No one lives forever and at some point one needs to decide what the “goals” ‘of their genealogy research are. There are no general right or wrong answers. There are just answers for one individual.

For me, I’ve decided that I’m not really interested in tracing all the descendants of any of my umpteenth great-grandparents. Those are fine goals, but they simply are not what interests me. I realize that analyzing DNA results is easier when one has traced as many descendants of their ancestors as possible. For most of my 5th great-grandparents and closer, I have their descendants reasonably traced to around 1900–which is usually close enough to facilitate working with DNA matches and completing later generations when necessary.

I’d rather learn more and completely establish information on the ancestors and ancestral families of:

• John George (1798-1871) and Sophia Elizabeth (Derle) (1807-1877) Trautvetter of Wohlmuthausen, Thuringen, Germany, and Hancock County, Illinois.
• Peter Bieger and Barbara Siefert who married in 1849 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Mary (Dingman) Sargent Landon, born around 1818 in Ontario and died in the early 1850s in Illinois or Iowa.
• Elizabeth (Chaney) Rampley (1804-1883), native of Bedford County, Pennsylvania.
• Benjamin Butler, born about 1819 in New York State, probably and his wife Margaret Stephens.

And there are several families that I would like to write up what research has already been done. And I’d like to find out the identify of the Sledd man who murdered a slave in Amherst/Bedford County, Virginia, in 1811. I also need to finish digitizing the photographs I have from my grandparents, my great-grandmother and my grandfather’s sister.

And there’s a few other individuals I’d like to flesh out in a little more detail.

That’s enough to keep me occupied for a some time. All the descendants of my 6th great-grandparents will simply have to wait. There’s only so much time.