I have been doing family research since 1991.
I inherited the passion from my Mother, who started her research journey in the 1970s.
Her mother (my Grandma) was a walking, talking "genealogist", but she never knew THAT word.
She called it "keeping up with family".

Visiting relatives at cemeteries is one special part of "keeping up with family".
Findagrave is a wonderful way to visit them.

I want to recognize all those volunteers who have contributed to FAG memorials. Each person is doing this because they want to, and they donate their time so that others get the benefit. Thank you.

My goal is to:
(1) Link family members, update and add memorials, and add obituaries.

I have taken the time to do an in-depth search, and know there may be someone else who will be "recreating the same wheel". Updating memorials help others move forward with their research.

(2) Connect Peyton Manuel's family lines correctly. Sadly, not all of our Manuels have headstones or known burial locations.
Our earliest Manuel ancestor: Peyton Manuel, 1781 VA - 1857 TN. FAG memorial: 190805951 .

This effort is intended to reduce confusion for descendants and researchers of the Manuel surname.

(3) Often my research leads me to work on multiple marriages of an individual or to work on the in-law family, in which case the full picture is often reveled. I may determine that memorials of the in-law's need to be updated as well.

OUR LINES
Mother's lines are deeply rooted in early VA, TN, KY, NC, SC, AL with a landing in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Primarily farmers, these pioneers plowed the soil across our nation. Tossed into the mix are some preachers and teachers...PLUS one ancestor who was of "unsavory character" (there's always one,,,or more). Mother's ethnicity is 61% England & Northwestern Europe; 20% Scotland; 12% Norway.
Father's lines followed the early migration paths, from the middle colonies to TN to Texas and from IL to Texas. "Gone to Texas" was an early theme here. He is Scots-Irish and English from head to toe, with one hair of German tossed in. Grandpa was red-headed and freckled...of course!
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Thanks to Ed Smith (FAG id 47100545) for giving me permission to use the message below.

A CALLING:
What calls us to find the ancestors? It goes beyond a simple curiosity. We are taken over, compelled, as if possessed by something bigger than us that is begging to be revealed. There is one of us in most every family, called to be the scribe. I am but one of the many in the long line of storytellers of our clan. Like others I am called to gather and assemble the ancestors --- to breathe life back into them as far back as we can reach. We take what we find and chronicle the facts of their existence, remembering their names and who they were and what they did. They are the sum of who we are, for without them, we would not exist. We greet those who came before us, restoring their place in the familial line. We scribe their stories and their histories. We search for them in public libraries, county records, and weed-filled or well-kept cemeteries. We comb through yellowed newspapers, family archives, and lovely old letters and photo albums. We find them! And in finding them ---we find ourselves.
Catherine (Clemens) Sevenau, Sep 2009

I have been doing family research since 1991.
I inherited the passion from my Mother, who started her research journey in the 1970s.
Her mother (my Grandma) was a walking, talking "genealogist", but she never knew THAT word.
She called it "keeping up with family".

Visiting relatives at cemeteries is one special part of "keeping up with family".
Findagrave is a wonderful way to visit them.

I want to recognize all those volunteers who have contributed to FAG memorials. Each person is doing this because they want to, and they donate their time so that others get the benefit. Thank you.

My goal is to:
(1) Link family members, update and add memorials, and add obituaries.

I have taken the time to do an in-depth search, and know there may be someone else who will be "recreating the same wheel". Updating memorials help others move forward with their research.

(2) Connect Peyton Manuel's family lines correctly. Sadly, not all of our Manuels have headstones or known burial locations.
Our earliest Manuel ancestor: Peyton Manuel, 1781 VA - 1857 TN. FAG memorial: 190805951 .

This effort is intended to reduce confusion for descendants and researchers of the Manuel surname.

(3) Often my research leads me to work on multiple marriages of an individual or to work on the in-law family, in which case the full picture is often reveled. I may determine that memorials of the in-law's need to be updated as well.

OUR LINES
Mother's lines are deeply rooted in early VA, TN, KY, NC, SC, AL with a landing in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Primarily farmers, these pioneers plowed the soil across our nation. Tossed into the mix are some preachers and teachers...PLUS one ancestor who was of "unsavory character" (there's always one,,,or more). Mother's ethnicity is 61% England & Northwestern Europe; 20% Scotland; 12% Norway.
Father's lines followed the early migration paths, from the middle colonies to TN to Texas and from IL to Texas. "Gone to Texas" was an early theme here. He is Scots-Irish and English from head to toe, with one hair of German tossed in. Grandpa was red-headed and freckled...of course!
~~~~~~~~
Thanks to Ed Smith (FAG id 47100545) for giving me permission to use the message below.

A CALLING:
What calls us to find the ancestors? It goes beyond a simple curiosity. We are taken over, compelled, as if possessed by something bigger than us that is begging to be revealed. There is one of us in most every family, called to be the scribe. I am but one of the many in the long line of storytellers of our clan. Like others I am called to gather and assemble the ancestors --- to breathe life back into them as far back as we can reach. We take what we find and chronicle the facts of their existence, remembering their names and who they were and what they did. They are the sum of who we are, for without them, we would not exist. We greet those who came before us, restoring their place in the familial line. We scribe their stories and their histories. We search for them in public libraries, county records, and weed-filled or well-kept cemeteries. We comb through yellowed newspapers, family archives, and lovely old letters and photo albums. We find them! And in finding them ---we find ourselves.
Catherine (Clemens) Sevenau, Sep 2009