Who are all these people?

I was not surprised to find that I have confirmed the identity of only 9% of my ancestors over ten generations. I knew that this was a big job and that I had a long way to go.

But I was stunned by the actual number. If there are only 94 direct ancestors in my database, who are all the others?

The answer is obvious when you think about it. You were always outnumbered by brothers and sisters when you were young and now they dominate the family tree.

Generation	Relationship	Ancestors	Siblings
2	Parents	2	6
3	Grandparents	4	7
4	Great grandparents	8	36
5	2xgreat grandparents	15	51
6	3xgreat grandparents	24	55
7	4xgreat grandparents	29	19
8	5xgreat grandparents	4	0
9	6xgreat grandparents	4	7
10	7xgreat grandparents	4	6
		94	187

There is a mathematical way of determining how many more 11xgreat grandmothers you need to find. So there is a strong incentive to keep searching.

When looking for our ancestor's siblings, we don't know what we don't know. Was great grandfather John really an only child, or is there a tribe of brothers and sisters just waiting to be discovered?

The only conclusion to draw is that there is more than enough to keep me busy for the foreseeable future. So enough contemplation of "progress", let's get back to the records.