I started working on my family tree back in 2001 when I bought my first computer - the 2001 Gateway. Remember their black and white "cow" box logo? Back then we only had familysearch.org and genealogy.com to look things up. The best way to get information on your ancestors was to do the work. Go to the places they lived. Go to the courthouse and look through huge old birth and death records books. The land records were 11x14x3 and heavy. I remember being up in Brainerd and they were kept up high on a shelf and you had to climb a ladder to get to them. If you were lucky, the county would have a history center where you might find microfiche of old newspapers. The mother lode of course is the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul.

It was fun finding the land that my ancestors lived on and farmed. I went to the cemeteries,, stood by their graves and talked to them, wishing I could have known them. Now, with findagrave, you have access to the ones who moved away or you didn't know about yet. I have just signed on and am creating memorials for those that may not have a grave marker, or no one knows exactly what happened to them. I have had a number of them transferred to me so that I can write a bio for them. If you see wrong information or want to add something, please do an edit suggestion or email me.

I started working on my family tree back in 2001 when I bought my first computer - the 2001 Gateway. Remember their black and white "cow" box logo? Back then we only had familysearch.org and genealogy.com to look things up. The best way to get information on your ancestors was to do the work. Go to the places they lived. Go to the courthouse and look through huge old birth and death records books. The land records were 11x14x3 and heavy. I remember being up in Brainerd and they were kept up high on a shelf and you had to climb a ladder to get to them. If you were lucky, the county would have a history center where you might find microfiche of old newspapers. The mother lode of course is the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul.

It was fun finding the land that my ancestors lived on and farmed. I went to the cemeteries,, stood by their graves and talked to them, wishing I could have known them. Now, with findagrave, you have access to the ones who moved away or you didn't know about yet. I have just signed on and am creating memorials for those that may not have a grave marker, or no one knows exactly what happened to them. I have had a number of them transferred to me so that I can write a bio for them. If you see wrong information or want to add something, please do an edit suggestion or email me.