Someone wrote to me that he has an "island" tree, so his connection to many of them is "merely collateral". What is he saying?
2007-06-21 04:53:23 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Genealogy
It may be a family tree of someone who is a relative, but not a direct ancestor. A collateral relative is a brother or sister of an ancestor. His is saying the tree that he has does not have a direct path to himself.
2007-06-21 05:07:17 · answer #1 · answered by oohhbother 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Collateral lines in a family tree are those that are not your direct ancestors, but are descendants of your aunts or uncles. They can also be ancestors people who have married into your family. I keep a lot of these because many of my family lines brach back through Virginia in the 1600-1700 period, and the lines often double back on themselves and provide more information for my own lines (fortunately, I have a computer program that keeps track of such things). I also research the trees of people like my sister's husband, and my aunts and uncles by marriage, so that their children will have both sides of their family traced. I guess I just don't like leaving anyone out :-)
As to an "Island" tree - I can only assume that he's talking about a tree that's (perhaps) connected to his by marriage, but not by blood, that he's researching for some reason. I've never heard the term before, though, so you'd have to ask him what it means.
2007-06-21 12:56:29 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I suspect that's a term he made up, I've never heard it before but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Get him to explain if that is a collateral line. I have extended collateral lines because in order to identifty a particular person many times requires extended research and the only-best way to keep it all organized is on the gedcom. Once that's done it's left for others to find online - why spend more effort to toss it away when someone else can use it some day.
If it's not he may be one of those "collectors" who has no relationship with the databases he (sometimes she) collects. I cannot even ascribe what intent there is for collecting, I don't yet understand it.
*sorry if that's TMI - more than you wanted to know!
2007-06-21 12:31:41 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've heard the term used as a synonym for an area study, rather than a family. For example, a person will start with the old "biographies" for a county, and start adding anything else they find in census records, marriage records, deaths, wills, etc. and will tie as much together as they can. I've seen it for Juniata in PA and Fremont in Iowa, for example. The result would fit the description you were given, that his connection to many of the individuals was "merely collateral". Also, on my www.schoaff.org site, we sometimes are asked to add data for someone's in-law's families, folks not related at all -- no problem, but the link is very tenuous!
2007-06-22 08:43:15 · answer #4 · answered by paul s 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your great great grandparents are your direct ancestors. However, your great great grand uncles are your ancestor also but not your direct ancestors. They are usually called linear ancestors. Dictionary.Com has an incomplete definition of ancestor. Maybe that is what they are talking about.
2007-06-21 12:20:45 · answer #5 · answered by Shirley T 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He is by himself, standing alone. A lonely tree!
2007-06-21 11:59:23 · answer #6 · answered by jk 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋