Help:Ahnentafel

From Familypedia

An Ahnentafel is a word used to refer to an ancestry chart. The format follows a number system:

The home person is #1 on the chart, their parents are #2 (father) and #3 (mother). It follows a format afterward as 4. father's father, 5. father's mother, 6. mother's father, 7. mother's mother, etc. All males on the chart are even numbers, all females are odd numbers. The only exception is the home person (#1) could be either male or female. An example chart:

Self

1. Self

Parents

2. Father

3. Mother

Grandparents

4. Father's father

5. Father's mother

6. Mother's father

7. Mother's mother

Great grandparents

8. Father's father's father

9. Father's father's mother

10. Father's mother's father

11. Father's mother's mother

12. Mother's father's father

13. Mother's father's mother

14. Mother's mother's father

15. Mother's mother's mother

With each generation, each amount of people doubles. Everyone has (biologically) 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great grandparents, 16 2nd great grandparents, 32 3rd great grandparents, etc. The only exception is with intermarriages, but those people with similar ancestries are counted twice.

To figure out a person's father, double their number. To figure out a person's mother, double their number and add one. Example:

Number 8, your father's father's father (your great grandfather). Their father would be at number 16 (8 x 2 = 16) and their mother at 17 (8 x 2 + 1 = 17). Number 17's mother is at 35 (17 x 2 + 1 = 35). To figure out a person's child, If they are female, example, at number 41. Their husband would always be right before them (40). So to figure out 40 and 41's child, divide the father's number in half to get 20. (40 / 2 = 20). This same method can be used to figure out grandchild, great grand child, etc. Using 40 and 41 again, we would have:

• Their child: 40 / 2 = 20
• Their grandchild: 40 / 4 = 10 (Person 10 married Person 11)
• Their great grand child: 40 / 8 = 5 (Person 5 married Person 4)

However, you cannot find a child descended from 40 and 41 after number 5. 40 and 41's great great grandchild is the child of 4 and 5. You must divide the 4 in half, to get 2. And 2 is the father of the home person. In other words, the 3rd great grandchild of 40 and 41 is number 1, the home person.

[edit] Example construction

The following is an example of how one can set up an ahnentafel. We will even add dates of birth and death, as usually an anhnetafel can link to other people.

Let's say you want to do an Ahnentafel on John Isaac Smith IV (1934). Let's say we know his parents are John Isaac Smith III (1902-1985) and Mary Alice Johnson (1904-1963). The home person is at number one, and their parents at numbers 2 and 3:

1. John Isaac Smith IV (1934)

Parents

2. John Isaac Smith III (1902-1985)

3. Mary Alice Johnson (1904-1963)

Perhaps his paternal grandparents are John Isaac Smith, Jr. (1863-1933) and Abigail Elizabeth Williams (1867-1941). And his maternal grandparents are Henry Johnson (1870-1951) and Anne Thompson (1871-1958). We would have:

1. John Isaac Smith IV (1934)

Parents

2. John Isaac Smith III (1902-1985)

3. Mary Alice Johnson (1904-1963)

Grandparents

4. John Isaac Smith, Jr. (1863-1933)

5. Abigail Elizabeth Williams (1867-1941)

6. Henry Johnson (1870-1951)

7. Anne Thompson (1871-1958)

Of course, this may seem easy to put together, but the more generations you go back, the more people there are for each generation. Take the great grandparents generation for instance. It would be best to take a person farther in the chart, like Abigail Elizabeth Williams (1867-1941). Let's day her parents are Thomas Williams (1823-1870) and Margaret Taylor (1835-1902). Abigail's number is 5. 5 x 2 = 10, so Thomas is at 10. His wife is just next to him, at number 11. So now we have:

1. John Isaac Smith IV (1934)

Parents

2. John Isaac Smith III (1902-1985)

3. Mary Alice Johnson (1904-1963)

Grandparents

4. John Isaac Smith, Jr. (1863-1933)

5. Abigail Elizabeth Williams (1867-1941)

6. Henry Johnson (1870-1951)

7. Anne Thompson (1871-1958)

Great Grandparents

10. Thomas Williams (1823-1870)

11. Margaret Taylor (1835-1902)

Perhaps you wish to continue up Abigail's ancestors, before proceeding to the other grandparents on the list. Thomas is at number 10, so his father would be at number 20 (10 x 2 = 20) and his mother at number 21:

1. John Isaac Smith IV (1934)

Parents

2. John Isaac Smith III (1902-1985)

3. Mary Alice Johnson (1904-1963)

Grandparents

4. John Isaac Smith, Jr. (1863-1933)

5. Abigail Elizabeth Williams (1867-1941)

6. Henry Johnson (1870-1951)

7. Anne Thompson (1871-1958)

Great Grandparents

10. Thomas Williams (1823-1870)

11. Margaret Taylor (1835-1902)

2nd Great Grandparents

20. Joseph Williams (1792-1862)

21. Isabel Olson (1799-1882)

The same processes can be done with other people on the chart. Perhaps Isabel's mother is unknown, but her maternal grandmother is known. Since Isabel is at number 21, her father is at number 42 (21 x 2 = 42) This makes her mother at number 43. Isabel's maternal grandfather is at number 86 (43 x 2 = 86) and so her maternal grandmother is at number 87:

1. John Isaac Smith IV (1934)

Parents

2. John Isaac Smith III (1902-1985)

3. Mary Alice Johnson (1904-1963)

Grandparents

4. John Isaac Smith, Jr. (1863-1933)

5. Abigail Elizabeth Williams (1867-1941)

6. Henry Johnson (1870-1951)

7. Anne Thompson (1871-1958)

Great Grandparents

10. Thomas Williams (1823-1870)

11. Margaret Taylor (1835-1902)

2nd Great Grandparents

20. Joseph Williams (1792-1862)

21. Isabel Olson (1799-1882)

4th Great Grandparents

87. Catherine Richardson (1742-1784)

Eventually, you'll be able to fill in the chart's gaps and have a more complete looking ahnentafel:

1. John Isaac Smith IV (1934)

Parents

2. John Isaac Smith III (1902-1985)

3. Mary Alice Johnson (1904-1963)

Grandparents

4. John Isaac Smith, Jr. (1863-1933)

5. Abigail Elizabeth Williams (1867-1941)

6. Henry Johnson (1870-1951)

7. Anne Thompson (1871-1958)

Great Grandparents

8. John Isaac Smith (1830-1897)

9. Barbara Brown (1833-1902)

10. Thomas Williams (1823-1870)

11. Margaret Taylor (1835-1902)

12. Robert Johnson (1837-1909)

13. Josephine Ericson (1840-1932)

14. William Charles Thompson (1834-1901)

15. Maria García (1843-1920)

2nd Great Grandparents

16. James John Smith (1802-1881)

17. Alice Davidson (1805-1890)

18. Robert Brown (1899-1851)

19. Elizabeth Wilson (1801-1877)

20. Joseph Williams (1792-1862)

21. Isabel Olson (1799-1882)

28. Charles Thompson (1792-1843)

29. Maria Müller (1798-1843)

3rd Great grandparents

32. Thomas James Smith (1761-1820)

42. Robert Olson (1761-1799)

43. Ann Isaacson (1760-1832)

58. Johann Freidrich Müller (1755-1801)

59. Maria Schmidt (1758-1812)

4th Great Grandparents

64. William Smith (1734-1800)

86. John Isaacson (1733-1802)

87. Catherine Richardson (1742-1784)

5th Great Grandparents

128. John Smith (1701-1775)

6th Great Grandparents

256. Timothy W. Smith (1674-1717)

7th Great Grandparents

512. Edward Smith (1644-1701)