16.  Have an ancestor who had large land holdings   What’s large? Farms definitely, but not patent size holdings.

17.  Have an ancestor who was a holy man – minister, priest, rabbi   YES At least a few Deacons and Quaker ministers.

18.  Have an ancestor who was a midwife  NO

19.  Have an ancestor who was an author    YES

20.  Have an ancestor with the surname Wong, Kim, Suzuki or Ng    NO

21.  Have an ancestor with the surname Smith, Murphy or Jones   YES

22.  Have an ancestor with a surname beginning with X  NO

23.  Have an ancestor with a forename beginning with Z  Don’t believe direct, but gg-uncle Zacharias.

24.  Have an ancestor born on 25th December  NO, a few recent collaterals are very close though!

25.  Have an ancestor born on New Year’s Day   NO

26.  Have an ancestor who shares your day and month of birth  NO

27.  Have blue blood in your family lines  Some collaterals are rumored to be illegitimate offspring of a Duke

28.  Have a parent who was born in a country different from my country of birth    NO

29.  Have a grandparent who was born in a country different from my country of birth  YES

30.  Can trace a direct family line back to the 18th century  YES

31.  Can trace a direct family line back to the 17th century  YES

32.  Can trace a direct family line back to the 16th century  YES

33.  Have seen signatures of some of my great grandparents  YES

34.  Have ancestors who signed with an X (or other mark)  YES

35.  Have a grandparent or earlier ancestor who went to university   Don’t know. Some of the early New England settlers might have. 

36.  Have an ancestor convicted of a criminal offense    Collateral

37.  Have an ancestor who was a victim of crime  NO, don't know for sure

38.  Have shared an ancestor’s story online or in a magazine/periodical  NO

39.  Have published a family history online or in print  NO

40.  Have visited an ancestor’s home from the 19th or earlier centuries  Does reconstructed home count?

41.  Have a family Bible from the 19th century  NO

42.  Have a family Bible from the 18th century or earlier  NO

43.  Have an ancestor who was part of a multiple birth (twins, etc.) Not direct, but some collaterals

44.  Have a family member who closely resembles an ancestor  YES

45.  Have an ancestor who owned their own business  YES

46.  Have an ancestor who belonged to a trade guild  NO

47.  Have an ancestor who moved more than 100 miles away from his/her birth home, EXCLUDING emigration to another country  YES

48.  Have an ancestor who gave birth to twelve or more children  YES

49.  Have an ancestor with a rare/unusual/uncommon forename  YES

50.  Have an ancestral family who changed their surname  NO, well spelling from Worchester to Wooster…

51.  Have a passenger list or travel manifest for an ancestor  YES

52.  Have an ancestor who was adopted  NO- some collateral though

53.  Have an ancestor who adopted a child   NO, collateral

54.  Have a naturalization record for an ancestor  YES

55.  Have an ancestor who received a military pension  YES

56.  Have a school record or school census for an ancestor  YES

57.  Have an ancestor with a gravestone still in existence from the 18th century  YES

58.  Have an ancestor with a gravestone still in existence from the 17th century or earlier  YES

59.  Have an ancestor who had only one child who survived to adulthood  NO

60.  Are descended twice from one couple  YES

61.  Are descended three times or more from one couple  NO, but possible

62.  Are descended from an American president or other political figure  NO

63.  Are descended from a person famous in history, other than in politics  NO

64.  Have an ancestor with a rare/unusual/unique surname  PERHAPS …Milk, Chase

65.  Have an ancestor who you have found mentioned in a pre-1870 newspaper  YES

66.  Can name the ship on which at least one ancestor emigrated  YES

67.  Have a female ancestor who worked outside the home pre-World War II  YES

68.  Know of at least one ancestor who returned to the ancestral home after emigration  Perhaps… have heard one did, but haven’t found evidence yet

69.  Know of at least one ancestor who permanently returned to the ancestral home after emigration   NO

70.  Have an ancestor who was survived by 50 or more grandchildren  NO

So I have 34 YES out of 70.