Welcome to the Spencer Family Tree.

This is a personal genealogy project, inspired by Henry Gates' "Finding Your Roots" show on PBS and the availability of data from Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, FindAGrave.com, and other internet sources.

I have made reasonable efforts to assure the accuracy by using original sources such as census, marriage, death records, and grave markers. In some cases I have benefitted by access to huge published compendiums of the past, particularly for the Colonial and pre-emigration Spencer and Whitney lines. Others' public or private trees on Ancestry.com have also been very helpful, though there are certainly contradictions and errors. For those interested I have extensive notes and copies of source materials.

The common-ancestry lines to Winston Churchill and Princess Diana Spencer are included for fun — though there is every reason to believe that they are valid. There are certainly controversies in these and the older lines about whether a given ancestor is biologically valid or had just purchased a name and title. When descent mattered, as it did to hereditary aristocrats, that sort of behavior was not unusual. To me, the finding of a witch, Loyalist, or starving Irish farmer is as interesting as a Minuteman, knight, or Prime Minister. They are all here.

Genealogy hobbyists should also note that the farther back you go, the less any of this matters. Pedigree collapse assures that we are all descended from Charlemagne or Genghis Kahn or Tiberius — or almost anyone else you choose a thousand or more years ago. Go back more than about six generations and it also gets increasingly likely that you have none of that ancestor's DNA; it will all have been diluted out. In other words, do this because it's fun, not because it has any real significance.

My hobbies include graph theory and programming, so this is a new and different sort of family tree. I find the Show by Date view very useful since it shows world events, lifetimes, nationality, and emigration all in one diagram. Stretch and pan the diagram in your browser to see details. Over time I will add zoom and pan, search, lineage-tracking, and geographic displays to this site.

Most of those shown of my generation are alive. Please respect their privacy. The data here are entirely my responsibility.

 

Rob Spencer ContactExport Data
December 2017

 

people in this family tree came to the United States between minYear and maxYear. Hover over the dots to see their details.