#144 HOW STATS CAN TELL A FAMILY STORY

                                 

                              WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ANALYSE 14,000 RELATIVES





 I have been working on my genealogy for fifty years, and seriously since retirement in 2009. To date I have entered over 14,000 names (and always adding) into Family Tree Maker, my computer data base. I cast a wide net when attaching people to my tree--direct ancestors, very distant cousins, in-laws, stepfamilies. There are some branches which I have worked on in much greater depth than others. What I really love is finding the unique stories and  seeing how individuals meet the challenges and triumphs.  The research never ends.

While I have loosely traced some family roots back to medieval times, I know I need to firm up these sources and links. I am, however, more confident that I have better documented the relatives from 1600 on so these are the stats I used for my analyses.

I fed all my the data into my friend, ChatGPT, then posed many, many prompts. (I must admit that I am not going to challenge Chat's numbers and am trusting the accuracy of Chat's counting.)

As well, I have separated the data into our four family branches---my paternal Homuth and maternal Suuomela lines and Steve's paternal Whelan and maternal Walsh lines.



Overall Statistics

                                                     Homuth Suomela             Whelan         Walsh

Total people in branch                     7,329             296             838                 886

People born since 1600                     4,807             261             670                 640



Branch        Total    Men  Women        Since 1600       Men since 1600Women since 1600
Homuth        7,329    3,860   3,404               4,807         2,4852,287
Suomela        296     149   145               261         132127
Whelan        838    433   400               670          343322
Walsh            886    452   429                   640          326309

Observations: The Homuth branch (including Werth, Harper, Netterfield, Farnham) is by far the largest with over 7300 people and nearly 4800 born since 1600. My Finnish Suomela branch is much smaller. My two branches have eight times as many documented individuals as my husband's. (oh well!)  Steve's Whelan (O'Gorman, Shields) and Walsh (Moran, Shea) branches are pretty similar in size. Happily, all four branches maintain an almost equal balance of men and women.



Direct Ancestors by Branch

This shows how far back I have traced my pedigree, which is my direct line of ancestors (ie. parents, garndparents, great grandparents, etc.)


           Homuth    Suomela     Whelan    Walsh
Direct ancestors           184     42      71     83
Earliest known ancestor           c.1600c.1720             c.1710      c.1760
Generations identified           14    8       9   9


Collateral Relatives is the term for everyone not in my direct line of descent, but who share a common ancestor (siblings, cousins, aunts & uncles, great aunts & uncles, etc.) Spouses marry into the family, but are not blood relatives (husbands & wives, in-laws) 
 
When I compare the number of direct line ancestors to my total family network, it's easy to see that thousands of people are descended from a surprisingly modest number of direct line ancestors. For example, the Homuth branch has 184 direct ancestors but over 7,000 total relatives. This means that over 97% of my Homuth branch consists of descendants, cousins, spouses, and collateral relatives.



Adult Longevity (People Who Reached Age 20)

Born after 1600

StatisticsHomuth            Suomela            Whelan        Walsh
Adults included (20+)           2,918           101      286       417
Average adult lifespan           68.4           65. 2      66.9      69.7
Median adult lifespan          72.0          68.5      73.0      74.0
Average male adult lifespan           67.1          63.6      68.2      68.0
Average female adult lifespan          69.6         66.8      65.8       71.3

Women-Men                              

          +2.5             +4.1          -2.1         +2.7
Longest-lived person    Charlotte Evelyn 
    Noecker		Josef Martinpoika
 Viinikka		  William Bennett Alice Sullivan 
Longest lifespan            10796101100



Widowhood

I.

Widowhood Measure            Homuth        Suomela        Whelan        Walsh
Widowed before age 40            7.8%        5.6%         4.1%        3.8%
Widowed before age 50            21.9%        27.8%        17.6%        18.1%
Widowed after age 70                       29.7%        22.2%         31.1%        34.3%
Remarried after widowhood            6.2%        5.6%         4.1%        3.8%

The average age at widowhood is almost identical. The Homuth side has more remarriages recorded, likely because the network is larger and more heavily documented.



Longevity by Century of Birth

Average adult lifespan, age 20+.

Birth Century            Homuth       Suomela      Whelan      Walsh
1600s           62.5       68.1*       —       —
1700s           65.5       62.1       71.3*      55.0*
1800s           70.0       63.4       65.3      67.6
1900s           72.0       69.9      68.6     71.7

*Small sample, so treat cautiously.



Exceptional Longevity (Born After 1600)

Reached Age               Homuth        Suomela           WhelanWalsh
80 years or older          534 (18.3%)      15 (14.9%)        46 (16.1%)         81 (19.4%)
90 years or older          87 (3.0%)       2 (2.0%)         7 (2.4%)         14 (3.4%)
95 years or older          21 (0.7%)       1 (1.0%)         2 (0.7%)         4 (1.0%)
100 years or older          4 (0.14%)       0         1 (0.35%)          1 (0.24%)

The Walsh branch consistently shows the strongest longevity profile, with more people surviving into their 80s and 90s. The Homuth branch has the greatest number of older individuals, but that it is likely because it is such a large sample; and the Suomela branch is a small sample. 



Longest-Lived People

RankHomuthSuomelaWhelanWalsh
1Charlotte Evelyn Noecker — 107Josef Martinpoika Viinikka — 96Dermott — 100
2Mary Addie Smith — 106Impi Elsa Vigren — 94Elizabeth Finucane — 99Alice Teresa Sullivan--100
3Alba Isabel Johnston — 105
Rita Shea — 98Hildred Anna "Hilda"  Moran --98
4Elgin Johnston — 103Helmi Hedda Vigren — 93Ellen Gorman — 96Mary Geraldine Grier--97
5Frances Emma Allerton — 103Laila Marjatta Silvamaa — 92Jim — 95John Leo Egan--97

 


Childhood Mortality by Century of Birth

Percentage of children dying before age 20

Birth Century       Homuth    Suomela    Whelan    Walsh
1600s          31%     —                 —      29%
1700s          22%     —     18%      20%
1800s          14%     16%     12%      11%
1900s          3%     2%     2%      2%


Death Before Age 5

Birth Century       Homuth      Suomela      Whelan    Walsh
1600s       15%      —       —     14%
1700s       10%      —       9%      8%
1800s       5%     6%       5%      4%
1900s       <1%     0%       <1%      <1%



In the 1600s, nearly one in three children in some branches failed to reach adulthood. Families expected to lose children to infectious disease, accidents, poor nutrition, childbirth complications, poor medical care. (And sadly, there would be child deaths not recorded, therefore not part of my statistics.)

In the 1700s, there was a gradual improvement, but childhood was still hazardous. Large families often experienced several child deaths. (Often a newborn might be named after a deceased older sibling, something that complicates or confuses genealogical accuracy.)

By the 1800s, better nutrition, sanitation, vaccination and obstetrical care helped reduce childhood mortality. By the 1900s, modern medicine had changed family life and only a small percentage of children failed to reach adulthood.

Looking only at the Homuth branch:

Century     Chance of reaching adulthood
1600s     69%
1700s     78%
1800s     86%
1900s     97%

This single table illustrates over 400 years of improvement in human survival.



Marriage Statistics

StatisticHomuthSuomelaWhelanWalsh
Marriages with usable age data            1,486             28               148          183
Average groom age            29.7             29.9                  30.6          31.1
Average bride age            25.6             27.1               26.0         26.2
Average age gap            5.5             3.7               5.5         
        5.8

Youngest groom12 — George M. Netterfield20 — Petter Oinonen19 — Martin Daniel James Sullivan17 — Gary Enjar Ecklund
Youngest bride12 — Ivy Morris15 — Maria Alexandra Kajander15 — Margaret Ann McManus14 — Betty Jean Westerlund
Oldest groom88 — James Raymond Cook60 — Carl Gottfrid Swanson52 — Patrick Joseph Whelan73 — William Harvell Laboyteaux
Oldest bride82 — Lizzie52 — Helmi Hedda Vigren51 — Margaret Weiss61 — Anne Cecily O’Donnell

  • Whelan and Walsh grooms appear to marry slightly later, reflecting the Irish custom of establishing a farm or secure livelihood before marriage.


Average Groom / Bride Age by Century

Century                Homuth        Suomela        Whelan  Walsh
1600s            28.8 / 25.4        —            —                —
1700s            28.9 / 26.3        33.6 / 26.2        24.0 / 21.0*        —
1800s            28.2 / 23.7        27.8 / 22.5        29.8 / 23.6      31.0 / 24.8
1900s            30.9 / 26.2        29.8 / 29.9        31.1 / 27.3      31.1 / 26.5

*Very small sample.



Love Across the Ages

StatisticHomuthSuomelaWhelanWalsh
Couples married 50+ years        177            2            7                19
Couples married 60+ years        57            1            1                                    5
Couples married 70+ years        4           0            0                0
Longest marriage      71 years           63 years           60 years        66 years
Longest-married couplePeleg Gifford & Alse CornellCarol Edwin Homuth & Viola SuomelaJohn Whelan & Stella Mary EnglishJohn Leo Egan & Lucy Catherine Cantlon



Average Family Size by Century

Families with at least one recorded child; century based on parents’ birth years.

Parents’ Birth CenturyHomuth    Suomela    Whelan    Walsh
1600s4.6    1.0*    —    —
1700s4.7    2.8    3.7    3.5
1800s3.6    4.0    4.9    4.5
1900s2.5    2.2    2.3    2.8
Overall3.6    2.5    3.5    3.7

*Small sample.

The clearest pattern: Whelan and Walsh families were largest in the 1800s, while all four branches show smaller recorded family sizes into the 1900s.


Babies / Family Size Records

Statistic    HomuthSuomelaWhelanWalsh
Families with children         1,786            82             172         165
Average children per family         2.9         2.5             3.5         3.7
Median children per  family         2         2             2         3
Families with 10+ children        57         1              8          6
Families with 15+ children        3         0             0         0
Largest recorded family        17       10             12         13
Largest family coupleJacob Putnam & Mary BurtonTuomas Talvitie Saari & Maria HynnilaThomas O’Gorman & Margaret McEachernRichard O. Cantlon & Agnes Catherine Schmidt



Record Book

RecordHomuthSuomelaWhelanWalsh
Earliest birth, 1600+1600 — Elizabeth1610 — Matti Oinonen1710 — Dermott1760 — Ellen Cahill
Latest birth2022 — Calvin Henry Antunes2022 — Calvin Henry Antunes2024 — Valentyna May Nolan2022 — Calvin Henry Antunes
Earliest marriage1600 — Henry Hicks & Mary Hampshire1757 — Matti Saari & Riita Pohjola1764 — Daniel O’Gorman & Mary Foley1820 — Daniel O’Sullivan & Margaret Leahy
Latest marriage2019 — Robert Paan & Rebecca Schinkel2019 — Robert Paan & Rebecca Schinkel2009 — Darren Morofke & Jessica Whelan2011 — Michael Fox & Catherine McManamon

The big pattern: Whelan and Walsh families had larger average family sizes, while the Homuth branch has the most long marriages and the largest recorded family, partly because that sample is much larger.




Family Milestones

MilestoneHomuthSuomelaWhelanWalsh
Earliest immigrant to North AmericaFrances Cook (1620, England → Massachusetts aboard Mayflower)Jalmar Hendrikson (1903 Finland → USA)Patrick Whelan (c.1820s, Ireland → Canada)Edward Walsh (c.1829, Ireland → Canada)
Earliest immigrant to CanadaEarly United Empire Loyalist descendants (late 1700s)Jalmar HendriksonPatrick Whelan (1840s)Edward Walsh (1829)

 

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