LINCOLN COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Family portraits are always special, but one photo taken recently is especially remarkable. That's because there are six generations of women pictured.
The women in the photo range from 98 years old to just weeks old. The matriarch is MaeDell Taylor Hawkins, who's from Kings Mountain in Lincoln County, Kentucky.
She's holding her great-great-great granddaughter Zhavia for the first time.
"It's very rare to have six generations," said Gracie Howell, MaeDell's granddaughter. "It's also rare to have all women. So we knew when Zhavia was born we wanted to get a picture with Grandma MaeDell."
Also in the photo are MaeDell's daughter Frances, of Fairborn, Ohio. Gracie lives in Myrtle Beach. Her daughter Jacqueline also lives in South Carolina. Jaisline is the mother of baby Zhavia, and they both live in Somerset, Kentucky.
Gracie told LEX 18 they took the photo while visiting MaeDell in Kentucky. It's a chance to recognize her and the large, loving family she created.
"I think about how blessed we are to still have Grandma around," she said. "She relatively is in good health. She's bedbound, but her mind and her memory is as sharp as a tack. She's held hundreds and hundreds of babies, so it was a special moment."
There are still more babies to add to MaeDell's family. The next baby born will be baby number 623 for their sprawling family. MaeDell had 23 children, including 10 step children.
Gracie says she was a hardworking, strong woman who never complained even when life was tough.
She married her first husband when she was a teenager. Gracie says while her grandfather was away working on the railroad, her grandmother always made sure she had hot meals for her children, even without running water, indoor plumbing, or other modern conveniences.
"She did the best she could with what she had," Gracie said. "She's always just worked hard. We don't ever remember Grandma sitting down, eating. She never took the easy way out of anything. She drew water out of the well. She cooked for all those people on a wood stove."
Gracie's favorite memory with Grandma MaeDell is her tomato preserves. She recently learned to make them like her grandmother did and she took them to her in the nursing home.
It's rare to have six living generations. Guinness World Records say the current record for most living generations in a family is seven.
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FAQs
That's because there are six generations of women pictured. The women in the photo range from 98 years old to just weeks old. The matriarch is MaeDell Taylor Hawkins, who's from Kings Mountain in Lincoln County, Kentucky. She's holding her great-great-great granddaughter Zhavia for the first time.
Who is the 7 generations family alive? ›
Augusta Bunge's family holds the title for the most living generations, seven, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. But after a recent discovery, there's a new bloodline, the Ayco*ck-Crawford family, with the same amount of breathing generations today.
Is there a family with 6 generations alive? ›
MaeDell has helped create a huge family including her 23 children, which includes 10 step children. The next baby born will be baby number 623. It is rare to have six living generations, but the Guinness World Records said the record for most living generations in a single family is seven. Copyright 2023 WDRB Media.
What is the world record for the most generations alive at once? ›
In 1989, in Wisconsin, USA, an extraordinary feat was achieved: seven generations of a family were alive at the same time. This remarkable occurrence remains undisputed and stands as a world record.
How many years are 6 generations? ›
How do we refer to our ancestors in a way that is clear?
| Years ago |
|---|
| Gen# | from | to |
|---|
| 4 | 80 | 160 |
| 5 | 100 | 200 |
| 6 | 120 | 240 |
17 more rowsJan 29, 2021
It's rare to have six living generations. Guinness World Records say the current record for most living generations in a family is seven.
How rare is it to have 5 generations alive? ›
Statistics say that five living generations is rare but still occurs. There are 92 years between Ellie-Jane and her great-great grandmother, Dona Elaine Draper, who is the Matriarch and eldest member of her family. Ellie-Jane is lucky enough to also have her maternal great-great-grandmother, Sandy, 76, to look up to.
How many generations until you are no longer genetically related? ›
Based on a family tree, you are always genealogically related, but you may not be genetically related. After about 8 generations, you have genetic material from fewer and fewer of your ancestors. After 16 generations, you only have DNA from about 2% of your ancestors, and it keeps decreasing.
How many ancestors do I have 6 generations back? ›
Ancestral Reference Numbering System
| 2nd generation | 2 ancestors | = 2 ancestors in total |
|---|
| 5th generation | 16 ancestors | = 30 ancestors in total |
| 6th generation | 32 ancestors | = 62 ancestors in total |
| 7th generation | 64 ancestors | = 126 ancestors in total |
| 8th generation | 128 ancestors | = 254 ancestors in total |
4 more rowsAnswer and Explanation: hom*o sapiens have been around for about 300,000 years. If we figure that each generation of hom*o sapiens takes about 25 years (though this is only an estimate), that would mean there have been 300 , 000 25 generations of hom*o sapiens or about 12,000 generations.
With the death of 117-year-old Nabi Tajima, on 21 April 2018, the Lost Generation cohort became extinct, making The Greatest Generation the earliest generation with living members.
How many years is a generation? ›
A generation is all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It also is "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–30 years, during which children are born and grow up, become adults, and begin to have children."
Who has the most grandchildren in the world? ›
😱 By the way, the world record for the most grandchildren is held by Vasyl and Hanna Peltek, who had 346 grandchildren as of 2019 #physicaltherapy #officelife #grandparents #family.
How many generations are there from Adam to Jesus? ›
The reading "son of Aminadab, son of Aram", from the Old Testament is well attested. The Nestle-Aland critical edition, considered the best authority by most modern scholars, accepts the variant "son of Aminadab, son of Admin, son of Arni", counting the 76 generations from Adam rather than God.
How many generations does a woman carry? ›
Unlike males, who make sperm throughout life, females are thought to be born with all the eggs they will ever produce. That means that each prenatal exposure has the potential to directly impact three generations, says epidemiologist Barbara Cohn, principal investigator of the CHDS.
How many generations does my heritage DNA go back? ›
A commons question I'm asked is, how many generations does DNA go back. If you're using an autosomal test such as AncestryDNA, 23andMe, or MyHeritage, you'll generally go back 6 to 8 generations. Assuming 25 years per generation, you can expect 150-200 years of DNA information by taking an autosomal DNA test.
How many of the greatest generations are still alive? ›
As of 2023, approximately 119,550 (under 1%) of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II remain alive. Living members of this generation are either in their late 90s or are centenarians.
How many generations are still alive? ›
Students then view an introductory video clip in which Twenge provides a brief overview of the six living American generations: Silents (1925-1945), Boomers (1946-1964), Gen. X (1965-1979), Millennials (1980-1994), Gen. Z (1995-2012), and the “Polars” (2013-today).
How many silent generations are still alive? ›
By this definition and U.S. Census data, there were 23 million Silents in the United States as of 2019.
What is 7 generations in a family? ›
The Seventh Generation Principle is based on an ancient Haudenosaunee (Iroquois)* philosophy that the decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future.
