In researching our family history, how far along each branch do we research the extended family? Do we research just our direct ancestors? Our direct ancestors and their siblings? Do we branch out into cousins and second cousins and so on? How far into the extended family do we want or need to extend our valuable research time?
For each researcher, making a judgement call on extended family is something we all have to do. Our research time is not unlimited, so where do we draw the line and how far down the rabbit hole are we prepared to go?
We generally focus most on those people from whom we descend. But what about their siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins? They played a role in our ancestors' lives, just like those people play a role in our own lives. How much do we want to research their lives.
Clearly there is a limit on how much we need to know about extended family, and how much time and effort we can put into researching them. The bulk of my own research efforts go into my direct ancestors and their siblings. I rarely extend my research further. Not because I am not interested in extended family, but because my research time is limited, my family is quite large, and I have to limit the spread of my tree somehow. However fascinating the life of my third cousin twice might be.
My paternal grandfather was the youngest of 4 brothers born in Poland. In the early 20th century, he and his oldest brother came to the US, and another brother went to the UK, while the 4th brother stayed in Poland, and was murdered in the Holocaust. In the past few years, I finally found the time to research the descendants of the UK branch. Turns out, he had TEN children, and so far I've been able to track down descendants of about half of them, and have actually established ongoing relationships with 2 second cousins ...can't wait to go to London and meet them!
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