For some time now I have gathered names, dates and places of many, many ancestors. I have worked to organize, compile and source this information to a great degree. The volume grows larger each day. Despite the gratification of gleaning more and more stats, however, I have found that the greatest satisfaction has come from the sense of connection that I now feel toward these ancestors of mine. They were living, loving, breathing individuals, challenged by trials and filled with joy. How similar are our lives, despite the decades and centuries that separate us. Their stories deserve to be told; their names remembered. I hope to do just that, to some degree, in this blog. I also hope to use this venue to detail research successes and roadblocks and to connect with living kin who share a common interest in our past. I suppose it is very likely that I will be the only individual who will ever read these posts, but at least I will have made my meager attempt to record and share my ancestors’ lives on the world wide web. I look forward to this journey.

Mike