We’ve all heard people say, “My work is all done.” Perhaps you have even said that yourself. There may not be much to do when you look back at your direct lines, but have you thought about looking forward?
Unlike ancestral research, which focuses on working your way back in time to find your ancestors, descendancy research typically starts with an ancestral couple and their children and moves forward towards the present.
Some of the advantages of descendancy research include:
- More names. One big advantage of doing descendancy research is in the potential number of relatives you could find. Each individual only has 16 great, great grandparents, but just one of those couples might have hundreds of descendants.
- Easier records. More recent records are usually easier to find, more complete, and easier to understand. Descendancy research takes advantage of more recent records over earlier, usually harder-to-find older records.
- More clues. Descendancy research can lead you to important clues, contacts, or records that you might otherwise not find. Understanding the children often leads to more information about the parents.
All of these things can lead to increased temple opportunities.
“Step-by-Step Descendancy Research,” a recent webinar for family history consultants, provides ideas that can help you to find those temple opportunities. Tim Bingaman, a professional reference consultant at the Family History Library, has been doing descendancy research for over 10 years. In this consultant webinar, Tim shares the latest tools and resources, such as Puzzilla.org, and answers questions from consultants. You can watch the webinar recording as well as download the presentation slides for your own use. You can also download the handout.
Elder Richard G. Scott has said, "Any work you do in the temple is time well spent, but receiving ordinances vicariously for one of your own ancestors will make the time in the temple more sacred, and even greater blessings will be received" ("The Joy of Redeeming the Dead," Ensign, Nov. 2012).
Try it yourself and then help someone else!
Additional resources:
- Using Puzzilla to Find Our Ancestors
- Easy Steps to Descendancy Research
- Policies for Submitting Names for Temple Work
Tim Bingaman
Originally from Pennsylvania, Tim has worked for the Family History Department for over 20 years. He is accredited in Mid-Atlantic States research with considerable experience in Pennsylvania research. Tim has been doing descendancy research for over 10 years, meeting many distant relations and gathering pictures and stories.
