We had a distant relative get all psych and put and research the genealogy back to around 1500. He did this over 150 years ago but filling the blanks were not that hard.My dad’s family came over from Holland in the 1640’s.
Currently, I have my family back only to 1900 or a little earlier, but my cousin has done her mother’s (my grandfather’s) family back quite a ways, and her father’s (no relation to me). And she has the work our late Cousin David (son of my grandfather’s other sister) did, as well.
My mother will know her grandparents’ full names, at least. I just haven’t asked.
Everything (mostly) is on the computer, these days. When I first got my genealogy, it was all on paper (1982) and there was a lot of data that was missing. With this latest input effort, I’ve gotten probably twice the information that I had, plus details on what was already in my paperwork.
As a result, I’m almost overwhelmed with information. Sure is a fun thing to do to pass the time!