Before you ask, I am not LITERALLY digging up bones. Genealogy is essentially the digging for your roots be it at cemeteries or using primary sources. I have been working on my family's genealogy since 2001. Not that long in historical time but long enough for me to learn a few things.
I have went on vacations that revolve around finding old home sites, cities where relatives once walked and did business, cemeteries where ancestors are buried, and libraries that records.
My family roots span from Wurttemburg, Germany, Swizerland, Scandinavia and various places in between to the United States. All of the migrations of both sides of my family tree took place before the American Civil War. One line of my family (Doane) came to America just after the Mayflower. The "father" of this line, John Doane, can be found on documents next to Miles Standish and John Alden! WOW!
Most of the branches of my family are not this notable. Most of my family were illiterate or semi-literate farmers who lived in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky, Virginia, central and eastern Tennessee. Granted there are a few exceptions to this and there are "spurs" off the main line of my family that went to Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, California, Oregon, and other places.
One of my other main interests is in cemeteries. I love to find the really old ones and just walk around and read the headstones. There is so much history to be found there! When I find surnames in counties that I know I have family I take pictures and see if they are relatives. I have a www.findagrave.com site as well where I have many of my relatives graves with pictures and genealogical information.
I cannot imagine ever being done with the quest for my roots. It is a life-long all-encompassing passion and one I hope some day to pass on to future generations.
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