Back to Adam

I had another interesting conversation with a friend over the question of whether or not it was possible to trace your genealogy "back to Adam." I guess I am a little surprised at the lack of history background that would make someone believe that this was even possible. But given some of the things people believe, thinking that you can trace your genealogy back to Adam is relatively harmless and inoffensive.

This whole issue is so circular. No matter where you start the discussion you end up with the same issues being repeated over and over. My friend's comments centered around the possibility that you could trace your genealogy back to some known king or whatever that would then link into the Biblical New and Old Testament lines and hence, back to Adam. I don't think you have to disbelieve the Bible to come to the conclusion that the genealogies in the Bible are entirely unsupported with any documents or facts outside of the scriptures themselves. Some of the Biblical personalities are not mentioned elsewhere and any genealogy using those pedigrees assumes a belief in the reliability of the Biblical lineages as well as acceptance of the post-Biblical lines, some of which are very dubious.

Here is an example of a line that claims to be based on "many years of research documentation" that the writer laments "does exist" but which he says, "I personally do not have in my hands." See Joe Orgill's Genealogy Back to Adam. This particular genealogy also claims to have been "Copied from a chart prepared for the New York Stake Genealogical Board by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, for the Centennial Exhibition, March, 1936."

OK, let's see if any of this can be authenticated.  That source is listed in another site as follows:

The royal line : chart prepared for the New York Stake Genealogical Board, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints centennial exhibition, March, 1936, Schmuhl, Albert F. 

Mr. Schmuhl seems to be a popular figure with the "Back to Adam" genealogists. He is cited 11,100 times in a Google search. Deseret Book in Salt Lake City, Utah has two "products" by Mr. Schmuhl, Through the Loins of Joseph, Folded Chart and Royal Line Chart, Folded. Neither these or any other books or materials by Mr. Schmuhl appear in a WorldCat.org search of thousands of libraries however. The description of the Royal Line Chart is given by Deseret Book as follows:

17"x25" This chart shows lines back to Adam for the following: Heber J. Grant, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, George A. Smith, Prophet Joseph Smith, George Washington, Daniel H. Wells, Orson F. Whitney, Lyman, etc. Folded to fit a 14" binder.

I never thought of it that way, since Roosevelt and I share a common ancestor, I suppose I could claim this Royal Line pedigree also! However, I seem to have hit the jackpot with this Royal Line Chart. I find 1850 references to the chart in Google. However, most of the citations are as follows:

Albert F. Schmuhl, The Royal Line chart, 1929, 1980 revised, Deseret Book Store, Salt Lake City, UT.

Apparently, there is some confusion over whether the Chart was prepared for a 1936 centennial exhibition or earlier in 1929. Hmm. It further appears from reading all the sites that talk about the lineage, that the who thing is premised on the fact that Adam was born in 4000 B.C. (or was it 4004 B.C. or about 4000 B.C.).  By the way, here is another pedigree showing descent from Adam.

OK, who was Albert F. Schmuhl? I can't find a word about this august authority on the ancient lines anywhere on the Web. Some one has been profitably selling this chart for a long time. Anyone know Mr. Schmuhl?