Geneology, I am doing it!

[DU Ute]

I was messing around on New Family Search and traced a line of my lineage to this. I'm sure it would be impossible to monitor everything on there, but I thought it was interesting that this was on a Church site.

[grapevine]

I used to go at the fhc at then Ricks College to look up to see if work was done for famous or infamour figures my own line and girls I had crushes on. Geneology stalker on girls I liked. That is strange I would say.

[DU Ute]

I used to go at the fhc at then Ricks College to look up to see if work was done for famous or infamour figures my own line and girls I had crushes on. Geneology stalker on girls I liked. That is strange I would say.

This is my nomination for Best Threadjack Cuffie.

[falafel]

This is my nomination for Best Threadjack Cuffie.

How can that be a thread jack? Its about genealogy!

[Indy Coug]

I had always heard rumors about people who could trace their lineage back to Adam until one Sunday our EQ instructor actually came to class with such a pedigree. The bottom line is that he tapped into an royal Irish line that in turn traced their ancestry to Adam. Do I believe it was accurate? Not really, but it was cool to see nonetheless.

It was something on the order of 150 generations.

[Moliere]

I had always heard rumors about people who could trace their lineage back to Adam until one Sunday our EQ instructor actually came to class with such a pedigree. The bottom line is that he tapped into an royal Irish line that in turn traced their ancestry to Adam. Do I believe it was accurate? Not really, but it was cool to see nonetheless.

It was something on the order of 150 generations.

I've got one of those. Of course I think it is common knowledge that those royal lines were made up past some point. You can imagine the king telling the court secretary to show his divine origin with the secretary knowing full well what would happen if he wasn't able to produce such a document.

[happyone]

I had always heard rumors about people who could trace their lineage back to Adam until one Sunday our EQ instructor actually came to class with such a pedigree. The bottom line is that he tapped into an royal Irish line that in turn traced their ancestry to Adam. Do I believe it was accurate? Not really, but it was cool to see nonetheless.

It was something on the order of 150 generations.

We have one family in our ward that has done the same thing. Last year we did a special YW/YM on geneology and they brought the chart to display. It really was impressive.

[Indy Coug]

I've got one of those. Of course I think it is common knowledge that those royal lines were made up past some point. You can imagine the king telling the court secretary to show his divine origin with the secretary knowing full well what would happen if he wasn't able to produce such a document.

Yeah, pretty much.

[Uncle Ted]

The following is an interesting article on why mormons do genealogy work (and why it wasn't always the case)...

Temple adoptions were part of LDS evolution toward genealogy work

The majority of faithful Latter-day Saints who engage in temple work for the dead probably have never heard of the Law of Adoption. Yet, for roughly a half century, until 116 years ago, it was the forerunner of today’s large-scale church temple ordinances for the deceased, which are considered sacred and necessary in the LDS Church for afterlife progression.

Gordon Irving, then associate historian for the LDS Church, wrote a fascinating piece for the spring 1974 issue of BYU Studies. Titled, “The Law of Adoption: One Phase of the Development of the Mormon Concept of Salvation, 1830-1900,” Irving explains that in 1830, the genesis of the church, “early members appear to have accepted the traditional Christian view of a heaven for the righteous and a hell for the wicked.”

That would change soon. By 1832, Irving writes, the prophet Joseph Smith had published revelation that there were three separate kingdoms of glory within heaven, or salvation; furthermore, the kingdom assigned a person depended on his or her good works. At this time, the Mormon concept of hell evolved into a place called “sons of perdition,” which was restricted to very few.

The concept of eternal salvation would continue to evolve for more than half a century. Irving explains that an aspect of LDS belief that attracted many converts was its claim of authority to act in God’s name. While Smith assured Saints via revelation that “All who have died without a knowledge of this Gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom,” many wondered how a deceased loved one could attain the celestial kingdon without baptism. The solution, according to Smith, was baptism for the dead.

However, Smith’s 1843 revelation dividing the celestial kingdom into three degrees asserted that family ties, extending back to Adam, were essential to achieving exaltation, or the highest degree of the celestial kingdom. The “way to do this,” explained Smith later, was through celestial marriage in a temple. Through celestial marriage, the doctrine goes, earth’s families could be linked to a chain of family that began to Adam and subsequently, become “heirs of exaltation.”

But the exaltation doctrine created concerns that persons would attain the celestial kingdom but not its highest level because they could not link their family chains to a proper priesthood authority extending to Adam.

A solution to that dilemma was that prominent church members could be grafted — through ordination by the prophet — to the patriarchal order — thereby allowing them to “adopt as children” members of the church. This is a key reason early church members, such as John D. Lee, are often referred to as “adopted sons” of Brigham Young, or Heber C. Kimball, or other apostles.

Although Irvine says it’s unclear if adoptions occurred before Smith died, they were common when Brigham Young became prophet. In fact, there were plans to even start settlements with “adopted” families of Young, Kimball, John Taylor, Willard Richards, and other prominent LDS apostles.

According to Irvine’s article, some of the early apostles even pitched themselves and advertised for “children to adopt.” Irvine writes, “Apostle George A. Lee Smith admitted in February, 1847, that he had lextioneered” with all his might to get people to join him.” These “adopted” families would meet for conferences with counsel from Young, Kimball, and social events such as dances.

Within several years, though, adoptions had fallen out of favor. Human nature was a key reason. Like real families, adopted siblings tended to quarrel. Irvine recounts feuds between Lee and other of Young’s adopted children. Other examples include adopted childen — grown men — worried they would be subordinate to their “adopted fathers” in the celestial Kingdon. Other adopted “children” believed they could be supported by their “fathers.” Prophet Young, writes Irvine, wryly noted in 1847 “that he hoped the day would come when his adopted children would ‘have to provide temporal blessings for me instead of my boarding from 40 to 50 persons as I do now …’”

In the 1870s, the construction of a temple in St. George, Utah, renewed interest in adoption. New rules were established for the ordinance. One allowed deceased non-member husbands of women members to be adopted. Another allowed members more choice in who they could choose as an adopted father. As a result of the temples being away from Salt Lake City, many members chose deceased apostles to adopt them, because a proxy could be used.

Eventually, the second phase of adoptions failed to satisfy members as well. Many were distressed at the strict rules allowing only one generation beyond baptism to be adopted. Church members who had traced their ancestry much further, writes Irvine, were upset those ancestors would not have the fulness of the Gospel. Others groused that the adoption doctrine was still too complex and difficult to understand.

Adoption ended via — once again — a revelation. In 1894, Church Prophet Wilford Woodruff announced that all children would be “adopted to his (or her) father.” He further said, “We want the Latter-day Saints from this time to trace their genealogies as far as they can, and to be sealed to their fathers and mothers. Have children sealed to their parents, and run the chain as far as you can get it.”

President Woodruff detailed the revelation as additions from the Lord to what Joseph Smith hard originally received. This, Irvine explains, fits with the Mormon concept of continuous revelation, “line upon line, precept upon precept,”

Woodruff’s revelation was very popular, and remains so today. It’s no coincidence that the Mormons’ now iconic interest in geneology work increased at that time.

There were still kinks to be worked out. Church leaders took pains to assure anxious members that adoption/sealing to a parent was as valid as one to an apostle. Also, the 13,000-plus Saints who had been adopted by Young, Kimball, and the others were a dilemma. As Irvine writes, Church leaders let God sort it out, directing these members to be sealed to their parents while keeping their former “adoptions” in church records.

[SuperGabers]

FWIW, the song now goes, "Family History. I am doing it..." Ya. I know. Whatever.

[BlueHair]

FWIW, the song now goes, "Family History. I am doing it..." Ya. I know. Whatever.

They also worked in the word, "progenitor", which is extra cool. When we taught primary I had to go home and look it up in the dictionary.

[Moliere]

The following is an interesting article on why mormons do genealogy work (and why it wasn't always the case)...

Temple adoptions were part of LDS evolution toward genealogy work

Crazy! I had heard of this doctrine but had never read anything on it. I remember using it as an explanation for why Joseph Smith had so many wives as I would tell people they were simply married to him through this adoption doctrine and weren't really "wives" in the literal sense. I of course was wrong, but so were many of us back in our missionary days.

Thankfully I'm not a high priest so I don't have to worry about geneology....yet.

[Spicy McHaggis]

There used to be a section of the Ensign where members could send in questions and have them answered by an authority (It may still have this, I haven't looked at one in a while).
Anyway about 10 years ago someone wrote in and asked if it was possible to trace geneoloy back to Adam. The person who answered said that it was NOT possible to do so.
Not that Adam was literal anyway.

[TripletDaddy]

There used to be a section of the Ensign where members could send in questions and have them answered by an authority (It may still have this, I haven't looked at one in a while).
Anyway about 10 years ago someone wrote in and asked if it was possible to trace geneoloy back to Adam. The person who answered said that it was NOT possible to do so.
Not that Adam was literal anyway.

If you look at an ensign from the 90s or earlier, you will find a small bit that clarifies "Pronounced En SIGN not En SUN"

That was removed this past decade, probably to not embarrass Utah Mormons, the largest subscriber base.

[SeattleUte]

Let us know when you get it done back to Adam. That's always an exciting milestone.