Avid genealogist and repository of family history stuff. I love history and old things, and am especially fascinated by the places around me, and the tales of those who have lived and wandered through the same places I do today. I'm keenly interested in the history of material culture; the history of objects and how they were designed, manufactured, retailed, sold, used, thought about, lost, discarded, kept and treasured. This interest pairs naturally with my wonderment about family history, which originally led me to this site.

I owe much to the abundance of family info I've obtained over the years, shared by cousins and volunteers all over the world - some still living and some now waiting for us on the other side. I love helping people with their own ancestral exploration journeys. In my spare time, I scan through old newspapers and enter the final resting places of those souls lost to the memory of time from published obits and death notices, hoping that one day they'll be found by their own relatives. This and my headstone photo volunteering are my ways of "paying it forward" for all the help, love, and support that has been shown to me in this work. I used to have a great fear of death, but this project has helped me get over that. I now think of cemeteries as peaceful memorial parks, and enjoy my time there paying respects on behalf of the families, friends, and loved ones who can't make it there themselves.

My initial goal is to enter at least as many records to Find A Grave as number of persons in my family history database (...currently about 16,000). One for each one that I've 'found' on my own journey. I love to research & include women's maiden names, and first names too as they're so often Mrs. Richard So-and-So throughout history.


People live on as long as they're remembered. Speak their names often...


"Do not pity the dead, pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love."
-J.K. Rowling


~A Poem for our Ancestors~
Your tombstone stands among the rest
Neglected and alone
The name and date are chiseled out
On polished marble stone
It reaches out to all who care
It is too late to mourn
You did not know that I exist
You died and I was born
Yet each of us are cells of you
In flesh, in blood and bone
Our blood contracts and beats a pulse
Entirely not our own
Dear Ancestor, the place you filled
One hundred years ago
Spreads out among the ones you left
Who would have loved you so
I wonder if you lived and loved
I wonder if you knew
That someday I would find this spot
And come to visit you

~Author Unknown

Avid genealogist and repository of family history stuff. I love history and old things, and am especially fascinated by the places around me, and the tales of those who have lived and wandered through the same places I do today. I'm keenly interested in the history of material culture; the history of objects and how they were designed, manufactured, retailed, sold, used, thought about, lost, discarded, kept and treasured. This interest pairs naturally with my wonderment about family history, which originally led me to this site.

I owe much to the abundance of family info I've obtained over the years, shared by cousins and volunteers all over the world - some still living and some now waiting for us on the other side. I love helping people with their own ancestral exploration journeys. In my spare time, I scan through old newspapers and enter the final resting places of those souls lost to the memory of time from published obits and death notices, hoping that one day they'll be found by their own relatives. This and my headstone photo volunteering are my ways of "paying it forward" for all the help, love, and support that has been shown to me in this work. I used to have a great fear of death, but this project has helped me get over that. I now think of cemeteries as peaceful memorial parks, and enjoy my time there paying respects on behalf of the families, friends, and loved ones who can't make it there themselves.

My initial goal is to enter at least as many records to Find A Grave as number of persons in my family history database (...currently about 16,000). One for each one that I've 'found' on my own journey. I love to research & include women's maiden names, and first names too as they're so often Mrs. Richard So-and-So throughout history.


People live on as long as they're remembered. Speak their names often...


"Do not pity the dead, pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love."
-J.K. Rowling


~A Poem for our Ancestors~
Your tombstone stands among the rest
Neglected and alone
The name and date are chiseled out
On polished marble stone
It reaches out to all who care
It is too late to mourn
You did not know that I exist
You died and I was born
Yet each of us are cells of you
In flesh, in blood and bone
Our blood contracts and beats a pulse
Entirely not our own
Dear Ancestor, the place you filled
One hundred years ago
Spreads out among the ones you left
Who would have loved you so
I wonder if you lived and loved
I wonder if you knew
That someday I would find this spot
And come to visit you

~Author Unknown