Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Ahnentafel Roulette!

Another great activity created by Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings to help us share something about our families in our blog.

1) What year was one of your great-grandfathers born? Divide this number by 75 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."

2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel" - your software will create this - use the "Ahnentafel List" option, or similar). Who is that person, and what are his/her vital information?

3) Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."

4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook status or a Google Stream post, or as a comment on this blog post.

1.  Johann Anton Hork was my oldest grandfather on my paternal side. He was born 9 Nov 1843 in Oberhundem, Westfalia (Germany). When dividing this date by 75, I get 24.7. This number will be rounded up to 25.

2.  Number 25 in my ancestry is Olivia Jane Jones. She was my second great grandmother on my maternal side. She was the daughter of Benjamin W. Jones and Amanda A. Haley. She was born 22 Feb 1859 in Mississippi, probably near Brandon in Rankin County. She married Reuben Mack Johnston on 23 Dec 1879 in Comanche County, Texas. She died 11 Dec 1914 in Gustine, Comanche County, Texas.

3.  At least three facts for her are:

• Olivia and Reuben had 13 children, with 11 living until adulthood. 

Rufus A. Johnston (1880-1954)
Malissie Pearl Johnston (1882-1959)
Robert Lee Johnston (1884-1950)
Thomas Newton Johnston (1885-1951)
Florence Ellen Johnston (1887-1978)
Ruby Hardy Johnston (1888-1938)
Edma Mae Johnston (1891-1976)
Woodie Andrew Johnston (1892-1966)
Lillie Estell Johnston (1894-1943)
Fannie Bertha Johnston (1896-1912)
Oral Dotterage “Pig” Johnston (1898-1987)
Loyce Smith Johnston (1902-1903)
Lloyd Strickland “Nig” Johnston (1904-1956)

She also helped raise the three daughters of Reuben’s first marriage.

• Olivia had 8 brothers and sisters, and two sisters were twins.

Mary F. Jones
Walter A Jones
Thomas W. Jones
Bettie E Jones
Columbus Jones
Laura C Jones (twin)
Ellen S Jones (twin)
Mattie M Jones

• The story passed down was her father had been a surgeon during the Civil War and had died of an illness. Her mother brought the family (five girls and one boy) to Texas.

Here is a photo of the Johnston Family taken from the newspaper, Comanche Chief, 29 Nov 1979.

4. Posted on my blog and linked to Randy’s blog post.

Copyright © 2015 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.