Welcome!

I have been following fellow genealogists blogs for quite some time now. I have learned a lot about the community and have found that we all have the same joys, frustrations and learning curves. My purpose is to share my data and post pictures and general thoughts about researching. My background in this all consuming hobby started back around 1979 when I was about 21 years old. My mother, Delores Freeman was always interested in history and passed that down to me. At that time, she had purchased a starter kit if you will, that contained pre printed family group sheets, pedigree charts and a small pamphlet that was geared for beginners on how to start family research. During that visit, she had presented to me a family tree that she had literally drawn out on this poster board. This tree had been a high school project that was created in 1951. She told me at the time that she was able to get some of the information from her great, great aunt who was in her 90's at that time. What a wonderful jumping off point! As we began to fill out the forms, I began to feel this overwhelming feeling that this was something I really wanted to know more about. The next day, I promptly went out and bought my self the same kit and went to town on it. That little how-to book was my bible for a good while and taught me how to write for vital records, order census film from my public library and other good information. To make a very long story short, through the years even while working full time, raising a child I still held onto that passion, but there were times when I had to put it aside a good while. It was quite cumbersome back then due to letter writing that took weeks to get a response to mainly negative. Our library ceased lending the census films. My interest peaked even more rabidly about 1994 when our family purchased our first computer (with Windows 3.1) and the Internet became available. Good people on family lists were so generous in sharing their data, which I am forever grateful for. I have not let up on my research and continue to pursue, travel and do what I need to accomplish my goals. I am lucky in a lot of respects, my dear Mother collected pictures, interviewed my Grandmothers and others and kept the notes. Recently she entered an assisted living center and I inherited all her files, letters, pictures she had gathered all those years. Another thing that I am so happy about is that my family history exists in the very early years in America, with many in the New England States. I have a wide assortment of different walks of life; Quakers, Puritans, Pennsylvania Dutch, Dutch Reformed, Palatines, and Huguenots. These folks all seemed to reside in the same states which makes it easier to research. I have made excellent progress and continue to gather the original records. My major goal is to document each fact and to enter that data into my program. I do have brick walls and continue to dig. I would like to publish my findings some day.