I discovered "genealogy" for the first time in 1962 when my family visited a distant cousin in Shell Knob, Missouri. Dorothy Roden was a farmer's wife who had drawers of newspaper clippings, articles and could quote family history from memory. While visiting this same area in 1957, I accompanied my grandparents to a cemetery where I observed my grandfather cut grass from the graves of his parents and brother.

I moved to Fort Worth, Texas, in 1968, and when downtown one day, walked into the Fort Worth library just to see the inside of the unusual structure. I discovered that they had a genealogy collection. I picked up a book or two and soon found the name of my most distant relative (provided by Dorothy Roden above). I was hooked. I began to collect data and keep it in a file folder.

A few years later my eldest son gave me Family Tree Maker as a birthday gift. When I had finished entering all the info in my file folder into the data base, I realized how LITTLE I actually knew.

I developed a thirst to track all major family lines backward as far as possible.

I discovered "genealogy" for the first time in 1962 when my family visited a distant cousin in Shell Knob, Missouri. Dorothy Roden was a farmer's wife who had drawers of newspaper clippings, articles and could quote family history from memory. While visiting this same area in 1957, I accompanied my grandparents to a cemetery where I observed my grandfather cut grass from the graves of his parents and brother.

I moved to Fort Worth, Texas, in 1968, and when downtown one day, walked into the Fort Worth library just to see the inside of the unusual structure. I discovered that they had a genealogy collection. I picked up a book or two and soon found the name of my most distant relative (provided by Dorothy Roden above). I was hooked. I began to collect data and keep it in a file folder.

A few years later my eldest son gave me Family Tree Maker as a birthday gift. When I had finished entering all the info in my file folder into the data base, I realized how LITTLE I actually knew.

I developed a thirst to track all major family lines backward as far as possible.