Visualization Tool Highlights a Family Tree Surprise

During RootsTech 2021 I typed and saved this note: Go to learnforeverlearn.com/ancestors to visualize endogamy. I know I tried it in 2021. Yet this time, it had a dramatic revelation for me.

All you do is go to the website linked above and upload a GEDCOM file exported from your family tree. You'll see the results in seconds. If your tree has pedigree collapse—ancestors with more than one direct ancestral relationship to you—you'll see pairs of lines that don't go straight up. They'll be horizontal or diagonal. (See The DNA Problem We Aren't Talking About.)

The website will show each direct ancestor in your family tree as a pink or blue dot. (Pink for maternal, blue for paternal.) Hover over any dot to see:

• The ancestor's name and lifespan
• Their birthplace
• How much DNA they contributed to you (by percentage)
• Their relationship(s) to you—the root person of the family tree.

When I hover over the pink dot at the apex of one of my horizontal lines, I see Cristina Iapozzuto. Under relationship it says she's my 4th great grandmother "twice." And I knew this. Cristina Iapozzuto married Francesco Iamarino. Two of their sons were Giuseppantonio and Pasquale. Giuseppantonio's great grandson is my paternal grandfather, Pietro Iamarino. Pasquale's great granddaughter is my paternal grandmother, Lucy Iamarino. I learned in 2007 that Pietro and Lucy were 3rd cousins. I'll forever wonder why no one in my family knew this—especially when they had the same last name.

Wait a minute. I have TWO sets of double ancestors? This free tool doesn't lie.

Since Cristina Iapozzuto and Francesco Iamarino are my 4th great grandparents twice, they each have two different Ahnentafel numbers. Ahnentafel is a numbering system that gives a unique number to each of your direct ancestors. (See A Roadmap for Your Genealogy Research.) If they're double ancestors, they get 2 different Ahnentafel numbers. So Cristina gets Ahnentafel #65 and #81. I list my double ancestors twice in my Ahnentafel spreadsheet, once for each number. I use a special color of orange to highlight them.

An Unexpected Double Relationship

But the second example of endogamy in my family tree had escaped me until now. Salvatore Piacquadio (born 1716) and Donata diRuccia (born 1718) are my 6th great grandparents AND my 7th great grandparents. Their son Giorgio is my 6th great grandfather, an ancestor of my grandmother Lucy Iamarino. Their son Pietro is my 5th great grandfather, also an ancestor of my grandmother Lucy Iamarino.

My huge family tree has tons of multiple relationships. That's thanks to countless marriages within small towns. (See The Method to My Genealogy Madness.) Because it's so big, I'd overlooked the uniqueness of this particular family unit.

Family Tree Maker knew they were my double ancestors. But it took another tool to make me see it.

The signs were there in my Family Tree Maker file, but I'd missed them. The easiest sign to spot required only one thing: I needed to lay eyes on this family. If I had, I'd have seen that 2 of Salvatore and Donata's children had the yellow arrow that says they're my direct ancestor. But I didn't see it. That's why this online endogamy tool is such a gift. A free gift.

If your family tree has a good number of generations, I urge you to try this online endogamy tool. The tool has many functions. You can read about them at http://familytreeviz.blogspot.com/2015/09/features-of-family-tree-visualization.html.