"At this moment, I am the whole reason they have existed at all."--Cinque, The Amistad

I started researching my family when I was 14 years old (in 1970) after a "girl" came up on the playground and hugged my neck saying "howdy cousin". I went home and asked my dad who it was and, sure enough, she was my 5th cousin. . . only to find out I had LOTS of 5th cousins in the area. I drove my mother crazy drawing pedigree charts by hand and taping them together all over the living room floor---but at least she knew where I was!!

My family settled Van Buren County, Michigan in 1852. . 4 brothers and 40 kids. . (so LOTS of prodigy) My great grandmother's family settled Sumnerville, Cass County, Michigan, in 1837. .just a few months after Michigan became a state. I counted over 160 relatives who came to Sumnerville, Michigan in the 1830s and 1840s from Otsego County, New York.

I authored a book in 1989, "The Meachum Family of Van Buren County, Michigan" and have authored several chapters in other genealogical publications. My database contains over 76,000 entries and I am constantly updating and resourcing as new information becomes available. I will admit it used to be a little more fun traveling all over the country to different libraries, but computer research doesn't hit my pocketbook as hard. I still have plans in the near future to own an RV and travel the country documenting tombstones in cemeteries. I have thousands of cemetery photos and people photos that I have collected over the years---so just ask and I'll look.

(I have taught AP economics for over 20 years and also authored articles/chapters in economics and financial planning. . . in case you were wondering about my email address.)

"Because of ancestors, I live"


Happy hunting
Ginny Meachum

"At this moment, I am the whole reason they have existed at all."--Cinque, The Amistad

I started researching my family when I was 14 years old (in 1970) after a "girl" came up on the playground and hugged my neck saying "howdy cousin". I went home and asked my dad who it was and, sure enough, she was my 5th cousin. . . only to find out I had LOTS of 5th cousins in the area. I drove my mother crazy drawing pedigree charts by hand and taping them together all over the living room floor---but at least she knew where I was!!

My family settled Van Buren County, Michigan in 1852. . 4 brothers and 40 kids. . (so LOTS of prodigy) My great grandmother's family settled Sumnerville, Cass County, Michigan, in 1837. .just a few months after Michigan became a state. I counted over 160 relatives who came to Sumnerville, Michigan in the 1830s and 1840s from Otsego County, New York.

I authored a book in 1989, "The Meachum Family of Van Buren County, Michigan" and have authored several chapters in other genealogical publications. My database contains over 76,000 entries and I am constantly updating and resourcing as new information becomes available. I will admit it used to be a little more fun traveling all over the country to different libraries, but computer research doesn't hit my pocketbook as hard. I still have plans in the near future to own an RV and travel the country documenting tombstones in cemeteries. I have thousands of cemetery photos and people photos that I have collected over the years---so just ask and I'll look.

(I have taught AP economics for over 20 years and also authored articles/chapters in economics and financial planning. . . in case you were wondering about my email address.)

"Because of ancestors, I live"


Happy hunting
Ginny Meachum