Descendancy Research

When doing genealogy research, descendancy research is the process of identifying all of the descendants of an ancestral couple.

Who are Descendants?
All of a couple's children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, great great grandchildren, etc. are considered their descendants

What is Descendancy Research?
Descendancy research is the process of choosing one of your ancestral couples and identifying all of their descendants. Start with a couple about 4-5 generations back on your pedigree who lived in the early to mid-nineteenth century in an area with available records. You then locate that couple and their children in available records, identify children, children's spouses, and grandchildren. Repeat for each of the children and grandchildren.

Why do Descendancy Research?
Descendancy Research will help you to identify and connect with distant cousins, locate family documents and photos, share stories, and collaborate on research projects.

How do I do Descendancy Research?
The following video and handout will help you use the resources of FamilySearch to find the descendants of one your ancestral couples.