Dear Sarah Simpson, most people really do not find history alluring. Most folks are trying to deal with today, not yesterday. However, at an advanced age, I read from my father's memoirs about his grandfather's great apple orchard. My great-grandfather, Rev. Burdett Kemper lived a short ways North of Lancaster. He preached for a long time at the Forks of Dix River Baptist Church. I planted some apple seeds and grew about ten apple trees. I waited 6 and 7 years for them to mature and produce. I have only one small cluster of four apples on one twig today. I wish my Great grandfather had written down how he grew his apple trees. My Anderson Great grandfather, Abijah, was also a Baptist preacher and preached in a number of Garrard County Baptist Churches. He and Burdett probably knew each other. I am interested in community demographics. We are able to profile a community and predict it's social standing and directions. You are possibly unique in that you are still in High School and questioning some of life's focus, like genealogy. My question to you is why you picked this subject? When I resigned my position with the State of Georgia I started a statistical research business. Shortly after that change I became immobile with a broken ankle. I had a chance to review my mother's genealogical research on her Johnson family. I found the Burdett Kemper family well documented. There was little or no definitive research on the Anderson family. My attempts, successfully, to document my Anderson family started a new career for me and I have been actively involved in genealogical research, as a volunteer, for over twelve years. Most of my research has involved numerous different Anderson lines in Eastern NC. A number of different surnames have been researched, some relate to Anderson lines. I never did have a preconceived attitude toward genealogy. I knew of my grandmother's memoirs and encouraging my dad to write about his life after mother died. My focus has been to find the truth about the Anderson line as had been done for the Johnson and Kemper lines. As to how and where I have researched, most important is the help from others, both living and deceased. My first focus was to look for an Isaac Anderson who was reported to have wintered with Washington at Valley Forge during the American Revolution. Knowledge of Isaac had sifted through time down to the few traditions of knowledge we had about the Anderson family. I learned quickly that most Anderson families and Anderson lines had one or more Isaacs. Many were quick to tell me that their Isaac was not my Isaac. Through the help of genealogists in North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky I was able to find other family members who had written about the family many years ago. Each member seemed to have something to add and or clarify. A large number were Baptist ministers and some were Baptist Missionaries in China back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The family members lacked educational opportunities and at best were home schooled until the mid 1800s. Traditional sources of genealogical information include the US Census from 1890 through 1920-30. Court records typically addressed family needs for roads, property, guardianships, etc.. Wills and deeds were recorded at the court house into the court record and much of those records have survived through the years and still exist. As the population grew in a political subdivision, the identity of related family members faded. Today we use Y-DNA test to confirm relations going back many years. Y-DNA, as a resource, will continue to grow in the future. Finally, your best point of departure is with your older relatives. Learning what they know and believe can be priceless in your research activity. Thanks for asking. Paul Anderson