It's Saturday Night -
time for more Genealogy Fun!
Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music here) is to:
1) Do you know what a "Henry Number" is? It is a descendant numbering system from a specific person. The Wikipedia article for Genealogical Numbering Systems describes it as:
"The Henry System is a descending system created by Reginald Buchanan Henry for a genealogy of the families of the presidents of the United States that he wrote in 1935.[3] It can be organized either by generation or not. The system begins with 1. The oldest child becomes 11, the next child is 12, and so on. The oldest child of 11 is 111, the next 112, and so on. The system allows one to derive an ancestor's relationship based on their number. For example, 621 is the first child of 62, who is the second child of 6, who is the sixth child of his parents. In the Henry System, when there are more than nine children, X is used for the 10th child, A is used for the 11th child, B is used for the 12th child, and so on. In the Modified Henry System, when there are more than nine children, numbers greater than nine are placed in parentheses."
2) Go to your first known ancestor with your birth surname in your software program and calculate your Henry Number from that person. Show each generation of your line of ancestors with your birth surname with their Henry numbers.
3) How did you calculate the Henry numbers? What do these numbers tell you?
4) Tell us in your own blog post, in a comment on this blog post, or in a Facebook post.
Here's mine:
2) My first known ancestor with my birth surname of Seaver is Robert Seaver (1608-1683). Here is my Seaver line with their Henry numbers.
1 Robert Seaver (1608-1683)
11 Shubael Seaver (1640-1730)*
112 Joseph Seaver (1672-1754)*
1121 Robert Seaver (1702-1752)*
11214 Norman Seaver (1734-1787)*
112142 Benjamin Seaver (1757-1816)*
1121424 Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825)*
11214243 Isaac Seaver (1823-1901)*
112142431 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922)*
1121424311 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942)*
11214243115 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983)*
112142431151 Randall Jeffrey Seaver (1943-living)*
* Denotes a son who was the eldest son that married and had children.
3) I created a Descendants Narrative Report (1,811 pages!) in RootsMagic 7 using Robert Seaver as the starting ancestor, requested 12 generations, picked the Henry Number option, and then the program traced all of Robert Seaver's descendants through the report. I was on page 63.
Amazingly, each one of these males were the eldest son that survived and had children. For instance, Joseph Seaver (1672-1754) had an older brother, Robert Seaver (1670-1672) who did not survive childhood, so Joseph was the eldest surviving son with children. Norman Seaver (1734-1787) had two older brothers who did not marry or survive childhood, so Norman was the eldest surviving son who had children. My father had an older brother who died before my father was born, and three sisters, so he was the 5th child, but the first son that had children. What this means is that if Robert Seaver (1608-1683) had been a King, then I would be the current King, assuming succession through only the eldest male with children (not the current system in most royal lines).
In order to have an accurate Henry Number report, a researcher needs to have a complete list of children in each ancestral family, and know their birth order. I think I have done that in my own Seaver line.
There are five persons in my Seaver line that were the first-born child, and two more that were the second-born child.
4) I did!
"The Henry System is a descending system created by Reginald Buchanan Henry for a genealogy of the families of the presidents of the United States that he wrote in 1935.[3] It can be organized either by generation or not. The system begins with 1. The oldest child becomes 11, the next child is 12, and so on. The oldest child of 11 is 111, the next 112, and so on. The system allows one to derive an ancestor's relationship based on their number. For example, 621 is the first child of 62, who is the second child of 6, who is the sixth child of his parents. In the Henry System, when there are more than nine children, X is used for the 10th child, A is used for the 11th child, B is used for the 12th child, and so on. In the Modified Henry System, when there are more than nine children, numbers greater than nine are placed in parentheses."
2) Go to your first known ancestor with your birth surname in your software program and calculate your Henry Number from that person. Show each generation of your line of ancestors with your birth surname with their Henry numbers.
3) How did you calculate the Henry numbers? What do these numbers tell you?
4) Tell us in your own blog post, in a comment on this blog post, or in a Facebook post.
Here's mine:
2) My first known ancestor with my birth surname of Seaver is Robert Seaver (1608-1683). Here is my Seaver line with their Henry numbers.
1 Robert Seaver (1608-1683)
11 Shubael Seaver (1640-1730)*
112 Joseph Seaver (1672-1754)*
1121 Robert Seaver (1702-1752)*
11214 Norman Seaver (1734-1787)*
112142 Benjamin Seaver (1757-1816)*
1121424 Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825)*
11214243 Isaac Seaver (1823-1901)*
112142431 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922)*
1121424311 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942)*
11214243115 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983)*
112142431151 Randall Jeffrey Seaver (1943-living)*
* Denotes a son who was the eldest son that married and had children.
3) I created a Descendants Narrative Report (1,811 pages!) in RootsMagic 7 using Robert Seaver as the starting ancestor, requested 12 generations, picked the Henry Number option, and then the program traced all of Robert Seaver's descendants through the report. I was on page 63.
Amazingly, each one of these males were the eldest son that survived and had children. For instance, Joseph Seaver (1672-1754) had an older brother, Robert Seaver (1670-1672) who did not survive childhood, so Joseph was the eldest surviving son with children. Norman Seaver (1734-1787) had two older brothers who did not marry or survive childhood, so Norman was the eldest surviving son who had children. My father had an older brother who died before my father was born, and three sisters, so he was the 5th child, but the first son that had children. What this means is that if Robert Seaver (1608-1683) had been a King, then I would be the current King, assuming succession through only the eldest male with children (not the current system in most royal lines).
In order to have an accurate Henry Number report, a researcher needs to have a complete list of children in each ancestral family, and know their birth order. I think I have done that in my own Seaver line.
There are five persons in my Seaver line that were the first-born child, and two more that were the second-born child.
4) I did!
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Copyright (c) 2020, Randall J. Seaver
Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.
Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.
