I am a lady of 60+ years, (shhh, don't tell anyone my age), and have been researching my father's family, "WALKER", now for twenty four years. Regretfully, I started after his death in 1982.

I also did my Mother's, "ADERHOLT" line, with her help and help from cousins I found on the internet. My sweet mother is no longer here now but together we got it back to the 1700's, then the rest of us got it back to the 1600's in Germany.

A big thank you goes to William "Bill" CASH, an ADERHOLDT descendent, who researched all the German records, did many interviews, compiled and published the "ADERHOLD/T COLLECTIONS". I got a lot of information from these books.

I am an "Army Brat" who lives in AL; my Dad gave the Army 23 years. Then I married an Army career man, who retired with 21 years service. I have three children, 12 grandchildren and so far 11 great-grandchildren. I'm hoping one or more of them will carry the "genealogy ball" when I am no longer able to or am no longer here. I also have three brothers who served in the military, two of them retired from the AF. We are a BIG military family, with my son in the AF for four yrs and Army NG for 9 yrs, several nephews have served with one still in the Coast Guards.

I throughly enjoy doing genealogy, doing some landscape painting and working on my computer. It's a life saver to have the computer, but it's a headache at times, too. :>)

I have had a web site up since 1999; however, I don't do as much with it as I use to. I just don't have the time anymore.

I'm an Aussie from Queensland. I have two little twigs in my family tree now (my sons), and they are 4 years and 18 months respectively. I try to keep my 'little hobby' under control, and only hop on the net when they are asleep.

I started out doing the family tree in the 1980s not knowing what it would entail in 2006. I have blown all my family away with my fiendish genealogical skills in the use of the internet, family, birth/death and marriage certificates, digging up old photos, taking digicam pics of graves, restoring old photographs etc.

Staying up into the wee hours of the night I had been keyboard whacking at 120 words per minute. One night there I discovered quite by accident that I was descended from the Roads Family of Buckinghamshire because right before my eyes in a RootsWeb WorldConnect Family Tree Project was my grandmother's grandfather's name. He was from Steeple Claydon, Bucks. and the tree went all the way back to the 1480s. I nearly had a heart attack and couldn't sleep for days. I literally had all these names in my head.

Being an Australian just about means you are related to half the planet. ;) I have ancestors from England, Ireland, France, Scotland, and Prussia. With various religions: Ashkenzaic Jews, Roman Catholics, Protestants etc.

I have been reaching some usual brick walls in tracing some of my ancestors, in particular France, Germany and Ireland. If you ancestor came from France, you will only be able to find out more about them if you know the region they came from and check the taxation records. In Ireland, a lot of my ancestors were transported as convicts for being 'white feet'. You can google this to read more. But in my opinion they were rather heroic. Researching my German ancestors is also proving difficult, because I cannot find out what their names were before anglicization when they arrived downunder.

I have found out so much information that you would think I would be satisfied now. But I'm not. These days, even a teensy little bit of information is welcomed.

And with the use of modern technology, especially the internet, I have had the good fortune to get in contact with other people who are actually descended from some of the same group of people that I am, some almost living up the road from me, and others living in nearby Australian States, and others nearby in New Zealand.

I'm quite happy to assist anyone who messages me and asks for my help re: genealogy.

And I congratulate Scott J on his FTC website. Through my posted journals, I have been contacted by a relative of my husband's in New Zealand and managed to trace one of his lines back to 1700s in England [and he's adopted].

Cheerio for now, Allycat.

Thank you both. Very nice to have you here!

C'mon guys ... don't be shy... We know you're out there. Allycat.

Hi! I'm originally from Pennsylvania, but my husband was in the Air Force, so we moved around a little. I now live in Illinois, have 5 children, 2 sons-in-law, 1 daughter-in-law, and 6 grandchildren with one on the way. I've been doing genealogy research for over 20 years. I have managed to get my "immigrants" to the shores (some lines in 1635, others in 1800), but it's so hard to find any information when you don't know where in Ireland, or England, they came from. I'm hoping this site will help.

Scott - this is a great site! I, too, am a professional web developer....

thanks knevin, and welcome.

I've been researching my family tree all my life, by listening to my grandmother and uncles and aunts talk about my families. When I was younger I believed absolutely everything that was told to me and I have to admit that I'm a little sad that the stories weren't all true. The thing is though, that since my family has been in this country since before the revolution the true stories are much more interesting then the make believe ones. Imagine what must have happened in families when one brother is a loyalist and the other a 'rebel'? Or one fights with the Union and the other the Confederates? One an abolitionist and the other slave holders. How about the ancestor that was killed in an actual Indian attack on the settlement? And they made up stories? :-)

I have been blessed that so many people that are somehow related to me have been researching my family long before I discovered that the "genealogist" at the fair really wasn't, and that the coat of arms that I bought from a mailing, isn't. Their hard work has allowed me to focus where they hit brick walls and just as, if not more important, be able to read more about the history and try to imagine what their lives must have been like.

I have discovered like others that researching in Northern Ireland and Germany isn't nearly as easy as researching England and here in the States but if it was easy, would it be as much fun?

It's great to have a place where I can journal my thoughts and frustrations and I hope that Ancestry.com never ever buys this site, please!!!
Thanks for the site, it's greatly appreciated.

Peace,
Veronica
~~~~~~~~~

Hi, My name is Bradley and I live in The Pacific Northwest. I was born and raised in Tacoma. I started researching my “tree” in 2002. I had just bought a computer and that’s all it took. I can trace my THOMAS line back to 1860. Jacob b. 1810 PA. living in Armstrong County PA. My LaCross and Perrault’s lines are French Canadians who came to Michigan also. My Phillips Line are from the south I’ve found them in Mississippi. The Phillips, West’s and Therrell’s all come from Alabama and Mississippi. The Hoffman’s from Germany, The Sorenson’s from Denmark. The Blair’s, Baskins, Minnicks, McLaughlin’s, all from the east coast. Also the Cooper’s came from Ireland via Canada. I have a great deal of information on the Goodale’s from New England. My family cannot believe the amount of information I have found. I started a small newsletter for both sides. This is a great site and I hope I will here from other’s soon.
Bradley

Welcome, Veronica and Bradley!

My name is Abby, I live in Wisconsin and have only been researching on my father's side for a few months...he does not even know his nationality. All I have is my grandparents (deceased) names, and great-grandmother's name and they city they lived. I have no clue how to get started...been on the internet, and finding nothing..any suggestions where to start?

I am FamilyTwigs(Sheri), and I live in Indiana. I started building my tree more that 10 years ago. I have only been online since '99. I have 2 daughters and 3 grandchildren, I am 52. I am also a County Coordinator with the GenWebs. I love genealogy!
I also collect old family photos, I scrapbook and quilt. I love community and think this site has the right idea!
I have many brickwalls to bring down.

Hi guys! Welcome Knevin, Veronica, Bradley, Abby and Sheri. Great to have you here. We can all help each other. Start by writing comprehensive journals on all of your ancestors ...one family at a time. Then let us know your 'brick walls' so we all can tear them down. So post those journals and sit back and wait for the replies. I'm doing my best but I encourage others to respond as well. We won't bite. I promise. Hehe. Al.

Hello......my name is Carol. I'm 52 years young :-). I'm mom of 2, gramma of 1 and stepmom to 4. I was born and grew up in MN; moved to WA in 1972. I started dabbling in genealogy about 10 years ago because I had a strong desire to find out where my Hoge ancestors of ND originated from. Spring of 2005 I had a huge breakthrough and thanks to Mitch Blank I have finally discovered they were came from villages in Greifenberg, Pommerania. I now have this line back to the early 1700's with a Philip Treptow.

I have hit one brick wall after another, however, with my grandfather (August Hoge)himself. He supposedly was born Aug. 1884 in Pommerania to Frederich and Albertine (Dorfschmidt) Hoge. I have found records on Frederich Hoge and his family but absolutely NOTHING on August or Albertine. It appears that Albertine and Fred did not marry until she arrived in the US (North Dakota) approx. 18 mths after Fred arrived. (There are no marriage records for ND for that time period.) I did find a ship record for an Albertine and August Dorfschmidt. The age for August matches up but her age doesn't. So I have no "proof" that my grandfather's mother and father were really Frederich and Albertine (Dorfschmidt) Hoge.

I LOVE working on genealogy.....even with running into so many brick walls....and have to be careful about turning on my computer at night. I've been known to stay up until the wee hours of the morning and not even realize what time it is! Amazing how the hours can fly by when I get so involved! :-)

Besides genealogy I also love travelling, boating and spending time with my family. My husband and I spent 2 days in Poland last month and I was able to visit the town/vilages where my Hoge family had come from. Very, very emotional.

Scott, I also have ties to the Stephen Hopkins line through my maternal grandmother, Betsy Hazen. There is a book titled something like The Hazens of America. My grandma and her siblings are the last generation listed in the book.

Carol

Carol, I guess that makes us like 10th cousins! :)

welcome.

Well, I don't recognize any ties to Scott J other than my first husband, Richard Eugene Scott 1953 - 1978) shared his name (as do my 2 sons).
I (age 52 now) have been researching my genealogy both maternal and paternal lines since 1988 and have also been lucky enough to inherit some good preliminary documentation. Unfortunately, my maternal line is from Germand, Austria, Prussia and records are scarce at best.
I am also a webmaster (hobby since 1985) and post much of my info and scans of my documents on my site. (www.cagleonline.com) which is free for all.
I hope that by sharing what I have, someone will discover they have distant relations in my house.
Good luck to everyone and remember what my grandfather said once, "Be careful when climbing the family tree because invariably you will find that rotten branch that you would just as soon saw off."
Barbara

Dear Barbara, "Ouch!" in reply to your last sentence. I love all my ancestors, especially the interesting ones. ;)

If you don't mind, I'll update the surname wiki page for CAGLE adding your website address in the OTHER RESOURCES section for you. Good luck and welcome to FamilyTreeCircles. Al.

Hi, I'm Jen, first time on this site but I love it already. I am rather new at genealogy on the computer but am learning that it is a lot of fun but a lot of brick walls as well. right now my main two brick walls are Manning/Sanderson,1871, Mcnairy or Lauderdale co Tenn. and Brinkley/ Gilliam (or Tidwell) Independence county Ar. around 1878. would appreciate any help and will be glad to share with you. Thanks.

Ok, here goes. I'm 'kazlee50' in here or....... Karen/Kaz/Mumsy/BOM to family & friends. I live in a Mining town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. So, as you can guess, I rely on the internet for most of my research as I only get down to the city once a year!!I started doing my family tree after going to a family reunion Nov'03. A cousin was doing my Dad's line so I thought I would do my Mum's. Now I'm doing both plus my husbands! I started off writing to strangers in the phone book and managed to find family in the first 20 letters I sent out. One rang me and said "Hi cuz", what an amazing feeling. Another wrote back saying he is glad to find someone else doing the family tree as he is now in his 70's. He does not have a computer!! Doing it the hard way by phone and mail, amazing hey! He does a mud map on each person!! I was laughing and crying at the same time while reading his letter. My work mates didn't know if it was good or bad news? I have managed to find the odd cousin or two on the internet. But most of my research and questions have been answered by complete strangers, like all the many helpful folk in here. I have struck a few brick walls but hopefully you will help me get over them :)
Keep up the good work, without you, us newbies would never get anywhere.
P.S. I have already noticed a rellie in here on one of the boards ha ha
Thank You All
Karen
Sunny Pilbara
Western Australia

I'm noseybee. I'm a former educator and mom of two toddlers, ages 2 & 4, from Prosper, Texas. I've been researching my family for about 8 years now. I really love delving into the past and meeting new people in the process. I've hit a MAJOR brick wall with my gggrandfather. My ggrandmother, Florence, was supposed to have been born out of wedlock. Since this was a real no-no back then, everyone kept a tight lip about who the father was. I really love this story though. Her mother, Elizabeth, went on to have two more girls (we don't know who their father was either) and took them in a covered wagon with 50 head of cattle, across Texas to New Mexico in the early 1900's. She must have been a very tough gal. She's buried by herself in the Fairview Cemetery in Tularosa, New Mexico. She died at 80 years of age.

Other ancestors in my research:
MOSS,HASTINGS/HASTEN,PATTERSON,JOHNSON,MULLINS, FEWELL,LAIL,SHEFFIELD,HARDIN,JACKSON AND MORE!

Good Luck ya'll!
noseybee

G'day Noseybee, what a great story. And good luck with your research.

W-E-L-C-O-M-E to all the new members!

Al downunder.

hi, i'm eanija from NE Vic Aust.
my fathers side of the family (HEALEY)has interested me for a few years now as it is such a large family AND no one knows any history.
I am currently trying to trace back but like others have hit brick walls, but i am still trying in my spare time (or lack of it). My kids (17,15,13)are starting to say i am obsessed with it but oh well.
My grandfather's family split up late in 1888 and the family seemed to disband. Where did they go? Who Knows.
My grandfather Daniel(a blacksmith), married my grandmother Lillian May Gaston in 1905 in Nhill, vic, but what happened to him between 1888, & 1905? I know he spent some time(how much i dont know) in Colac vic.
Oh well i will just keep on trying.

til next time
eanija

Hi my name is Glo, i am searching for my grandfather John Crouch born in the 1850's in either Coffee County, Tennessee or Warren County, Tennessee married my grandmother Eliza Frances Messick born in either Coffee County, Tennesse or Warren County, Tennessee in the 1860's the information that is on Rootsweb is what i have gotten from some of my family but we don't know if it is correct or not, maybe someone out there is searching the same the same names i am.

Til next time
Glo

I have recently discovered your website and I think it's great. What a wonderful way to exchange information and maybe break down some
brick walls while helping others with their
research. Thanks! I am new to genealogy. I
have been online since October 2005 and started
my research in March of 2006. A cousin has
completed my maternal grandfather's branch
(also back to Steven Hopkins/Mayflower through
the Woodworth branch; my ggrandmother was
Laurabelle Woodworth), and I decided to finally
begin my own research, something I have always
wanted to do. I am very fortunate to have found
Todd Gilbert's site on worldconnect.rootsweb
which filled in missing pieces of my paternal
grandmother Tait's family back to Scotland in
1700. Despite my luck in having two branches so
extensively researched, I am finally facing
reality and hitting brick walls, especially my
maternal ggrandfather George W. Prince of Maine
who I can't find anywhere! My Canadian ancestors
have been easier to find than this Maine ancestor. This is the challenging part, and I am
really enjoying it. Hopefully, I will be able to
find some leads here on this site, but if not,
I'll enjoy it anyway. Thanks, Lee.

Scott,

Let me tell you what a wonderful web site this is. It is amazing that it is free. I have been on paid sites that did not offer anything special. Here we can connect with our distant cousins and share our research.

I have hit several road blocks doing my research, but am getting better at it. The first thing is that I need to go back and research it all over again and list the census and death records indexes" whew boy" at least I have the dates.

Good luck to everyone looking for thier information.

Hello, I am Rene from Arizona, USA. Was bitten by the genealogy bug about a year ago fatally, prior to that off and on all my life. Got at least 6600 names on my maternal side, not all documented, having a hard time finding my fathers side after three generations. My family name is Kingsley and we hail from England, Ireland, Germany, and there are many Kingsley lines, just trying to figure out which one. My other major family name is Kinkel, and then there is Kingsbury. I am totally addicted to finding dead people and stay on this computer all hours of the day or night. Immediately when I arrive home from work or wherever, this computer goes on...Even while making dinner, I pop back in here and search some more. I found this site, actually I don't know how, but I am glad I did, haven't found anything new yet, since I just joined yesterday, but I am confidant that I will enjoy my time here. Thanks for having me, Rene

Hi All,

I was introduced to this site by Alleycat. Although we are not related we share relatives in the Voss family. I also live in Brisbane QLD Australia.

I have been researching my family for about two years now. My aim is to get my children's ancestors back as far as I can and then to find as many of those ancestors descendants as I can. I am also including the families of both my step-parents in my tree. I currently have nearly 8000 people in my tree. The earliest recorded ancestor I have is one of my husbands - Robert Turre and his wife Isabella who would have been born aroun 1480. The most distant cousin I have "met" was a lady in Cornwall who was my 10th cousin. Our common ancestor lived in the 1500s about 3 miles from where she was still living.

I started off rather naive and was not documenting my findings very well. I did get quite a few certificates (luckily) and am now in the process of going back and finding confirmed resources for the people I have found. This is relatively easy with my Australian ancestors and those who were born, married or died after 1837 in the UK, as I can get those records easily, but is more difficult for the ones who were "active" before this time. I have taken much of my earlier research of Family Search IGI records or from other researchers. Some of my entries are speculative (mostly from Family Search info) but I am hoping to eventually get copies of parish records to confirm events.

I have some great insights and info on some of my ancestors which has really served to bring them alive as people - see my journals on the Pietsch, Roxburgh (Barnes) and Seabrooks. I know the stories of some of them are lost forever now due to the passage of time but I am also keen to collect the stories of the older members of my family who remember (directly or by stories) some of those who died in the last 100 years or so.

My family originates from England, Wales, Ireland, Germany and Russia (so far). My husbands are primarily from Scotland, England and Germany. My step mum's are from England although she may have some Australian aboriginals in her family and my step dad's are from Cornwall, Lancashire and the Isle of Mann.

I look forward to sharing more information with everyone.

Also to share I found a website that I have just started using that compliments this one called www.tribalpages.com that allows you to upload a GED file and then search the tree in a variety of ways. If anyone wants to look at my tree my ID is deb0706.

Thanks for having me

Debby

Hi everyone I come across this site by accident very nice. I to live in Queensland Australia, but out in the country so the internet is a very useful tool for me in my searches.

I have been collecting information on the family’s for about 20 years but never really sorted it out as I am doing now. Now that I have had the time to log some of it into a program, it certainly makes it a lot easier to read and trace then all the little scrap bits of paper that I have collected notes on. I have not only been doing Mum’s side of the family but Dad’s also. So you can only imagine the mess of my notes :)

I will be back tomorrow to check out all of this site as its now after 11pm and I need sleep again.

Trina...

Good morning Scott;
My name is Suzanne (Suz), and I have recently begun to look into my mother's family history. I live in beautiful upstate NY. My father's family is quite prestegious in the area and, hence, family history archives abound. My mother, on the other hand, has a lot of curiosity. She is in her early 70's and is planning to go to England with a friend next spring and would like to have some information about her own history prior to going - since, afterall, she is English.
Thanks so much for your site.
Have a great day,
Suzanne

Hi Scott, firstly can I say congratulations on this site, you have done a brilliant job..magic.

My name is Summers and I live in the North East of England. While I have been a part time local historian for years, held Exhibitions (Old Photographs )and given too many talks to list here..I have always loved history, and this modern everyday technology makes me feel like a child at Christmas..wow! its great.

How did I get the bug as they say?
Well last October I went to Cobh -Co-Cork Ireland for a short break and it was during that holiday that I started to wonder about my Grandmothers life growing up in the North East.
Her father and grandparents came from Ireland, family name is 'Scanlon' so when I got home ..thats when I started the research.

I have the feeling others on site will understand when I say, my head is spinning with information regarding my g-grandparents. I am still sorting papers,dates,and other details out, once I am organised I will add the info to my Home page.

And I used to think doing exhibitions was hard....ahh!!! not any more. Can I say Thank You to Allycat for posting a couple of ideas for me to follow up..mega magic.

So to all you lovely people, happy surfing the web
till next time cheers Summers x

Helloooo to all the new members. Glad to have you here. Please add your thoughts/suggestions/comments to this journal as we'd all love to hear from you.

Cheerio,
Alison from the great south land ... downunder!

Hello
I am from Australia. I have been researching for a long time now and thought I had found all the Genie sites...LOL. My tree has really grown since using the 'Net. Like allycat says, it seems one is related to half the universe. I think I am at least related to half this town at some point.
Vickie

G'day everybody!

Hi everyone, I'm from Nelson, New Zealand.
I got addicted to genealogy about 7 years ago when my husband and I retired to our home town.
My aunt, more than my mother kept the "family" connected and kept all the records so when I reconnected with my cousin and talked family history, I got hooked.
So far, I've discovered most of my ancestors came from England, mostly Lancashire, Yorkshire and London. They emigrated to NZ in the 1840's and '50's.
Like a lot of you, I spend too many of the early hours at the computer. But, hey, life is for enjoying and this hobby is fun.
i'm lucky to have some good genealogical resources in this area, but rely on the internet for info about England.
I have found 3rd and 4th cousins in Australia from being a member of Web forums, so I am delighted to be here, to communicate with everyone and hopefully find some more cousins.
My favourite occupation is trolling though the Census's and finding the brothers and sisters of my ancestors. I think I could have found my true vocation being a detective.
Cheers
Diane

Hello,
My name is Laurie, and I am from Phoenix Arizona.
I started researching about 2.5 years ago,as kind of as a promise to myself for my Grandma, Elaine.
She never knew who her father was and at the age of 7 her mother sent her and 2 of her younger sisters by boat from Fort Bragg Calif. to San Francisco to live in a orphanage (Roman Catholic Orphan Assylum), in 1915. Elaine had one more sister that didn't go with them because she was too young for that Orphanage to take, her name was Lois. They never saw Lois again and that broke my grandma's heart. She ached her whole life over losing her little sister. She passed away this past Feb.06 at the age of 99. That is the main reason I got into genealogy, the rest goes unsaid.
I still have not found Lois but I have found alot more considering that my fathers side of the family didn't keep any records or even have the foggiest idea of really where they came from.
It will be a life long quest indeed!
Nice site, I look forward to visiting alot!
Happy Searching!
Laurie

HI.

My name is Angela MARCANTOGNINI, I AM LOOKING FOR MY DAUGHTER THAT WAS PUT UP FOR ADOPTION IN 1977
IN PHOENIX ARIZON BORN AT GOOD SAM. HOSPITAL MY MAIDEN NAME AT THE TIME WAS MARCANTOGNIN, SHE MADE A CALL TO PA. ON 8-6-2006 TO MY FATHERS COUSIN WE THINK IT WAS HER LOOKING FOR ME THE CALL CAME FROM NEW MEXICO IF IT IS YOU PLEAS E-MAIL ME AT APARSLEY4@YAHOO.COM

Hi everyone,

My name is Sharyn & I live in Central Victoria, Australia. I have been seriously researching my family tree for about 8 years now but the best success came with the introduction of my computer & the internet to my life.

I have many brick walls & for the most part have virtually come to the end of serious research as there is not much more I can do without going to England myself. It seems my line of Huggetts are the only line of Huggetts that have no ancestry
;-(

I am 53, a mother of 3 & a grandmother of 1.75. I lived in the same area for all of my life with no desire of moving despite the lack of rain & the high summer temps. I love the climate here with the seasonal changes.

So keep smiling everyone.... even when you have your face pushed up against those brick walls.

Cheers to all
from Sharyn

Welcome, Sharyn, Angela, Laurie, Diane. I sincerely hope you all find who and what you are looking for.

Sharyn, if you post journals on your brick walls in your genealogy, you may be surprised how someone else can help you.

I have researched my tree so far I just can't believe it and I have never left Australia. If you have ancestors in England, then you can get people on rootschat.com to do Census lookup requests for you for years 1841 through to 1901. And any years before that, can be Parish Registry lookups.

People are just incredible with what they can find out for you and all for FREE. There's also a website called Genealogical Acts of Kindness with people offering services all over the world. Just read my journals and you will find lots of info.

Best regards to all from Alison in sunny South East Queensland, Australia.

Thank You for this site. Hope to be able to get some info from here, Thank You. Mary

Hello all, My name is Sharon I'm from upstate NY age is just a number. I have 2 daughters 3 stepchildren and 4 step grandchildren and I am basically new at genealogy ,yet I have a few well documented lines, in at least 3 lines of deep roots . I have to thank distant and not so distant cousins for their hard work and dedication to the art of untying knots within our families.I am tring to untie more of them. I stated doing research to try and find native american connections that have been an oral history in our family . and one thing led to another . My biggest achievement was locating family from my stepfathers lines ( he was adopted )we now even have pictures of his birth parents . I was estatic to find those and i thought that would be the end ...but i could not stay away from genealogy . To know where they were ,where they traveled and whom they were its a never ending .....obsession. To all who are researching. Good luck and till our paths cross again
Sharon

Greetings, I'm Joe kozerski I was born in Bethpage, Long Island NY, and relocated to upstate NY in 1959. I'm retired from the Navy and now live in Japan on Okianwa. I've been working on our family tree full time for 3 years. I original started in 1983, at the request of my Aunt, who gave the names of my grandfathers Mother & Father, who were from Enna Sicily. I started with

*http://www.ellisisland.org/
Found my grandfather and his date of arrival in NY, one problem I encounted was, he had changed his name from Estero to Estro. it also list other family member traveling with him or who arrived at an early or later date.

I contacted family member's via email, posted inforamtion on ROOTS and one name led to other.
Myspace has helped a lot over the last 2 months, with locating 2nd & 3rd cousin's. Our family tree is at:

*www.tribalpages.com/tribes/jkozerski
password: okinawa (viewing only)

*www.myspace.com/capodituttiecapo.

And one day, I was asking questions, and I found out who my father was! So without doubt, it's been a journey back in time to place I remember all so will, my childhood and a time beyond that. Old pictures my mother left behind with no names or dates caused some problems, and I've since dated & put names on all my family photo's for my 2 son's & Grand-Daughters. I might add that I'm married to a Japanese lady for almost 40 years, and completed her side of family back to her grandfather and grandmother.

***W*E*L*C*O*M*E*** to the new members! Please feel free to drop us all a line. Let us know who you are researching, and write a journal.

With genealogy - start with yourself and work backwards. Remember to protect the privacy of the living.

You can start searching for your ancestors and their descendants right now.

Some internet tips by googling as follows:-

SURNAME+genealogy
SURNAME+family tree
SURNAME+surname origins
SURNAME+famous people etc. it's endless really...

You can even have a go at typing your surname in your browser followed by .com or .org or even .net. You never know there may already be a big genealogy website devoted to your surname. I've found that occurring quite a few times.

If the origins of your surnames that you are researching are Gaelic/Irish/Scottish there maybe a clan website. So, type in your SURNAME+clan and see what your search engine reveals.

If you think no-one has ever heard of your surname before, or it's a fairly rare one, have a go at typing your surname in, followed the plus sign, the words 'genealogy', then plus sign and followed by the country of origin.

There most usually are lovely family crests/coat of arms associated with surnames.

There are resources available on the internet where people can upload/store their family trees in cyberspace. These can be found at websites called TribalPages, Rootsweb, GenCircles, GeneaNet, GenesReunited. They are basically the really good ones to use. Just google and you will find them, and/or click on surname wiki pages and you can goto the links from there.

Good luck everybody, and I hope you're all enjoying the links I've been finding.

Help out FamilyTreeCircles by becoming Editors and creating those surname wiki pages.

Alison.

Hi Everyone,

My name is Patricia and only recently found this site, and glad I did. At present live in Stanthorpe QLD, been here for 7 years after living in various counties, Berks, Bucks, Hants, Herts, Suffolk, Brynmawr Wales and Dumfries Scotland now we are packing for our next move to New Zealand maybe Nelson or Christchurch the pendulum hasn't stopped swinging yet. Someone said we must have Gypsy in our souls. We have two sons both Exec Chef's one in Kiev and the other in Manila, they have worked in lots of other countries so they must have caught the same bug.

John (Carver) my husband has been searching his lot for years his Dad started in 1930's, he encouraged me to start searching the Amor's of All Cannings. I got lucky, started in 1998 someone on web had completed the tree to my Gt Grandfather, and just this last week received a copy of marriage certificate of my Gt Uncle, which now completes my tree.

Have found reference to the Amor name in history.

Both in books one is called "Blue Apples" by William Henry, he has a chapter on Amor, he also has his own web site, furthermore a short reference in "The Laws of the Sun" by Ryuho Okawa, seems there is a conection to Jesus and the Cathars of France, makes for intersting reading. Information I have not been able to find on the internet.

As for interests I am an Astrologer, amongst other weird and wonderful pastimes, have an avid interest in Egyptian History since a trip down the Nile to Luxor, hence the name Tiye. When I get settled am hoping to look at birthday traits in the family line, as this can reveal a lot about character and also medical health traits through the family.

Have started writing a book which as a theme around the Amor name; it is set in Spain in modern day, it may never get published however I am enjoying the places it is taking me.

Thankyou for allowing me to journey with you, and will enjoy visiting this site often.

Blessings Patricia

Hello Scott,
I was born 60 years ago in the MO Ozarks and love living here. I have been researching my family tree since I was 20 years old. The event of the computer made it so much easier, yet I still have hit many brick walls. As I have researched the past, I have come to feel as if I have known my ancesters.
I have obtained pictures of many of the people and put them on my wall in order of the family. My oldest grandson told me that he had heard of these people and seen the pictures for years, but it made no impression on him until I put them on the wall, then he could "see" how he was connected to them. Brothers, cousins, my children all made the same comment.

Here's hoping I can climb over a few walls here and help others at the same time.

Hi Scott,
I am new to your website and so far I like the way it looks!!!! it seems very easy to navagate around and find things.
I done sent a private message to another member asking for some help or to give a helping hand.
I have a family tree file listed on GENCIRCLES.COM for any and all to please feel free to go look at. At the time of my posting it; it had over 3,000 surnames in it. I haven't done to much research here lately. However I am getting back into it.
If anybody would like go to WWW.GENCIRCLES.COM once there look for a family file called KOUZIN KONNECTION. that is my file and feel free to email me directly or through here.
I hope to further my southern family research and to make a new couzin who still maybe hiding out there.

thanks,
travis

HI SCOTT I HAVE JUST COME ACROSS YOUR SITE. I LIVE IN SCOTLAND AND HAVE BEEN TRACING MY FAMILY TREE FOR ABOUT 2 YRS. I AM HOPING I CAN GET SOME MORE INFORMATION WITH THE HELP OF YOUR SITE. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.
REGARDS
DOJO

Hi Scott, This site looks promising to me. Glad I finally found it. It's fun reading the other people's comments. My best, Barb

Hi Scott, this site is great. I was introduced by allycat, I also live on the northside of Brisbane now haveing moved here 2 years ago.I started this geneology about 18 years ago when I started to put all my Mothers family together after we had a reunion, as mum is the 11th child of her fathers 2nd marriage thats a big family. When I got to her father and found he's 1 of 10 and so it goes back 10 seems to be a popular number. My grandmother is 1 of 13. I've found alot but like everyone else have a few brick walls. Carnies from Scotland are my main tree. Cheers everyone.

Hi Scott - I feel rather guilty as I posted two journals some time ago but didn't bookmark the page and then just stumbled back tonight....I have been researching my family tree for some 8 or 9 years now but have always been facinated with my history...Lundy's Lane in Ontario (niagara falls and newmarket) are named for my ancestors. I would love to find more "stories" to go along with the names and dates. I also am learning how connected and alike I am to my female ancestors although I wonder if I would have had the stamina to make it like they did. I am a social worker and have three children 33,23 and 11; and a grandson who is almost 2. I love hockey especially watching my youngest play...and seem to have some compulsive disorder to keep researching my history.

Hiya,

I'm single, retired and live in the north of Ireland. I'm interested in Family History. I spend more time assisting others research their families than I do researching my own family. I'm a regular poster on both belfastforum.co.uk and rootschat.com On the latter site I organised a meet for members this year in Belfast. Fourteen people arrived and we had a good day. Next summer I'm being more ambitious. I've started organizing a meet in Dublin and have 50 people on the list already so if anyone is interested please contact me.

All the Best, Chris.

Hi Everyone
I live in Dalby on the Darling Downs in Qld, with my husband and disabled daughter, my son married & living on the Gold Coast (No 1 grandchild being 'thought about' now!). Last yr changed my research from medical to genealogy in order to find our origins prior to UK.
Our daughter remains undiagnosed, totally bedbound/nursing care but the condition she resembles is highly prevalent in Finland. My husband & I are third cousins so share ancestors although I have received generous help from other researchers I still have a few brick walls to knock down. Recently a geneticist asked me for our family tree history so was pleased I had some information to give him unfortunately I haven't established a European link yet - if there is one.
The mutual ancestors I am researching are:
Roser: John Roser m Margery Newnham 1642 ? Sussex
subsequent Rosers lived Lindfield, Lewes,
Waldron Sussex ?origins Germany?
McGowan:Bernard McGowan b c1812 Glasgow Scotland
Sept. 25 1829 trial - guilty of stealing,
transported Oz on "Marquis of Huntley",
arr. 1830. Parents unknown.
Evans: John b 1819 Montgomery Wales, Parents -
Robert Evans & Sinah ???unkn
Grimes: Edward m Mary McMullen c1813 County
Roscommon Ireland. Dep Ire Nov 1827 on
"Hooghley" believe he member of Royal
Veterans' Company. Unkn parentage of both
Hall: John b Durham Eng. c1792; convicted Durham
Assizes transported on "Baring" arr. Oz Sept
1815. Unkn parents
Andrews: Amelia Ann b1795 to Israel & Mary Andrews
Westminster Eng. Convicted "Old Bailey"
transported 7yrs to Oz on "Mary Ann" arr
Jan 1816.
McCurdy: James origins believed Eng. Arr. Oz unkn
Died 1844 est. age 44yrs ?bc1800
Richards: Rachel bc1800 Birmingham Eng. transport
Oz on "Lord Wellington" arr.1820.
Parents unkn McCurdy or Richards.
Mickelburgh (and many variants!) original couple:
James b1821 Norwich Norfolk son of
Tuttle-Mann (or reversed)Micklebourgh &
Mary Ann ???unkn lived Tulton Norfolk;
m Charlotte Jenner(Jennis), daughter of
John Jennis & Tabitha Banham, in 1843
Thurlton Norfolk. Migrated to Oz aboard
"Midlothian" Apr 1849; reason unknown.

If anyone is able to add addition information I'd be most grateful, thank goodness for the internet & sites such as yours Scott, with out them I'd never have got back as far as I have, so a big
"Thank You" for your generosity in providing this website, which I am now going to explore some more. Shas

Howdy doody! My name is Orville R. Dennison jr.

Hi Scott J:

Great site and I just entered my Holdgate lineage only for people to view and maybe connect with. I see there are quite a few Australians on line here and I'm hoping one of them might be able to shed some light on my family name as that is the only thing my grandfather every said (to my knowledge) about his family, "they all went to Australia" but so far I'ven't been able to verify that in any way, although there are a whole bunch of Holdgate's living in Australia.

I am originally from Montreal, Quebec, Canada (the home of some of your ancestors) and now live in Whitby, Ontario, Canada.

I have been dabbling with family research on and off for about 4 years now but since my Mom's death last Nov. 7, 2005, I have gotten into it witha vengeance as I have suddenly realized the generations before me is almost all gone. Stupid me, I should have been picking there brain for years but right now I'm pretty well on my own when it comes to the Holdgate's.

Anyway, thanks for putting this site together and who knows, I just might find out some terrific information from some of your other members.

Have a great day and take care.

Heather Holdgate
Whitby, Ontario, Canada
E-mail: Verdun1950@rogers.com

Howdy All,

I became interested in genealogy about 20 years ago. I started simply wondering if my grandmother was related to a US Navy person of some note because they share the Surname PREBLE. Well, that person turns out to be my 2nd cousin 7 times removed. While performing that research I found a few of branches on the family tree that go back to the original settlers of the New England colonies in America.

But these are all maternal connections. I can take my own surname back only to my great-grandfather. Quite disheartening!

It seems like every time I trace a line back to an immigrant to the American continent the wall goes up and I cannot find any records about how that person got to America thus I have no where to start looking on the other side of the Atlantic. Virtually all my ancestors emigrated from the United Kingdom. In town histories or records I keep finding “person X first appears in year Y” and no mention of immigration due to the lack (or loss) of records. I see hints such as; “believed to be a passenger on one of the ships eventually released to sail by King Charles” (England) in the mid 1630’s, or “believed to have been in the Roger Conant company” (founder of what is now Salem, MA), or “believed to be one of the Men from Kent” (England). My paternal great grandfather first appears in Canada (born in Ireland) when he, at age 60, marries (in 1867) a lady half his age and then sires three children. If I didn’t have Marriage and Birth certificates I would think there is a generation missing here.

I have surnames with rich histories in the early days of England and Scotland that I would really like to make connections with. These surnames are IRVING/IRVINE and FOSTER/FORESTER. But with no information on the emigrants from the United Kingdom I have no where to start looking.

I will post a few messages in the surname areas with what I know and what I need.

Hi, I'm Kay. I have been working at genealogy for about 35 years.I have researched both my husband's side and my side. One day a week I volunteer at the local Historical Society helping others with their research. At times I teach a class in beginning genealogy.

hi i think this site im wonderful i realy stumbeld on to this site. my name is marlene i am from Austrila an am researching my first husbands family Drake from England as my children want to know about there father. I have had some help from many websites.William Waite Drake, Richard E Drake, Alice E M Drake, would realy loke to find any living decendents. In 1861 Census Richard was (12) William (15) and alice was (8) there was a nother brother Robert Thrope my Husbands grandfather i have info on him and his wife, any thing please,

Greetings, my name is Sherese Williams and I have been doing genealogy for about 30 years, it started as a teen with pictures that my grandmother coud not tell me the names of and it went on from there...I am researching the only two lines that have the longest American heritage in the states, but can't find much. Looking for George Williams from Delaware, his son George W. Williams was born in 1818 in Delaware, married a lady from Ohio around 1839 and ended up in Michigan (where I live)by 1840. I can't find anything more on him or siblings, nor his wife Elizabeth E. Harding who was born 1818 in Ohio and died here in Berrien Co. Michigan. I can't track her at all. Need some help from out there. Love how you have this set up! It is terrific thanks!!!!!!!!

HELLO! I am very Thankful to have found this site. I hope to be able to find all the info on my Family and maybe meet some of them one day. At 34 I am just about to start a new journy in life with my soon to be and add to the Family. It sure would be great to be able to share my Family history with my children (when we have them). That I know of there are 5 Brothers and of course me and the folks. We were all seporated at a young age, 3 of us have reunited and wow is that great. Now it's the search for the rest of us Barbers. Thank You for having such a great site.
Janette Barber-Gilbert
Orig. from CA., Father was in the Navy and eldest Brother in the Army both of which I last saw when I was 5 years old, 1977.

Hi i am researching Johnson, James Johnson from Kentucky, married to Margaret Jones in 1858 Warren Co. Ky. they had James, Isaac, Mary and Sarah, they moved to Indiana and into Douglas co. Mo.
My grandfather Isaac Johnson died in Ozark Co. Mo. in 1919, he was married to Sarah Clinton, daughter of Augustus and Lucinda Freeman Clinton.
I have been doing this for about 17 years, i wish i had started before my dad died in 1969, Johnson and Jones are very hard to work on.
I`m also working on Baldwin, Freeman,Ary, Eberhart, Ritchey and lots more.
I live in Missouri and am 66 yrs old, keep up the good work.

Hi,
I live in Washington (no, not that one) in Sussex on the south coast of England and have recently started to research my family(ies) name.
I have at present three main branches to locate - 1. Lawrence
This name covers about four or five generations back to William Lawrence (b. about 1870) who resided in Dean Street in Soho in London and worked as a carpenter. His son Harold(b. C1870) married Harriet Hollier in Lambeth, London in 1911.
2. Hollier
This connection has been traced back to about 1830
through to present day. The prime location for this family was also London, mainly Lambeth and Shoreditch with the family involved with printing and umbrella frame makers!
3. Scrase
This is a branch through my Mothers name and is essentially of French derivation with about 80% distribution in 1850 in Sussex.
Good to be joining your community and hope we might be of mutual help to some further discoveries

Hey there first time on here! Hello to everyone! I have been doing some research for quite sometime and I am getting know where!! If anyone has any information on Babus L Conrad originally from New Orleans LA, he was aka Lilton. He is 40 now and hasn't been in the LA area for 10+ years now. If you were once married to him please email me so I know if your divorce is legal...PLEASE!! Thank you!!

Hi everyone, sure glad to have found your site. I started family history research to help my daughter on a social studies project for school, she got an A+ and I got the bug. I have about 900 names so far in my lines and have a few dead ends that I am hoping someone out there has information to add. I am willing to share what I have,due to my mom and father in law doing some research before me, I also have pictures that go back to the early 1800's. I'll be posting alot here as its starting to get cold and snowy here in Colorado, just my type of weather. Any excuse to sit in front of the computer with a cup of coffee going back as far as I can.....Thanks again for a great site!

Welcome to all the new members, and hi to the existing ones. Start writing those journals, we'd love to know more on those elusive surnames you are researching.

Hello
I'm glad I found you guys..I live in Missouri..I am retired early I have heart troubles..So I can set on the computer alot..I started this about 1999 for my mother..But have been very ill for a long time just got back to it a couple months ago.I can do pretty good on most of them but for Bolen,Killingworth,Hoke..it's like the fell of the earth...Thenk you....Pocolady

Hello to all,
It's nice to see so many people on here that stay up as late as I do. I started doing family research in 1997, a few years before my Mom passed away. I was able to get a lot of information from her. My Dad died when I was 13, and I had little information on his side but was able to piece enough together to find a whopping 40 living relatives and throw together a family reunion in 2001. All of this, thanks to the computer, late nights and many cups of coffee...not to mention some of the great genealogy sites like this one. This looks like it's going to be a new experience that has outstanding promise. Thanks for being here.

My name is Hope. I bring ya all Hope (LOL). I am a grandmother of 3 beautiful girls, 11.9.5. They think they are all a princess. (smile).
I have been researching my roots for over ten years now. I am new to this site, Never heard of it before. I have over 50,000 people in my database. My mother helped me get started before she passed away. She had been trying to get me going on it for many years. I didn't know how to operate a computer and didn't know anything about the internet until I bought one in 1996. Now you can't get me off mine when I am not working. (LOL). I am really excited about all my findings and collection of materials I have dug up. I have tons of books and cd's and will help anyone that needs it.
I have AWESOME dreams about my mom and her talking to me and finding family. I get answers from my mother in my dreams. And I have been able to talk to my grandparents too. And I have to say that they are AWESOME. I am so proud of my accomplishments in this field. I got me a hobby for LIFE!! I am excited about joining this group and will help any way that I can.

*W*E*L*C*O*M*E* to all the new members, wow ... membership to this great free site has more than doubled since I first arrived.

Hope everyone is enjoying the surname wiki pages. If you have great website links for your surnames, let me know and/or add them to your profile.

The more information you share about your ancestry, the more success you will have.

Good luck everyone.

Alison.

hi only just found this site but already think it is the best am sure it will be of great help thanks raelene

Hello everyone. My name is Sandy and I live in Texas. I come from a very broken and mixed/messed up family. I am searching for any and all info on Burke/Reckard(Reckart)from around Michigan and West Virginia. I can't get past that brick wall on the Burke side, my grandfather's name was John Joe Burke and my father's name was Herschel Elbert Burke. My grandmother's name was Sylvia Gladys Reckart and my mother's name is Pearl Ruth St.John Hornbuckle.
This is really a great site. I have been married for 43 years, have 4 living children, 17 granchildren(including step's) and 5 greatgrandchildren.
Thanks again for the great site and good luck to everyone in your searches.
Sandy

Hello,

Well...My name is Elizabeth and my sister in law put me onto this site last night.

Since arriving at this site I was refered to another site for assistance and have now added a further 70 people to my family tree.

Thank you Allycat.

I started working on my family tree in April of 2006. Yes, I am a newcomer to family tree research. My son had to do a project for school about a member of his family from history, so we contacted a member of the family who we thought would know something and it turned out that he did. He had a whole line of the family tree from the time they arrived in Australia. (That was in 2005)

In April 2006 I get an email telling me about www.genesreunited.co.uk so I decided to join and work on the family tree. As a result of this I have 9 active lines and hoping to add a 10th soon and around 3000 people in my tree. It would seem that is your family lived in Australia in the 1800's then you are probably related.

I have also had the advantage of having known all but 1 of my great aunts and uncles and this has helped in a big way in building the family tree. It also helped that over the years other members of the family have worked on parts of the family tree. Of all my family that I have contacted for help only 1 didn't want to share any information at all so I have been extremely lucky.

Eliz

Hello,

I'm John and live in Devon, SW England.

I started looking at my family history a couple of years ago when I retired. I was born and bred in Hampshire and thought my historical families were too.
My mother was born there as one of twelve children. (Three girls and ten boys, although one girl and one boy did not survive long.) My father was born in Southampton.

Once I started the tree, (with a lot of help from my 95 year old Aunt), I discovered just how much people travelled around in the 19th Century.

Although my parents' generation were all born in Hampshire, my mother's paternal side originate in Coleshill, Warwickshire and her maternal side is a fantastic mixture of Cambridgeshire, Pembrokeshire in Wales and Cornwall.

My father's paternal ancestors came from Wiltshire and Dorset but apart from knowing that his mother was born in Sussex, I have hit a brick wall with her parents origins. (See my post re Ellis or Elliss).

I have come across the odd tragedy - grandfather killed in an accident on board the ss Oceanic as a crew member in 1912. He was buried at sea in mid Atlantic en route from New York to UK.

I have also found the odd skeleton such as the brother of my mother's grandmother who appeared to marry three sisters. (I have three marriage certs which are without doubt the same man and on each occasion the bride has a different forename, but the same father who has the same profession).

I also have the death cert. of the eldest sister, - the first wife - who died by committing suicide by drowning herself in the River Thames at Windsor. Perhaps she knew of something going on between her husband and her sister? We will probably never know.

I'll put these stories on the site as time permits. Just look at my profile to see the names I am researching. The main ones are Alexander, Ashby, Gunton (the owner of the harem), Passingham Ellis and a variety of spellings for Hancock.

Great site, keep it going.

jonalex

Hello,

I'm John and live in Devon, SW England.

I started looking at my family history a couple of years ago when I retired. I was born and bred in Hampshire and thought my historical families were too.
My mother was born there as one of twelve children. (Three girls and ten boys, although one girl and one boy did not survive long.) My father was born in Southampton.

Once I started the tree, (with a lot of help from my 95 year old Aunt), I discovered just how much people travelled around in the 19th Century.

Although my parents' generation were all born in Hampshire, my mother's paternal side originate in Coleshill, Warwickshire and her maternal side is a fantastic mixture of Cambridgeshire, Pembrokeshire in Wales and Cornwall.

My father's paternal ancestors came from Wiltshire and Dorset but apart from knowing that his mother was born in Sussex, I have hit a brick wall with her parents origins. (See my post re Ellis or Elliss).

I have come across the odd tragedy - grandfather killed in an accident on board the ss Oceanic as a crew member in 1912. He was buried at sea in mid Atlantic en route from New York to UK.

I have also found the odd skeleton such as the brother of my mother's grandmother who appeared to marry three sisters. (I have three marriage certs which are without doubt the same man and on each occasion the bride has a different forename, but the same father who has the same profession).

I also have the death cert. of the eldest sister, - the first wife - who died by committing suicide by drowning herself in the River Thames at Windsor. Perhaps she knew of something going on between her husband and her sister? We will probably never know.

I'll put these stories on the site as time permits. Just look at my profile to see the names I am researching. The main ones are Alexander, Ashby, Gunton (the owner of the harem), Passingham Ellis and a variety of spellings for Hancock.

Great site, keep it going.

jonalex

Hello;
I am "Gencrazy" and I live in Nebraska, and I am so glad I found this site. I've been doing geneology off and on for about 12 years. I've completed my husbands family names and now I'm working on my own family. I have hit alot of brickwalls but every once in a while I get a break. Right now, the main names I'm researching are JINKS & WAHL, but also WORLEY,WRIGHT, PEYTON & McKAUGHAN. I'm just preparing my journel, but it will be posted soon. Again, thank you for this free site.
GenCrazy

Hi,

I am Dave Calladine, I just moved back to Somerset, in the UK, and the family history is on hold whilst the rebuilding work in the kitchen goes ahead, then there is a portch to add, and a loft to line, but I hopoe to get back to the archives sometime soon.

I work as a teacher in Museums, so the research has been carried out for some time now. English sites have so many quirky little rules, that I was delighted to find a site where I could share my information, and direct contacts too, and this is a great site.

I hope to arrange a huge one name (Calladine) search of the Matlock archives, and have had this idea on hold for two years now, but Hopefully it will happen as soon as I get settled back in Somerset again.

Thanks for a great site, Dave

Hi,

My name is, Beth Schofield. I am 37 years young, as some of your folks have put it. I live , where the dirt is red, and where there are many tornados. I have been interested in genealogy for about 10 years now.

Most of my research, has been concentrated on my Dad's side of the family. This family surname is Lee. However, I am at a road block. I can't seem to get past his Grandparents, William Samuel and Carrie Elizabeth Lee. Happy hunting.

Hello everyone, my name is Shani Savic and I am from New South Wales, Australia. I am just getting started so any assistance would be fantastic as I have no idea what I am doing. My father Max Lewis just turned 67 and at my brother's suggestion he thought I might like to do a family tree. So I would like to have it done by his 70th as a present. I think I have run into Allycat before on the WW boards. Ally, let me know if it is you?

I am looking forward to getting started so let me know, in your infinite wisdom, what I should do first????

Thanks x Shani.

Hi! I'm Susan Whalen-Sanders, from St. Joseph, Missouri; though I've now lived more than half my life in and around Chicago, Illinois. I'm one of a handful of relatives researching our family, and a lot of work has already been done before me. I've done a little footwork (I love cemeteries, especially in Ireland) But mostly, this is an internet-based obsession for me. I do plan to travel around the places where my ancestors lived a lot more now that my daughters are grown. My husband is a big "roadfood" fan, especially barbeque, so that should mesh really well with the ancestor hunts I'm planning.
Thanks for this fun, free site! Happy Hunting!
Susan

Hi! I'm Jim Parkhill, from Roswell, NM; I have lived my life (60 years) at the present location despite the military service during Vietnam. I work as a Government Procurment Officer. I have done a lot of footwork at LDS,"not a member", sent and received letters from Scotland, Ireland, England and New Zealand. The internet sites have helped me a lot. I am married with four grown children, 7 grandchildren and 1 coming.
Thanks for this site.
Jim

Hi All
I'm Graham Stuart Broughton - from Hartlepool GB
I'm reserching the Broughton Family tree - which so far goes back to 1544 in Rylstone Yorkshire - and my Mothers (Scott - back to 1840 at present)

Graham

Hello,
My name is David and I live in Oregon. I've been doing genealogy for over 30 years when my great grandfather told me about his family when he lived in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma.
A few years ago while working nights, I got to do a lot of online research. It turns out that most of my ancestors back for 7 generations lived and died in the Pacific Northwest including several pioneer lines (Remington, Rauch, Tyrrell, Shearer, Utter on my dad's side and Ownbey, Wright, Rees(e), Wood, Hylton on my mother's). All of these came here before 1872 (the qualification for Oregon Pioneer). Many moved on to Washington and Idaho Territories probably because of the gold rush.
My Rauch and Remington ancestors also had to deal with the Nez Perce uprising.
I've done quite a bit of research on my wife's lines and she had quite a few ancestors come early to Oregon as well. These are Jamieson (originally from NB and Maine), Sutton, Thurston, Grove and Schmidt/Smith. She also had early ancestors in Arizona (Dickson, Brink, Campbell).
My hope is to get beyond a few brick walls that I've run into.
My gg grandfather was Albert William Clark(e). He is supposed to be from Quebec and born about 1850/55 and died of an early death in about 1884 somewhere around Monoma, IA (the birthplace of my great grandfather). Thanks to another cousin on this website, I got a lot of information and leads on his wife, Eldora Philena Curtis.
I've also ran into a brick wall with my wife's gg grandfather, George Willson? Lewis. His son, Walter Byron Lewis was born in Grain Valley, Jackson, MO on 18 Apr 1876 and was married to Nancy Katherine (various spellings) Brackney. She seemed a wild sort and was all over the place, but I can't find her in any censuses even though I can find her father, Joseph and son, WB. I have family stories saying she married first a James Lynch and went to NM Terr.
I have a few others, but those are my nearest ones.
I have been blessed by the fact that most of my wife's family and mine came to the US so long ago. Hundreds of our ancestors predate 1700. My children are descended from several Mayflower Pilgrims to the best I've been able to find including Isaac Allerton, Degory Priest, John Howland, John Billington, Gyles Hopkins, Richard Warren and poss Elizabeth Tilley.
My genealogical goal is to get as many lines back to the 1600's as possible, especially since so many are in the US. Another goal is to find out where in Europe my ancestors came from. So far, my more recent ancestors are Weidler's (Waldfischbach, Rheinpfalz, Germany) and Rauch's, Keller's and a few others from Hesse-Darmstadt. Most of these showed up about 1855 or before.
So if anyone has connections as a cousin, please feel free to drop me a line.

Happy Tree Climbing

Hellooooo to all the new members.

Don't be shy. Write journals about your family history. There are lots of you that have extremely interesting surnames that we'd all love to read about.

And remember, that subscriptions are just to let you know who else is interested in the same surnames that you are researching, so don't subscribe to yourself.

The more information you share in your journals, the more likely you will increase your chances of being contacted by descendants/family historians.

Don't forget to protect the privacy of the living on the internet.

In your journals, please add dates, location and country of origin of whom you are seeking.

...'Happy Hunting' as they say.

Alison
EDITOR

Hi there to all.
My name is Lynn, and I am an Aussie from NSW. I was told about this site this morning from my daughter in law. I have been researching my family history on and off since the late 1970's, more off than on. I really started in earnest again last year when my mother handed me lose sheets of paper with my side started written on them. I bought a program for my laptop and here I am. (Still learning the technology side of researching). I would like to thank Scott for this site. Something I have learnt is you can't do it all on your own, and sites like this are great. I am yet to explore it all, but what I have seen so far is great. Once again, a big thankyou, Scott.........Lynn

Hello,

My name is Jeremy and I live in Upstate New York, U.S. I teach Social Studies and have only recently begun serious genealogical research. Luckily, one branch of my tree (Morrison/Buyce) has been done by another relative. I'm looking forward to see where this takes me. The following are surnames I'm planning to search: Blood, Walker, Young, Bartlett, McConnell,and Billington. I posted a journal this week and have already received a response.(Thnak you, alleycat)This site is great!

Hi my names jessie.. I'm trying to track down where my roots come from as i'm expecting a baby..I want to know my own cultural Identity so I can pass on what I know.I'm not having much luck and I have no idea where to start,Maybe why I signed up lol. I'm looking for the O'kanes who are from County Tyrone Omagh over in ireland, Bertrams and moodys.

Hi

My name is Julie and I was introduced to this site by 'allycat'.

I live in Redhead NSW Australia and I am researching my family history including my husband's side (Mackinnon).

In particular I am keenly looking for information on Amelia Kilmartin (nee Church). Amelia was born in the Maitland area of NSW in 1914. If anyone is also researching the Kilmartins then I would be very interested to hear from you.

Hi all

My nameis Carla, I found this sight while searching the internet.

I live in PA, been here for thirty years. I retired in 2005 and started reseaching my family in 2006. I am looking for info on Richard G Coleman and his wife Eliza J Coleman of Mansfield, now called Carnegie pa. He was of the black race and she was mulatto. There families came from VA.

would love to hear from anyone who may have info

Hi everyone

My name is Lynne, I am from Lincolnshire, England, UK. I have just started piecing together my family tree within the last 4 weeks, I have been trawling all the sites and hope registering with this one will save a lot of finger work.
I am researching the family names Thompson, White and Johnson on one side of the tree and Needham and Brookes on the other side.
If anyone can suggest where I can get access to a searchable list of RAF servicemen I would be really grateful, my Grandad was in RAF Melksham in 1941 but I don't know how long he served. He did not lose his life in Service so I cannot get information from War Graves.
Any help would be gratefully appreciated. I have been trawling the webpages and if I can point people in the right direction or assist in searches I would be pleased to do so, my searches are limited to England and Wales, UK though.
I wish all of you every success in tracing your family histories.

Hello my name is Anna and oh boy about the search bug hitting you. I have been searching for years and have found living relatives from almost every branch of the tree. Husbands and mine. We got pictures of my husbands father. A Jerrell. We can't seem to get passed his grandfather. Well now hubbies great grandfather James Alexander Jerrell we think from Halls,Tennesse married to Evelina Newman. I found a tree for the Newman side. My fathers dad died when my father was 11 so we didn't have much than I got the Family Tree Maker and we got all the way to 975 for the Bone family. Now I'm so glad I didn't get the diamond ring. hehe I had a choose since it was our 20th anniversary I could get the diamond ring (we couldn't afford it 20 years ago and said if we make it 20 years we would get it) Well you can see what I choose and it was the best thing ever. Well here goes on the surnames. Jerrell,Bone,Harris,Hoskins,Newman, Acree, Terry, Hochrieter (still working on that spelling, and Steinauer.

***Good luck to everyone and remember what my grandfather said once, "Be careful when climbing the family tree because invariably you will find that rotten branch that you would just as soon saw off." *****

Barbara I really enjoyed that comment. It made me think on something I heard when I was a girl about the tree. when you have a weak branch strap it. It didn't make much since until I saw a person pruning one and he put a strap around one branch and then he attached this to the trunk of the tree. I was wondering about this and he said it gives them a chance to grow stronger. He said it is like a family with a family member that holds them together.

Ok I have rambled
God Bless
Anna

Dear Ally.

Thanks for your great suggestion of Tribalpages. I have made a family tree site for our clan. I was thrilled to see that the GEDCOM file uploaded from my PC. Learn something new every day.

Dear Scott,

Thank you for the website I have really enjoyed looking around, learning and posting my own journals and sharing what information I have.

Terrific stuff congrats and well done for keeping it free.

Meredith
MsMeridy

My name is Mary Lee, you will find me listed as mareleigh. I believe in Free Genealogy Research, allowing all families access to their Family information.
One bit of information that I can post, do not assume that your family members are no longer living if you cannot find them in the following census. Many families migrated every ten years or so. Start checking other States, and also look for changes in name spelling, and remember they also had the divorce word in their lives also.
Which means the male could have another wife listed, or the female could be married again. Prior to 1850 census, its tough. Also, the children married anywhere from 14 years of age and up. If the girls reached the 20 mark, they were considered spinsters. We have one family that the spelling changes with each census. We went from started with Noland and the name changed to the following spellings, Nolan, Nolen, Knowlen, Nowlen, Nowlin, Knowlin, Neulin, Neulen. All variations, but originating from 2 clans. So, stick the course and don't give up.

Hi, My name is Ramona and I live in Georgia. I have been working on my family tree for several years off and on. I have my paternal Grandmother traced back to Scotland and Ireland. Her ancestors came over on the Prince Henry. However, I am not having as much luck with my paternal grandfather. I know his family came from Alabama and have four generations back but can't find any more. Don't know if the name may have changed due to Indian heritage or what happened. I am hoping someone can help.

hey what's up???????????
i'm betty (bjboop10). just started a couple of yrs ago on family tree. have been working on blanton, clark, hawkins, higgs families. take care and keep enjoying your hobby.

Hello Everyone!
My name is Marge,maiden name (Jordan). I'm ___
years old and started research on my mothers side, (Kennedy), last year. That let to doing my fathers side also. I'm afraid I'm at a brick wall with grandparents on both sides.
I've been all over the web looking. Hopefully I can find some answers here?

PS
I have some of what I've found here, http://www.geneanet.org/contact.php3?source=marge72359

Marge

Hello Im Hope and Im reserching my maternal gmother's possible connection to James Whitcomb Riley. She is supposed to have been a niece or great niece so the story goes. Her name is Sarah Elizabeth Riley from Henderson Kentucky born 1885.

GOOD MORNING SCOTT_J
I AM JULIE, FROM OHIO. ALONG WITH MY MOTHER, I HAVE BEEN RESEARCHING MY FAMILY HISTORY SINCE THE LATE 1970'S. ONLY WITHIN THE LAST COUPLE MONTHS HAVE I BEEN ABLE TO FIND GOOD INFORMATION ABOUT MY FAMILY. I THANK THE INTERNET FOR THIS! AND ALL THE PEOPLE WHO SUBMITTED THIER INFORMATION. THANKS TO ANOTHER GENEALOGIST IN OHIO, I AN ABLE TO TRACE MY MORSE LINE TO JOHN MOSS. MY BURNETT LINE GOES BACK TO JOHN BURNETT b.1675. I CAN TRACE THE LEPPER LINE TO 1696, ALTHO THIS LINE STILL NEEDS WORK. THERE ARE ALOT OF BRICK WALLS, DUE TO DIVORCES AND REMARRIAGES. I OWE ALL THE PEOPLE ON THE GENEALOGY INTERNET SITES FOR THE INFORMATION I HAVE FOUND.. ITS A WONDERFUL JOURNEY. THERE IS STILL SO MUCH MORE I WANT TO KNOW... SO I WILL CONTINUE MY QUEST.

My name is Ian Cairncross, and I have been hosting the Cairncross family website for a few years. The site has 36 family trees. I am always happy to hear from Cairncrosses from round the world, and aim to match any correspondents to see if they appear in any of the trees on the site. Hundreds of people have contacted me, and as a result I have been able to add a tremendous amount of extra detail to the trees, plus about 10 new trees. There is also a vast amount of historical information within the site, which Cairncrosses might find interesting.

Hello everyone!! I can't really remember if I ever posted here, but here it goes. I am searching for family from Poland/Russia and so far have come up empty handed. I have managed to reunite numerous other families, but not my own. This has been for the last three to four years now and as far as I know everyone else in my family has had no luck either. The surnames that we are searching for are:
Pirog
Pirok (which is what our name was changed to)
Trepke
Papke
Derbowicz (not sure about spelling)
Sidorek (also not sure of spelling)
Kochnuk
Our families genealogy forum has not had any leads or postings. Why is it that some names are just never found?? We also have cousins with the last name Gonzales that live in South Carolina.
http://genealogy.thepirogs.com/forums/
I hope to hear from everyone, and I pray you all have better luck than I have with your genealogy searches and quests.

Hi Scott, My Name is Larry and I'm originally from Utica, NY, now living in Camillus, NY. I've been researching the DelliColli and Fragola families for @ three years now. It's been an uphill battle so far,but enjoyable and I've even learned a few things about my family along the way.
This site looks very interesting and I can't wait to dig in. Thanks!!!

hello!I'm Anne Marjorie S. Gacutan,from Cagayan Valley,Philippines,a senior BSChemical Engineering student of Cagayan State University,Carig,Tuguegarao City.

Hi my name is jodie summers i live in sunny queensland australia goldcoast area , I am currently studying to be a nurse and i stumbled across your web site and thought it was a great idea.I hopefully will be able to trace where my ansestors came from and have lots of fun trying.

Hi my name is jodie summers i live in sunny queensland australia goldcoast area , I am currently studying to be a nurse and i stumbled across your web site and thought it was a great idea.I hopefully will be able to trace where my ansestors came from and have lots of fun trying.

Good day to everyone. My name is Suzanne but use Suz:) I was born in Toronto Ontario Canada.
My story is a little different than some. I started with my Donkersley side in 2000. Three months later I found a cousin in Stockbridge England who had done genealogy on the family.
At that time my interest was more on adoption issues. I found my grandfather, and all of my Ontario family with full genealogy information that had been done. I now have pics of my mothers family but I am still looking for her. I found out I have brothers and sister somewhere in BC and ALB
My heritage is Irish and Scotish. I am now trying to search BC and Alberta area's to where my grandfather and the family moved to.
I travel from ON to NS as I am a driver with my Husband. My husband is still in training with genealogy. We find ourseves in grave yards down east taking pics that may help someone. Seems strange to most but not people like ourselves who have the genealogy bug...I have found most of my husbands side 6 generations from the loyalist in Kingston ON.
If I had one thing to say on adoption and genealogy is never give up there is someone out there that does know.
Scott thank you very much for creating this site its is great and seems so friendly!!!

Hi all. I'm Amber Stacey.I was born and live in Wisconsin(US). I know very little about my father's side of the family,thats why I'm here. All I know is that two brothers came over from Cornwall, England to Wisconsin, so I'm told. They had some kind of argument and split up.(some say it was about moonshine) Each taking their family away from the other. All I know is one day my great Aunt and her cousin went to the family plot when they were young and meet a man that said he was a Stacey. When they told this to the family they were there was some sort confrontation and were told never to speak of the man again. Its all really weird but it got my interested in what really happened between the families. Thats my plan, but so far it hasn't been going well. Hopefully this site will help.
Thanks for making it.

Hi everyone. I'm Denise Whited of Missouri. I don't know too much about my fathers side so I thought I would go search and look. Hopefully this site will help. Thanks

Hi everyone,I,m Wayne Tymchuk from Winnipeg,Manitoba.I,ve only just begun to take an interest in Genealogy,but it can be very frustrating and rewarding also. Thankyou

Hi everyone and allycat, I have just started gathering more info on my Langley family tree, I have come stuck and looking for parents of Charles Edmond Langley born 22 March 1818 in Ireland,I am new to posting comments so bare with me, Thankyou

Hello! This is bukldy. I think I may be older than all of you put together! And, with Halloween approaching, that means I would not be here but would be at some gravesite somewhere. Never fear...only kidding ya a bit.

Anyway, because I am in what is supposed to be my golden years, there is not much time for me to complete this family tree. There is very little for me to go on, since my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles have all passed on...only scribbled notes that I jotted down when I was not all that interested in the who, what, why or where. But as we get older, we become wiser...so I am wisely searching for what I didn't make note of...the Kepka, Simec, Dvorak, Slavicek lineage information. I have posted some information under the Dvorak Research. Thank you for a wonderful site.

hello scott,
my name is also carla but you can call me cj.i live in springfield,missouri.i,ve been researching my family genealogy since 1986.names i am researching
page//suddarth//balsley//bridgewater//wood//woods//jopling//ware//sumpter//sumter//porterfield//littleford//mcferrin//oliver//.
thankyou for this site.
EDWARD PAGE-BORN-1776-AMHERST,VIRGINIA-DIED-20/MARCH/1854 ALBEMARLE COUNTY,VIRGINIA LOOKING FOR HIS PARENTAGE AND WHERE HE MIGHT BE BURIED.
THANKYOU VERY MUCH
CJ

Hi there

My name is Melissa, i'M FROM South Africa. I've always been ffascinated with my surname and would like to know where it originated from. Our family never really discussed our family tree, and just as a matter of interest, I'd like to know if there would possibly be anyone besides us with this unique surname.

Hi my name is Sandra,
As way of introduction I thought I’d describe how I became involved in the fascinating realm of genealogy.

I began my genealogical journey over 25 years ago before I turned 21. My grandmother had informed me that she would be dying soon as she was very “old”. Suddenly I realized that her old tin full of photographs had no labels or names on them, they were pictures of mostly unknown people. With a sense of urgency I began to visit her once a week trying to sort her photos and label them.

She would sit in a large recliner chair in her lounge room overseeing my efforts, I lay out her photos in chronological rows asking repeatedly who is this?, where’s that? Did this happened before or after that. The photos were organized and re-organized, sorted and labeled. Then one day she brought out another tin of more photos and other “stuff” and we began to sort through them also. All of a sudden she clutched a folded and very yellowed piece of paper to her chest, leapt out of her chair and ran into the next room. I was flummoxed I had no idea what was going on. I followed her into the next room where she refused to show me the piece of paper, she tucked it into her pocket and came back out to begin working once again on her photos. I was intrigued by her actions but decided to respect her wish for secrecy and focused on other things when visiting her.

Mush later (several weeks) I summoned up enough courage to ask her what was on the paper. She tilted her head side ways and peered at me and finally said that blood was thicker than water and that we don’t speak to people outside the family about our personal business, and so the story about my family had begun, I had inadvertently uncovered my first family skeleton..

Grandma celebrated her 100th birthday on the 2nd June 2007, with almost all of her descendants celebrating with her.

When we sit and talk now I tease her about how she told me she was about to die those 25 years ago (she was in excellent health then as she is now), sometimes I tell her the things I’ve found in my research but we have a silent agreement she wants to hear only the good things not the bad (perhaps that’s why she lived so long?). She shakes her head with puzzlement at my interest in my family history. Why am I so interested she often asks? Having said that she’s given me all family photos, perhaps she knows that although she can’t fathom my interest, she knows I’II take good care of her newspaper cuttings, old photos and stories which seems to make her feel at peace. She’ll often begin to tell me stories of her childhood of the struggle for survival and she knows that I am “really” interested, at other times she marvels when I repeat a story back at a later date and as she sorts through her 100 years of memories, she finds the story still there as clear as when she first told it. She says that sometimes she will sit after everyone has gone and think over the conversation and remember more things, the ones that have receded in her memory buried under years of more recent stuff.. Its always worth asking what’s new.

I still feel that same sense of urgency that I did years ago but now I also feel a sense of responsibility of getting it all down and bringing it all together as one day I will that lady sitting in the recliner chair telling tales of things long ago. I will be giving sharing a box with CDs of pictures and copies of research and certificates, all pulled together in amateur stories for the next generation of grandchildren to reorganize and sort as they try to make sense how they fit into the larger story and prepare it once again to hand on to the next set of grandchildren.
(Oh and by the way grandma gave me that piece of folded and yellowed paper that was so precious and difficult to share, we don’t mention it but she has asked me to share all that I have with others.. What was once so shameful is now a story of strength, endurance and love an inspiration a story worth telling.)
Names I am researching:-
Maternal side:- Todman, Bassett, Ellis, Crump, Symons, Dutton, Carbis, Mitchell, Dutton, Dillon, Bartlett
Paternal side :- Williamson, Jacka, Ebbott, Walker, Munro, Jennings, Gill, Bennetts, Thomas, Knight, Nance, Moyses,
Husband’s tree:- Benton, Nichols, Lovell, Walker, Milligan, James

Thanks Scott (and everybody else who is actively involved) for putting in the time and effort into building such a great site, its wonderful to have an audience of like minds to share ideas and research with.

Sandra aka kerbent

Hi name is Pamela Deam and have just started researching my family on both my parents and hopefully my partners family but mostly the Deam family though.

And hoping to date back to the early times of my family so that in the future my son and his cousins can look back on this and know where their family is from

I look forward to what i discover i have a bit of information dating right back to 1811 but hoping to find more

Pamela

Hi my name is Kristen. I actuallyjust happened across this site a couple days ago. My boyfriend told me that his family originated from England. (John Lackland - King of England) and i decided i wanted to know where my family came from. so i have been trying to find everything i can.
But like most everyone else, I have hit a block in the road. I made it 1738 and then lost everything. i dont know how to go about finding any more ancestors.

Hi-
My name is Don and I have enjoyed reading so many interesting introductions. I am now retired and live in southern Maine, after a career that took me all over the US. I was born in the southern tier of New York State in Oneonta, and raised in Walton, NY.
I became intensly interested in family history when my Mom slowly declined into senile dimentia in her later years. I did manage to capture about 10 hours of video tape with her reminiscing about her childhood with her six brothers and six sisters and growing up on the farm before her memory was too badly damaged.
That, and the fact that I never met my paternal grandfather although he lived until I was eleven and was only fifty miles form us, really stimulated me to learn muchn more of my family. In my retirement years, I have had much more time for reasearch and have traced some of my mother's lineage back to the early 1700's. My paternal lines have proven much more difficult, and I still don't know for certain where my paternal grandfather was born. I do have his signature when he signed himself into the hospital when he was 93 years old, and have recovered several picures of him and his family. My quest to know my ancestors as people goes on. The surnames of interest are MICHEL, YOPS, LAUX, O'BRIEN.
Thanks for this wonderful site and I look forward to the chance to get some clues from you all, anmd hopefully, to give you some help, too!

Hello,
I would like to Thank you for all of your hard work on this site. My name is Kristyne and I have been trying to fill in information that was handed to me. I was not as fortunate as others to get handed a lot of information. Since Mike and I were giving a little book on names and a very few dates for Christmas one year, I have been trying to find all kinds of information on all the names that either one of us are tied to. This is has been a very long process and I have hit several brick walls. Both my husband and I have lived in Chautauqua County, NY all our lives. We have three children and we are in hopes that one of them will keep our books up to date in future years. I am in hopes to meet someone who is also working on the same surnames as I am and to help me break a brick wall.

Hi all!
My name is Natalie, 23 from Australia. I am new here and to researching family history. I currently have found a large part of my family tree, BAULCH. I will be adding day by day more journals. As I want to share what I know with others and hopefully fill a few missing gaps, and possibly meet some family. I am also researching my mothers maiden name, Henderson.
It would be great if I could get some feedback on my journals as I have no idea of how to display them correctly.
Cheerio for now. Thanks for this site it is fantastic!

Hello,

My name is Debbora, my husband and I grew up in Oklahoma. For the past 21 years, we called any place the Navy sent us “home”. Virginia Beach, Virginia will be our home by choice, but we are still Okies at heart. During my husbands career we have been stationed in Florida, Spain, Virginia, Bahrain and now back to Virginia. We have seen some amazing things. “It’s not just a job, it’s an adventure,” so goes the Navy motto. What an adventure it has been; some good, some not so good, but an adventure nonetheless.

Hampton Roads has been our home off and on for 12 years now and we have come to love it. My husband is due to retire early next year and our youngest will graduate high school a year later. At that point, I will be looking at an all too real empty nest and a freedom that I have not had in 31 years. Surely to be bitter-sweet. What to do? I love photography. I love the concept of documenting a moment in time, frozen for all to see and hopefully for generations to come. I want to tell a story about each picture and let the viewer get to know the subject, want to know more, and care enough to keep passing on the tradition. I have recently discovered scrap booking. I find it is a wonderful and creative way to express the feelings I want to convey from my photos.

Remember the old adage “if only I knew then, what I know now?” When it comes to my search for family and information, I can only wish. My mother is what my grandma called “a change of life baby.” My grandma gave birth to my mother, the last of four children at age 42. In those days, that was old I guess for having babies. Today some women are just getting started. My mom’s siblings were 10, 15, and 20 years older than she was. Lucky for me my mom married at age 16 had me by 17 and never left my grandma’s apron strings. We lived a few doors from her until she passed, so seeing my grandma on a daily bases was normal. It was so ordinary it never occurred to me to ask those now seemingly important questions. I remember spending nights at my grandma’s house, where she would let me brush her beautiful long silver hair that she usually kept in a bun, while telling me stories of her grandparents and how she came to live with them as a young girl about my age. I was fascinated with the stories but I never paid real close attention. I was even more fortunate to have been raised around her mother my great grandma. We did not see her as often, but I remember all the family reunions and the “family get together” we would go to. She lived a long full life to the age of 94. Even with my great-grandmas passing, it never occurred to ask the questions that I long to know the answers to now. I was 23 years old with two children of my own when my grandma passed away at age 83 she had always been in my life. I just thought we’d have more time.

My mom and I discovered a tin box full of pictures, letters and little keepsakes. We also found a notebook with some shaky handwritten notes where she painstakingly tried to write down all she could remember about her grandmother’s family, brothers, sisters, etc. They were “random thoughts as I think of them” she wrote. With little education, it was hard to decipher some of it, but I was grateful just to have any details. Some of the pictures were faded; she had tried to write names on most, some I may never know who they are. At some, point in her later years she must have known that one day someone will want to know; I am that someone. I may not have known to ask the questions then, but I hope to seek out as many answers as I can.

I would like to leave my children with a work in progress that my grandmother began. To continue documenting our lives so that if one day far into the future someone wants to ask, “what do you think great, great, great, grandma was like?” They can see the photos and journaling and all the effort I have done to preserve a little bit of family history and traditions, to let them know that I may not have known them in my lifetime, but I knew that they would exist and would want to know. This is my legacy to you I hope that by posting this message maybe someone somewhere will be the descendants of a cousin, uncle, brother or sister of some of my family.

I have some love letters from 1918 from one of your ancestors I would love to share these with the family as well as the pictures and information. Thanks for the wonderful forum.

Family names: Epperly, Mendenhall, Coe, Burks,

Hi, I'm Maureen,5th generation New Zealander (kiwi).Have been researching my family for over 20 yrs now and am slowly plodding along when I have a few spare minutes.

I'm available for anybody who needs a helping hand in Otago or Southland,New Zealand.

Here are some of the surnames i'm looking for...
BOYER--Worcester UK,Craies,Crease--Scotland,Dreaver--Orkney,Hurndell--Buckingham,UK.

Keep up the great work and many thanks for a wonderful site.

Enjoyed all the comments. I am looking for two names - Kasputis and Zukas - both Lithuanian (Russian) and I saw the name Leonas Kasputis as a name someone on your site was looking for. Wonder if anyone responded. Kasputis was my grandmother's maiden name and she left Russia for the USA in 1908 under her married name, Zukas. We don't know who her siblings were as this part of the family was not known.

Hi Scot and all members, what a great idea, a free site for researchers to connect up on thank you. So many of the sites are interesting and just when you think you might have found one of your family a notice comes on screen to say subscribe now. It is so frustrating especialy to someone who is an aged pensioner as I am. No more whingeing.
I love Family History (I started training by looking for clues in Agatha Christie books many years ago) and have been doing research for about 15 years. I have family from UK and Scotland mainly and have managed to go back to 1600's with the Coleman family of Brede,Sussex.
The same with the Dunbars from Aberdeen,Scotland.
My Hodson's from Manchester, Lancashire have a brickwall in mid 1700's. My dad's family have been traced back to 1840 in Sydney, Australia.
They are the Yates family of boatbuilders.I have met several distant cousin's on the Net through genealogy sites and we have swapped information, some match other's differ and then the challenge to verify details starts.I love doing my Family History, my daughter used to watch me on the comput