I have always been critical of persons tracking their genealogy. Beyond the third generation it becomes ridiculous. Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and people who track their lineage back to Plymouth are spouting nonsense. Considering 1630, someone born in 1950 can count 262,144 grandparents, while the population of the United States (less Native Americans) was less than 5,000. Anyone, with more than three generations in the United States could probably qualify for either.
During the 1600's many women died of child birth, resulting in a large percentage of husbands having more than one wife/family. Along with immigration, the unavoidable intermarriage of half siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins... has to be factored in the early population growth. A complete genealogy search of these early dates might be quite revealing.
Chart for
someone born in 1950
DATE |
GENERATION |
GRANDFATHERS |
GRANDMOTHERS |
1950 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1930 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
1910 |
3 |
8 |
8 |
1890 |
4 |
16 |
16 |
1870 |
5 |
32 |
32 |
1850 |
6 |
64 |
64 |
1830 |
7 |
128 |
128 |
1810 |
8 |
256 |
256 |
1790 |
9 |
512 |
512 |
1770 |
10 |
1,024 |
1,024 |
1750 |
11 |
2,048 |
2,048 |
1730 |
12 |
4,096 |
4,096 |
1710 |
13 |
8,192 |
8,192 |
1690 |
14 |
16,384 |
16,384 |
1670 |
15 |
32,768 |
32,768 |
1650 |
16 |
65,536 |
65,536 |
1630 |
17 |
131,072 |
131,072 |
1610 |
18 |
262,144 |
262,144 |
1590 |
19 |
524,288 |
524,288 |
1570 |
20 |
1,048,576 |
1,048,576 |
1550 |
21 |
2,097,152 |
2,097,152 |
1530 |
22 |
4,194,304 |
4,194,304 |
1510 |
23 |
8,388,608 |
8,388,608 |
1490 |
24 |
16,777,216 |
16,777,216 |
1780 |
1770 |
1760 |
1750 |
1740 |
1730 |
1720 |
1710 |
1700 |
1690 |
1680 |
1670 |
1660 |
1650 |
1640 |
1630 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2780369 |
2148076 |
1593625 |
1170760 |
905563 |
629445 |
466185 |
331711 |
250888 |
210372 |
151507 |
111935 |
75058 |
50368 |
26634 |
4646 |
Young women have typically started families by age
twenty; therefore, I have used twenty years as the time interval for previous
generations
year |
1400 |
1500 |
1600 |
1700 |
1800 |
1900 |
Sept. 2021 |
|
population |
400 |
500 |
600 |
700 |
900 |
1.6 |
7.787 |
|
|
Million |
Million |
Million |
Million |
Million |
Billion |
Billion |
|
Estimated world population
# You can adjust the Date up or down by 20 year increments to
determine your generational numbers.
Just saying
the Ol'Buzzard
Hey there, Cousin Buzzard!
ReplyDeleteSo - I've got all my sisters in me...
ReplyDeleteThose stupid charts fail to take into account back crossing among families. It is not inbreeding when third or fourth cousins marry and in small populations lacking mobility it happened all the time. One of the benefits of searching out one's ancestors to see who you really are related to.
ReplyDeleteI belong to a one name genealogy group that has traced thousands of names accurately, based on many sources. The challenge is to tie the groups together at some point. It is as much fun as a huge zigsaw puzzle. And it ruined several of my grandfather's stories, darn it. The stories were better.