Rand McNally of Ancestral History

I rediscovered a great quote while thumbing through one of my very many stacks of research materials. It accurately describes one of the foundation concepts steering the growth of the Family Forest® Project. 

The quote is from Andrew McNally IV, president of Rand McNally and great-grandson of one of its co-founders. Andrew said “Making the world around us more understandable is what map-making has always been about.” 

One of our goals for the Family Forest® is to become for ancestral history what Rand McNally is for geography. For 14 years now human intelligence has been digitally indexing , which translates to mapping visually, thousands of years of recorded human history. 

Another of our goals is to have a combination Google Earth/Second Life type interface for virtually exploring the world’s largest maps of human genetic migration, which are generated by the highest quality and most intricately interconnected web of networked family ties. 

Please stay tuned for the introduction of 200 or so selected Family Forest® Kinship Reports from the Family Forest® National Treasure Edition which will connect countless millions of living people, through their own generation-by-generation family ties, to more celebrities and historical figures than any other resource available anywhere, either on or off line.

Bill Gates’ Misstatement

Bill Gates probably didn’t mean it exactly the way it sounded, but he did say on The Charlie Rose Show that “Everything is web-based.”

 

Everything is not web-based yet, and here’s one example that relates to cousin Bill personally, and quite possibly professionally.

 

Bill can give his children an enriching digital edutainment gift of potentially limitless value for just $50, and he cannot acquire anything similar to it now from Microsoft, or Google, at any price. This gift cannot be explored online – yet.

 

But offline, with just a few mouse-clicks in the Family Forest® Bill and Melinda Gates’ children can summon maps of their own ancestral pathways that lead directly from them and travel generation-by-generation to countless ancestral homes from many centuries ago, including some very prominent ones within the Gates family’s summer vacation destination, France.

 

Even with the basically unlimited resources of Microsoft, or Google, it seems that it will still be years before anyone can deliver the full functionality of even yesterday’s Family Forest® online (and that edition is basically only a concept sketch of the National Treasure Edition we are preparing to release next).

 

Two leading edge digital delivery companies have been trying to bring tiny slivers of Family Forest® output online.

 

Google has been working at it for over four months now, and they are not quite there yet (in fairness to Google, one is believed to be the world’s longest ebook). After having the same digital content for six months, in June 2008 ebrary estimated that it might be able to successfully make our rich content fully functional online within their system in the second half of 2009. And we’re only talking about slivers of stage-two digital content from where we were in 2005.

 

Some digital property, such as the Family Forest®, is beyond the capabilities of today’s Internet, but will be an integral part of the exciting future Internet that Bill talks about with Charlie Rose.

 

All Paths Lead To Rome

Google recently announced an exciting new acquisition that is extremely interesting to us. It is a preview of their future offerings that will dovetail very nicely with one of the future capabilities of the multi-faceted Family Forest® Project. 

 

We envision people experiencing online virtual visits with their early ancestors in 3-D VR re-creations of their ancestral homes. As they have been many saying for many millennia, “All paths lead to Rome,” and the Family Forest® proves it. 

 

From studying the world’s largest maps of human genetic migration (which are generated by the Family Forest®), it appears certain that everyone alive in America today has Roman ancestors. 

 

Among many other best-of claims, the Family Forest® is the best digital central source for generation-by-generation ancestral pathways leading from today to Ancient Rome. 

 

When the Internet evolves enough to deliver the full functionality of the Family Forest® online, our proprietary network of strategic digital links will be performing the service of a high-speed transportation system (much like express elevators) connecting living people to many of their ancestors and their ancestral homes in centuries past. 

 

For an example, just look at the wide-ranging large list of some of the better-known people who are descendants of just one French castle. Or better yet, as soon as Google Books can successfully deliver it online, explore what we believe is the world’s largest ebook, which documents a very large number of the known descendants of Briquebec Castle. 

 

The founder of Briquebec Castle has ancestral pathways in the New World Edition which lead from him back to Ancient Rome. Many millions of living people may be as close as a few generations away from connecting to their own ancestral pathways which lead to Briquebec Castle. And of course, there will be tens of thousands of additional connecting points in the National Treasure Edition to this and other castles. 

 

How accurate are these generation-by-generation ancestral pathways that lead from present day (or the recent past) to Ancient Rome and beyond? The answer can be found here. Stay tuned to Your Future, Your Past for previews of other exciting future possibilities from our digital property. 

 

P.S. Malia and Sasha Obama are Briquebec Castle descendants, as are Governor Sarah Palin’s children.

 

 

 

 

National Treasure

This is the most exciting time ever for us as we finalize the Family Forest® for the latest, and by far the greatest, release in the thirteen and half year history of the

Family Forest® Project.

 

This release will be called the Family Forest® National Treasure Edition for several reasons, beginning with what we were told early in the project by a great American who is a former Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives.

 

After looking at our work he said to us “You do a great service to our country by encouraging people to find out about their roots and engaging them personally in its history.”

 

We took this as a compliment for the work we had already completed, confirmation that we were on the right track, inspiration for moving forward, and concrete guidance steering the continuing future growth of the Family Forest® Project.

 

It has been my personal goal for quite some time now that one or more U.S. Presidents will publicly call the Family Forest® Project a national treasure, and after 

a number of great releases along the way we feel certain that this release truly deserves the title of National Treasure.

 

The Family Forest® can now connect far more people personally, through generation-by-generation family ties, to more people, places, and events in human history (including Sarah Palin and the 2008 Presidential Election) than any other single digital resource.

 

It is a unique supplemental edutainment resource to enhance the study of almost every facet of American history by students of all ages, and it is partisan-neutral.

 

As it says on almost all of our releases over the last decade “While the Family Forest® ……. Edition is very much about genealogy, it is primarily about U.S. history, and more than 3,500 years of Old World history leading up to the birth of the United States. It is a fun and very easy to use reference source that should be a valuable resource for every student of history, young or old.”

 

We are confident that our People-Centered Approach to History® has reached the magnitude and scope that deserves to be called a national treasure, and we receive delight from our belief that the Family Forest® Project will be helping to inspire future leaders to greatness.

 

Family Forest® Casting Call

Millisecond Publishing Company, Inc. (MPC) is looking for celebrity spokespersons to internationally introduce the upcoming Family Forest® Hollywood Edition.

 

The ideal candidates will be those who regularly appear in international print and broadcast media as instantly recognized celebrities, who are welcome guests on Oprah, Larry King Live, The Charlie Rose Show and others, and who are already very extensively networked through actual family ties to a large number of everyday people in the Family Forest®.

 

This role should be fun and personally rewarding, and when millions of people discover the staggering amount of their own early ancestral history that has already been assembled by the Family Forest® Project, this performance will be as easy as leading a parade just by stepping out in front of it and walking in the same direction. Plus the affiliation will simultaneously promote the spokespersons’ own projects.

 

Here are our top twelve choices at this time, not necessarily in priority order.

 

Tom Hanks (and maybe his relatively close cousin, Oscar-winner Sissy Spacek): Almost as important as his superstar status, Tom’s personal passion for history, as can be seen in his interview concerning the John Adams mini-series, and his own family ties to the Da Vinci Code make him a perfect Family Forest® spokesperson. In addition, his production company Playtone can benefit from the ancestral marketing opportunities the Family Forest® provides.

 

Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick: In addition to being a famous husband and wife team who are both extensively networked through actual family ties in the Family Forest®, Kevin’s “Six Degrees of Separation” fame is shorthand for the concept that we are all connected. The Family Forest® illustrates this concept using genealogy, and both Kevin and Kyra can be hubs for these surprising webs of connections.

 

Prince William and/or Prince Harry: The Family Forest® can show far more of the ancestral history of the British Royal Family with just a few mouse-clicks than any other digital resource, and it connects Prince William and Prince Harry personally through family ties to everyday people throughout the world. We believe this is a project

Princess Diana would be very proud to have her sons champion.

 

Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece and his family: The excellent photograph and article in the February 2008 issue of Vanity Fair, coupled with their very extensive ancestral history already mapped out in the Family Forest®, make them a picture postcard perfect family to promote the Family Forest® and its usefulness to school students.

 

Richard Gere and Uma Thurman: The Tibet and world peace efforts between

Uma’s father and Richard can make them a great team to introduce the world to the world’s largest maps of human migration, and the resulting conclusion that we are all much closer related than common knowledge has been teaching.

 

Madonna: Although the Family Forest® does not yet lineage-link her into the

Royal Channel, Madonna’s son Rocco is of known royal descent according to recorded history. The enriching benefits of personally connecting schoolchildren personally to human history is a theme Madonna could excellently convey.

 

Jimmy Buffett and his “Uncle” Warren Buffett: Jimmy’s words are true, “Everybody’s Got A Cousin in Miami,” and the Family Forest® shows why. A team of two old friends representing both the entertainment world as well as mainstream America will help show that the Family Forest® bridges many interest areas.  Plus, when the patterns of human genetic migration become better known, as the Family Forest® will teach, it will be obvious that Warren and Jimmy are actually related very very much closer than reported by 23andMe.

 

Paris Hilton: Similar to “When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen,” when Paris does anything, people pay attention. This can be a perfect opportunity for Paris to use her media power constructively for a noble purpose.

 

David McCullough: Listening to his interview by Charlie Rose, it is obvious that David McCullough has one of the best intuitive grasps on the concept of A People-Centered Approach To History®, and his readers can use the Family Forest® to increase their enjoyment of his books.

 

Elvis and the Presley Girls: The “King of Rock” is shown to be descended from historic kings in the Family Forest®, and he is now networked through family ties to ancestors of millions of his fans. His wife, Dancing With The Stars contestant Priscilla Presley, and her daughter Lisa Marie Presley, can utilize the Family Forest® Hollywood Edition to promote the exciting new renovations and expansion at Graceland.

 

Sam Waterston: His portrayal of a deep thinking, caring, and very believable person in Mindwalk, bolstered by his performance in Law and Order, made him an ideal spokesman for T.D. Waterhouse, and can also make him an ideal spokesman for the Family Forest® Project.

 

Icons from the Past: Similar to the technique Steve Martin used so effectively in

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, past Hollywood stars such as Bogart, Hepburn, and others such as the collection represented by CMG, can still perform today. Historical clips from icons who are no longer with us can be used strategically to allow them perform again today as excellent Family Forest® spokespersons.

 

We also welcome inquires from all of the many other celebrities who fit the criteria above.

 

Some of those more extensively networked living celebrities already lineage-linked in the Family Forest® include Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Clint Eastwood, Robert Duval, Ted Danson, Matthew Fox, Ron Howard, Halle Berry, George Clooney, Jody Foster, Willie Nelson, Britney Spears, Cher, Brooke Shields, Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts and Eric Roberts, Hugh Grant, Cindy Crawford, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bridget Fonda and Jane Fonda, Anderson Cooper, Kate Hudson, Kurt Russell, Sarah Ferguson, Oliver Platt, Rene Auberjonois, Denise Crosby, Wil Wheaton, Catherine Oxenberg and Casper Van Dien, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson, Michael Douglas, Dick Clark, Don Imus, Andy Griffith, David Hyde Pierce, Eddie Vedder, Christopher Lloyd, George Hamilton, Matthew Perry, Viggo Mortensen, Liza Minnelli, Garry Trudeau, Marie Osmond and Donny Osmond, Grace Slick, David Crosby, The Beach Boys, Joanne Woodward, Raquel Welsh, Sigourney Weaver, Governor and Mrs. Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ward, Dick Van Dyke, The Baldwin Brothers, and Bill Gates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

George Washington’s Lower Part and Presidential Trivia

There is a great wealth of fascinating and enriching tidbits and historical trivia that has been squirreled away in old books over the centuries, and we have been digitally indexing as much of it as possible into the Family Forest®, to make those nuggets easy to discover. We thought it might be fun to point out a few of them for President’s Day.

 

For instance, most people probably do not know that our first commander-in-chief,

President George Washington had a body double. For the rest of the story see

George Washington’s Lower Part.

 

Do you know that many of the United States Presidents have Hollywood Connections?

 

Do you know that your ancestors may also be Presidential ancestors?

 

Do you know that President Bush and Senator John Kerry are related?

 

Do you know why Hugh Hefner invited both Bush and Kerry to his Playboy mansion in 2004?

 

Do you know that when Prince Charles visited the White House in 2005 he was actually visiting his cousin?

 

Do you know why NPR did a story about FamilyForest.com, Barack Obama, Walt Disney, Brooke Shields, Humphrey Bogart, and President Bush?

 

If you follow these links, the next time someone asks “Do you know ……

 

Happy President’s Day!

What is an Ancestral History Cartographer?

 Cartographer: one who produces maps.

When ancient mariners returned from their voyages of discovery, they turned their records and logs over to monastic type individuals (map makers, cartographers) who would turn that data into maps which other mariners would use on subsequent journeys to the same regions.

When those mariners returned, they turned their new records and logs over to same monastic type individuals who would then use the new data to make corrections and improvements to those maps, and then produce new maps that other mariners would use on subsequent journeys to the same regions.

That’s similar to what I have been doing digitally with a vast wealth of professionally recorded history for over a decade.

Over the centuries many have journeyed to ancestral regions and brought back their findings. I am comparing and distilling those findings, digitally connecting the dots of recorded history according to where the experts say they should be connected, and producing new maps of generation-by-generation ancestral pathways that zigzag through thousands of years of recorded history through the lives of actual people.

Most of these maps have never been seen before, and visually following one’s curiosity through the world’s largest maps of human genetic migration can be truly fascinating and enriching.

What is an Ancestral History Tour Guide?

 

By dictionary definition, I am a genealogist. In reality, I am not what one usually expects a genealogist to be. 

 

By analogy, think of true genealogists as master chefs. Highly trained professional experts who start from scratch and create precision works.

 

Think of an ancestral history tour guide as similar to a person who reviews fine dining restaurants for guides such as Fodors, Frommers, or newspapers such as the New York Times, and directs readers to the best of the best to save them time, money, and aggravation.

That’s what I am doing, and have been doing for tens of thousands of hours already, with many hundreds of warehouses of professionally recorded history. I explore through the fine print of a vast wealth of ancestral history details that the experts have discovered and recorded over the centuries, and I leave a well-marked digital trail to the exact locations of just the best of the best.

 

This allows you and other Family Forest® explorers to quickly zoom into the most relevant ancestral history knowledge, the best of the best, without wading through hundreds or thousands of repetitions of information and misinformation (as is often necessary on the Internet).

 

This is the way I wanted to find my ancestry presented when I became curious; distilled to the best of the best of what the experts had already discovered.

 

Actually, isn’t this the way you hope to explore any topic which interests you?

 

Wouldn’t you rather start any research quest by first finding out what a reasonably intelligent person has discovered after filtering though all of the repetitions and misinformation while searching for the best of the best?

 

 

So What, Who Cares?

Everyone would, if they only knew. And we would like to give them this special experience via the
Family Forest® Project.

 

A couple of recent comments suggest that the distant past is irrelevant and there is no good reason for knowing who one’s early ancestors were.

 

These opinions can only be held by someone who has not yet seen any of their own ancestors portrayed in a Hollywood movie or someone who has never stood transfixed in a museum gazing at an ancestor captured on canvas at a pivotal moment in history.

 

Paraphrasing Thomas Aquinas, to him who has not yet experienced it, no explanation is possible. To him who has experienced it, no explanation is necessary.

Try to find these “Ah Ha!” experiences for yourself, and for your family. You and your family will be delighted you did.

Genealogy’s Big Picture

 

Think about it. For centuries genealogy has been a subject that has been explored, figuratively speaking, through a microscope; small bits or segments of information are viewed in great detail.

 

This is a worthwhile and enriching perspective that will always be beneficial in genealogy, but this perspective is severely hobbled by the limitations of paper-based knowledge, and it lacks the ability to deliver the most exciting “Ah Ha!” experiences ancestral history is waiting to reveal.

 

With this approach, it is very easy to not even notice that there is a very much larger picture to see. And the picture of the ancestral heritage of each of us grows very big very quickly as we proceed into the past, as you can see on the two charts at our site.

 

The computer allows us new possibilities to explore a much more exciting perspective, the really Big Picture that literally relates to each of us personally, in various ways as we follow our curiosity.

 

The Big Picture of genealogy is a multi-continent multi-millennium view that computers allow us to explore visually, after centuries of paper-based ancestral history knowledge has been digitally indexed and lineage-linked as the Family Forest® Project has done.

 

When this vast wealth of professionally recorded ancestral history is filtered into

stage-three digital content, the world’s largest maps of human genetic migration

can be summoned with a few mouse-clicks.

 

These countless charts/maps provide fascinating and surprising views , of our ancestral heritage which are waiting to be explored for personal enrichment. Genealogy’s Big Picture is both fun and captivating.