I saw my first genealogy report when I was in fourth or fifth grade – the early 1980s. My great-aunt had a copy of a descendant report for what was probably my fifth great-grandfather. Typed on a typewriter and put through a mimeograph machine. Along with that report was a shorter document which contained information about a Danish immigrant ancestor, my third great-grandfather.
A year later, in sixth grade, we were asked to draw a family tree as part of a social studies assignment. Most kids included three or four generations. Leaning heavily on the reports mentioned above, my tree included about ten generations.
Fast forward from 1982 to 1998. I was engaged and living with my soon-to-be-husband in our first house. With our first dedicated internet line, still dial-up but a separate line so we could surf the web and not tie up our land line. In addition to discovering Amazon and Google that year, I also discovered online genealogy resources and message boards. I bought myself Broderbund’s Family Tree Maker software on CD-ROM and got to work. I researched my family as well as my fiance’s. I was obsessed.
Over the next 23 years, I researched off and on when I could. I got better at researching and documenting. I stopped taking the word of strangers on message boards. I got good at seeing obvious holes and errors in online family trees, resisting the urge to copy information that sounded good but wasn’t backed up with solid documentation.
This year, I resolved to start over. Back at the beginning. I am reconstructing my two original family research projects. I want the research to be more thorough, the citations more clean, assumptions and speculation removed. Quality over quantity. I am now less concerned with “how far back” I go and more focused on finding complete information.
I decided to start this site to keep me on track. To share what I find as I uncover my roots.
