How many generations back to you go before linking with others?

+13 votes
447 views
I'm on my 3rd and 4th generation back and am not linking up to anyone else on WikiTree. That's not entirely true, I have one "possibility" blocked by that portion of the tree being "private" 3 generations back. On one other line, I linked up but that line just as quickly died out. I must be the biggest nobody from the biggest line of nobodies. I joined this site hoping for some help with my brick walls, but apparently the brick wall starts with me....

Haskins-2085
in WikiTree Help by Rebecca Haskins G2G6 Mach 2 (21.8k points)

9 Answers

+8 votes
 
Best answer

Rebecca,

You are connected, but just need to fill in some gaps.  Many of the surnames in your tree are very common (Wright, Williams, Jones) so eventually they should connect somewhere. But others are not so common (Acord, Firquain). One of the things that I do is check for alternate spellings (Accord, Achord, etc.). Many used phonetic spellings or other variations in the older records. I have filled in many gaps that way. I've seen my surname as Parman, Perman, Parmin, Purman, etc. There are also many recording/transcription errors in the US Census data. When searching for a surname, always check the upper right of the results page as it will give possible alternatives here on Wikitree.

One of the other things you can do is find out where your gaps are closest to you. The easiest thing to do is pull up your "Surnames" page and try to fill in those entries with a question mark. You still have a few at the great-grand-parent level that need to be filled in.

If you want a little more detail, try the "My Connections Tab" on your connections page. This is basically the same thing, but in a different format and with more detail. Also if you click on the "Missing Connections" button, it will tell you where you have missing parents or spouses. I also noticed that you have many people marked as "Private" starting with the 5th Degree back. Anyone who is deceased should be marked as "Public or Open". Another reason this may come up is if the death date is blank, but the still living box is checked. Of course these profiles may not be yours since you are connected... It just makes it difficult for others to connect when this is the case.

Happy Hunting!!!

by Ken Parman G2G6 Pilot (122k points)
selected by Rebecca Haskins
+11 votes
by Jane Copes G2G6 Mach 3 (36.0k points)
What kind of voodoo did you just do? I'm so flabbergasted and amazed.
I hope I'm not spamming my own thread, but Van Ness is the one line I did link up to! Super cool.
+8 votes
We're 22 steps apart, Rebecca!

When you run into a brick wall, check out the project list. Projects usually have lists of regional resources that can help you with your research. You can also connect with other members interested in the locations or surnames that you are interested in. The project list can be found under the Find drop down menu.

Hope that helps a little.
by Peggy Watkins G2G6 Pilot (849k points)
+9 votes
I had to go back two generations (one of my grandmothers was already on Wikitree, thanks to a 4th cousin who added most of the descendants of our common ancestors); on most of my lines I had to go back much further (8-10 generations) before finding a connection.
by C Handy G2G6 Pilot (212k points)
Sometimes it helps to go sideways, not just up (back).
+11 votes

I'm stealing this line:

the biggest nobody from the biggest line of nobodies

We're 23 degrees apart. We would have been more, but I recently added my still living aunt from Boise, Idaho. 

I think you don't match too many people because your family lived way out west. Many of our members have ties to the Northeast and colonial America. 

by Lucy Selvaggio-Diaz G2G6 Pilot (839k points)
I just read your other connection pathway, so now I am a doofus. Your ancestry looks like it goes back to Virginia!
Ha! Some of my lines go back to the East Coast of the US (Virginia, Maryland, etc.) and across the pond to Germany and the UK; but many have stayed around Arizona, Texas, California, Arkansas, Oklahoma, etc.

I have a family member who has been doing genealogy for 30+ years. We are well connected on Ancestry.com (her main database) and Familysearch.org, but here I feel like an outlier.
+7 votes
Rebecca:

       It's probably just coincidence.  For links with family members close to you, a lot depends on who else to you is working on family lines and which family lines.

       You have done a wonderful job on your ancestors so far and, with names like Clawson and Van Ness, you are going to have a bunch of connections, just a little farther back.

                                   Roger

P.S.  I am a Van Ness descendant, too, just a little farther back than you are.
by Roger Stong G2G Astronaut (1.4m points)
+5 votes
You are 26 degrees from me, but more accurately it's 25 degrees from my husband. all of my connections in North America are through my husband.

The person who is the connection between his ancestors and yours is Marr-106.

This the connection between you and my FIL

https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Special:Connection&action=connect&person1Name=Dods-238&person2Name=Haskins-2085&relation=0&ignoreIds=
by M Ross G2G6 Pilot (749k points)
+6 votes
I have a feeling my connections would be a lot closer if I could get some more of my lines, particularly Haskins, Parker, Clawson, Schultz, Clawson, and Wright connected into the bigger tree. My Stewart line is a big ol' brick wall. I'm fairly certain that I'm NOT a Utah Stewart (i.e. Mormon), but that's not even a solid no.

Thanks y'all! I'm feeling a little less nobody-ish.
by Rebecca Haskins G2G6 Mach 2 (21.8k points)

Also, take a look at the profile on Walter Isaac Haskins at https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/descendancy/KJJH-CRT.   There is information on his parents, as well as lots of sources, and a family tree that will help you sail back.

P.S. His father Rev. Francis Haskins - https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Haskins-598 - is already connected.  It's just that no one has built out his family yet.

Thanks for all your helpful information. Using this site hasn't been super intuitive for me. I've only been on it for a couple of days and it's confusing. I got frustrated when I couldn't "get a leaf" to use another site's analogy after putting up several generations.

What do you do when a profile manager has the portion of the tree blocked? I sent him a merge request, but not sure if he's still active and/or if he'll want to merge with me.

I have my Haskins ancestry back to the 1400's on another site; I'm just trying to build out this one to see if I can ultimately get some brick walls un-bricked.
I added sources to your profile for Isaac and I added sources to his father Francis since I also found a duplicate for him. Having the sources there will help the profile managers determine that they are matches and approve the merges.
Thank you for your help! I "adopted" Rev. Francis H. Haskins' orphaned profile, but still want to merge it with the other.
+2 votes

not sure why you were thinking this, we are 12 cousins, with 79 common ancestorswink

by Arora Anonymous G2G6 Pilot (166k points)

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