Tuesday, May 13, 2014

WikiTree's "100 Degrees of AJ" Tool and Relationship Calculator

 AJ Jacobs wants to hold the largest family reunion ever (see http://ajjacobs.com/global-family-reunion/) in June 2015, and has added his own family tree to WikiTree and Geni.com.

WikiTree has a new page for "100 Degrees of AJ" tool to determine if you are related (somehow) to AJ Jacobs. I can't resist things like this, so I tried it out:

1)  Here is the page for the "100 Degrees of AJ" tool:


2)  To see if you are related to AJ Jacobs, click on the link that says "100 Degrees of AJ Jacobs."  You have to do this from the screen above, I think.  Here is the form:



In order to see if you are related to AJ Jacobs, you have to be in the WikiTree connected family tree, and connect to AJ's family line somehow.

3)  I put my WikiTree ID (Seaver-15) into the "WikiTree ID for Person Two" above, and it told me that AJ and I have 24 degrees of separation:


The "common" link is the Prescott family in Massachusetts, where AJ is related (through several twists through siblings of his grandfather) to Benjamin Prescott (1687-1777), and I am descended from Benjamin's brother, Samuel Prescott (1674-1758).

4)  On the second screen above, there is a link to "Find a Relationship" of any person in the WikiTree to another person in the WikiTree.  The link is at  http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Special:Relationship:


I found another Seaver person in the WikiTree, so I added their WikiTree ID along with my own on the screen above, and saw the result:



I am a 4th cousin 6 times removed from William J. Seaver (1810-1892).

5)  On the WikiTree profile page for William J. Seaver (shown below), I can click on the "Relationship" button" and see the same relationship chart as above.


6)  I like the Relationship calculator - it is very helpful.  However, WikiTree has "only" about 7 or 8 million profiles, so not every person is in this connected family tree, and therefore you may not find a relationship connection unless someone has added their ancestral lines.

7)  Are you related to AJ Jacobs?  Check out the tool noted above to find out, but only if you have added your ancestry to WikiTree.

Now I'm wondering if I can attend the World's Largest Family Reunion in June 2015, since I'm related (somehow) to AJ Jacobs!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/05/wikitrees-100-degrees-of-aj-tool-and.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver


8 comments:

Dr. Bill (William L.) Smith said...

Interesting. I was 31 degrees of separation, but not a blood relationship. Thanks for posting! ;-)

Geolover said...

If your only connection is through the wife of a brother of your ancestor (she being sister to his Higginson ancestor), you are not related to A. J.

Ancestry.com's relationship widget makes the same mistake -- making a spousal relationship equivalent to a blood relationship (sometimes they are!).

T said...

Randy, are you related to the Dr. Samuel Prescott who rode with Paul Revere? I traced my Esther Prescott Bailey grandmother back but she must not be the same branch. It's amazing how many "famous" names are in my ancestry but not in the "famous" branches.

A.J. Jacobs said...

Hi Randy!
Thanks for the post, my cousin. And OF COURSE you are invited. As are all your readers. Please save the date -- June 6 2015.
And sign up for the mailing list so I can keep you updated.
My email by the way is aj.jacobs@mac.com
Your cousin AJ

Jana Iverson Last said...

I got 32 degrees of separation from A. J. Jacobs. At step 5 it switched from his direct line to a husband of one of his ancestors. Interesting stuff.

Chris Whitten said...

Thanks for posting this, Randy!

For reference, you can jump directly to your connection with AJ through this link: http://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Special:Connection&action=connect&person1Name=Jacobs-2987&person2Name=Seaver-15

Any member can click to http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Special:Connection to enter their ID, or click from the link on our home page.

Hilary Gadsby said...

Mine came out as 42 degrees as some relation of my husband has a connection.
I was not sure how it would work as our family are UK based.

Cheri Hudson Passey said...

34 degrees of separation through my paternal line!