I am very appreciative of the folks who created and maintain Find-A-Grave. Initially, I was a little skeptical about submitting data to the memorials, however, through the years, I have become a huge fan. I want the data we are submitting to be freely available for genealogical research for years to come. The community of contributors I have communicated with has been cordial and helpful in almost every instance.

If you find any errors or question any information I am posting, please do not hesitate to bring it to my attention. We are all imperfect, however, I believe it is crucial the data we post is correct and includes sources whenever possible. Your assistance will be appreciated!

Because of my parents' enthusiasm for local history and genealogy, I began helping them research our family tree. Even before I knew I loved genealogy, I was involved in it each weekend as we visited elderly relatives and stretched our young legs in cemeteries throughout Ohio. My father was one of the early presidents of the Pickaway County (Ohio) Historical Society in the 1970s and both of my parents were instrumental in getting the society's genealogical library up and running. My mother was Registrar of the Pickaway Plains DAR Chapter for many years. What a tremendous gift it was to share the search for our ancestors with them! I am forever grateful to them and my grandparents for preserving our family's history. Almost all of the photos I post are scans of properly identified photos that belonged to them.

The following describes fairly well why we do what we do. Found online:

We are the chosen. In each family there is [at least] one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve. Doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the storytellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called, as it were, by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us, "Tell our story!" So, we do. In finding them, we somehow find ourselves.

How many graves have I stood before now and cried? I have lost count. How many times have I told the ancestors, "You have a wonderful family; you would be proud of us." How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for me? I cannot say. It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who am I and why do I do the things I do. It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying, "I can't let this happen." The bones here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It goes to doing something about it. It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish, how they contributed to what we are today. It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family. It goes to deep pride that the fathers fought and some died to make and keep us a Nation. It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us. It is of equal pride and love that our mothers struggled to give us birth. Without them we could not exist, and so we love each one, as far back as we can reach. That we might be born who we are. That we might remember them.

So we do. With love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because we are they and they are the sum of who we are. So, as a scribe called, I tell the story of my family. It is up to that one called in the next generation to answer the call and take my place in the long line of family storytellers. That is why I do my family genealogy, and that is what calls those young and old to step up and restore the memory or greet those whom we had never known before.

-Author Unknown

I am very appreciative of the folks who created and maintain Find-A-Grave. Initially, I was a little skeptical about submitting data to the memorials, however, through the years, I have become a huge fan. I want the data we are submitting to be freely available for genealogical research for years to come. The community of contributors I have communicated with has been cordial and helpful in almost every instance.

If you find any errors or question any information I am posting, please do not hesitate to bring it to my attention. We are all imperfect, however, I believe it is crucial the data we post is correct and includes sources whenever possible. Your assistance will be appreciated!

Because of my parents' enthusiasm for local history and genealogy, I began helping them research our family tree. Even before I knew I loved genealogy, I was involved in it each weekend as we visited elderly relatives and stretched our young legs in cemeteries throughout Ohio. My father was one of the early presidents of the Pickaway County (Ohio) Historical Society in the 1970s and both of my parents were instrumental in getting the society's genealogical library up and running. My mother was Registrar of the Pickaway Plains DAR Chapter for many years. What a tremendous gift it was to share the search for our ancestors with them! I am forever grateful to them and my grandparents for preserving our family's history. Almost all of the photos I post are scans of properly identified photos that belonged to them.

The following describes fairly well why we do what we do. Found online:

We are the chosen. In each family there is [at least] one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve. Doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the storytellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called, as it were, by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us, "Tell our story!" So, we do. In finding them, we somehow find ourselves.

How many graves have I stood before now and cried? I have lost count. How many times have I told the ancestors, "You have a wonderful family; you would be proud of us." How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for me? I cannot say. It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who am I and why do I do the things I do. It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying, "I can't let this happen." The bones here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It goes to doing something about it. It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish, how they contributed to what we are today. It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family. It goes to deep pride that the fathers fought and some died to make and keep us a Nation. It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us. It is of equal pride and love that our mothers struggled to give us birth. Without them we could not exist, and so we love each one, as far back as we can reach. That we might be born who we are. That we might remember them.

So we do. With love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because we are they and they are the sum of who we are. So, as a scribe called, I tell the story of my family. It is up to that one called in the next generation to answer the call and take my place in the long line of family storytellers. That is why I do my family genealogy, and that is what calls those young and old to step up and restore the memory or greet those whom we had never known before.

-Author Unknown