When asked to write about one 's self what do you say? ....."I was born in a house with an earthen floor, walked 5 miles to school waist deep in snow, uphill both directions".....

I was born in Ohio in the farming community of Wood County where most of my fathers ancestors originated from, my mothers were from Virginia. In 1960 my father was working in the auto industry; with lay offs happening on a regular basis; he decided to move west for the "California dream". He hitched up the U-haul trailer to his '59 Ford and left his wife and 5 children in the care of his widowed mother and found his way to "Route 66". After securing employment and housing, in Aug my mother had the task of hauling her 5 children; ranging from 7 years thru 9 months old; on the 3 day train ride.

In my youth I was involved in scouting with a troop that loved to backpack. My father was extremely active with the scouts and was always searching for new places to go. We traveled to the peaks of every major mountain top in southern California, going someplace at least once a month. That is where I learned to appreciate the outdoors. I had my horse for several years and enjoyed riding on a daily basis. I have liked photography from an early age and used my 35mm up until recently when I started to use a digital camera.

I was pretty young when I started to question and search my genealogy. In the beginning; late '60 -‘70's; I would have to find somewhere that would have archives on micro fish and scroll through them. If you wanted a copy of anything you would have to send a check or money order along with your request and then wait for weeks before it would return, and then it might not be what you expected. I would go to the Temple in L.A., made several trips to Salt Lake, spent time in Ohio going into the public libraries, stopping at the local news papers to use their archives, and strolling through the local cemeteries. I always wondered what I would do with all my hand written files.

I was computer illiterate until about 18 months ago when a friend took some time to start teaching me a few things. I still have a lot to learn and sometimes have problems navigating through the different programs so please keep this in mind if communicating with me. I have been introduced to some of the Ancestry programs and have been working diligently entering my data.

I am amazed at the amount of documentation available, but would still rather search on my own verses just coping some one else's complete tree. The quest is the adventure.

When asked to write about one 's self what do you say? ....."I was born in a house with an earthen floor, walked 5 miles to school waist deep in snow, uphill both directions".....

I was born in Ohio in the farming community of Wood County where most of my fathers ancestors originated from, my mothers were from Virginia. In 1960 my father was working in the auto industry; with lay offs happening on a regular basis; he decided to move west for the "California dream". He hitched up the U-haul trailer to his '59 Ford and left his wife and 5 children in the care of his widowed mother and found his way to "Route 66". After securing employment and housing, in Aug my mother had the task of hauling her 5 children; ranging from 7 years thru 9 months old; on the 3 day train ride.

In my youth I was involved in scouting with a troop that loved to backpack. My father was extremely active with the scouts and was always searching for new places to go. We traveled to the peaks of every major mountain top in southern California, going someplace at least once a month. That is where I learned to appreciate the outdoors. I had my horse for several years and enjoyed riding on a daily basis. I have liked photography from an early age and used my 35mm up until recently when I started to use a digital camera.

I was pretty young when I started to question and search my genealogy. In the beginning; late '60 -‘70's; I would have to find somewhere that would have archives on micro fish and scroll through them. If you wanted a copy of anything you would have to send a check or money order along with your request and then wait for weeks before it would return, and then it might not be what you expected. I would go to the Temple in L.A., made several trips to Salt Lake, spent time in Ohio going into the public libraries, stopping at the local news papers to use their archives, and strolling through the local cemeteries. I always wondered what I would do with all my hand written files.

I was computer illiterate until about 18 months ago when a friend took some time to start teaching me a few things. I still have a lot to learn and sometimes have problems navigating through the different programs so please keep this in mind if communicating with me. I have been introduced to some of the Ancestry programs and have been working diligently entering my data.

I am amazed at the amount of documentation available, but would still rather search on my own verses just coping some one else's complete tree. The quest is the adventure.