This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: idyllicmelody Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.kentucky.counties.garrard/3945/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Hi, my name is Sarah Simpson, a student at Garrard County High School, and I'm writing a paper concerning why people love genealogy. I'm hoping you'll be able to help me by answering a few of the below questions. Answer any or all of them, whatever you wish to do. 1.Why do you believe people find history so alluring? 2. What other interests and hobbies do you have besides history/genealogy? 3. How long have you been interested? What initially spurred your interest in history/genealogy? 4. How have your feelings and opinions changed toward your pursuit over time? 5. How/where do you do your research? 6. Have you ever been surprised or amused by your discoveries? 7. Can you suggest any other sources of information for me? 8. Any final thoughts? Thanks very much, Sarah Simpson Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

1.Why do you believe people find history so alluring? I think the following poem, written by an unknown author, explains my reasons the best: We are the chosen. My feelings are in each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve. To me, doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts, but instead, breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the story tellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called as it were by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us: Tell our story. So, we do. In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who am I and why do I do the things I do. It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying I can't let this happen. The bones here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It goes to doing something about it. It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish. How they contributed to what we are today. It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family. It goes to deep pride that they fought to make and keep us a Nation. It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us. That we might be born who we are. That we might remember them. So we do. With love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because we are them and they are us. So, as a scribe called, I tell the story of my family. It is up to that one called in the next generation to answer the call and take their place in the long line of family storytellers.?? 2. What other interests and hobbies do you have besides history/genealogy? I also scrapbook as a hobby, but that ties into my?genealogy research, and preserving our family memories. 3. How long have you been interested? What initially spurred your interest in history/genealogy? Over 25 years ago I attended a Genealogy Merit Badge Skill Center as a chaperone when my son was in Boy Scouts. There was a framed chart hanging on the wall in the LDS Church and it had a family tree with photos of several generations. It caught my eye and I thought it would be wonderful to have photos of my ancestors and know about them. Then once I started learning about our family, I was hooked and always want to know more. I also found a diary from one of my husband's GGG Aunts that explained their journey in a wagon train starting in 1796 and I was fascinated! 4. How have your feelings and opinions changed toward your pursuit over time? If anything, I've become more interested in learning about my ancestors. The more I learn, the more I want to know about why they immigrated, how they lived day to day, and to name just one of many family mysteries?-- why my GG Grandfather traveled to the Gold Rush area of California from Missouri more than six years after the "Rush" was period had ended?. 5. How/where do you do your research? >From home on the Internet, at Orlando Public Library (downtown), LDS Family History Center, and any courthouses and libraries where my ancestors lived, when I'm lucky enough to?travel there. The best trip of my life was going to Wales, England, and Scotland to travel to cities where my ancestors lived. 6. Have you ever been surprised or amused by your discoveries? Surprised --?Many times! I was always told we were related to the infamous Hatfields of the "feuding Hatfields and McCoys" So I got my dad's DNA sample when he was 85 years old in 2006 and found out we descend from Revolutionary War Captain Andrew Supplee Hatfield, and we have no connection to the feuding Hatfields. My best discovery was to find out that my earliest immigrant ancestor was a?surgeon to the Jamestown Company who sailed to America in 1619! There have been many wonderful surprises. 7. Can you suggest any other sources of information for me? The National Genealogical Society -- http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/ 8. Any final thoughts? I suppose if there was a "Genealogists Anonymous" Group, I would be a prime candidate for membership. I am hopelessly addicted to "the hunt." Good luck with your paper. My Warren (also spelled Wearen, Warin, Wearren) ancestors were first in Garrard County about the time it was first formed in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The best part about genealogy is the wonderful people I've met who have helped me, including new cousins I didn't even know I had. One man in Wales met me and my husband at the train station and drove us around the whole town showing us where my ancestors lived and spent about 5 hours of his time. It was wonderful! And I wasn't even related to him. I also help a lot of people to find out about their ancestors -- I love helping people get started in researching their family! I've enjoyed reading everyone's posts on this subject. Elaine Powell Orlando, Florida -----Original Message----- From: gc-gateway@rootsweb.com <gc-gateway@rootsweb.com> To: KYGARRAR-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Wed, 2 Apr 2008 6:55 pm Subject: [KYGARRAR] Why genealogy? This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: idyllicmelody Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.kentucky.counties.garrard/3945/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Hi, my name is Sarah Simpson, a student at Garrard County High School, and I'm writing a paper concerning why people love genealogy. I'm hoping you'll be able to help me by answering a few of the below questions. Answer any or all of them, whatever you wish to do. 1.Why do you believe people find history so alluring? 2. What other interests and hobbies do you have besides history/genealogy? 3. How long have you been interested? What initially spurred your interest in history/genealogy? 4. How have your feelings and opinions changed toward your pursuit over time? 5. How/where do you do your research? 6. Have you ever been surprised or amused by your discoveries? 7. Can you suggest any other sources of information for me? 8. Any final thoughts? Thanks very much, Sarah Simpson Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to KYGARRAR-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

1.Why do you believe people find history so alluring? a. It is like working a puzzle, except the picture is yourself. b. I wanted to know my ethnicity. c. I wanted to know if I descended from anyone famous. d. I can be very social if you choose. I have met many wonderful people. e. Finding tombstones and documents is like a treasure hunt. It's exciting to find one. 2. What other interests and hobbies do you have besides history/genealogy? I love watching TV. I guess I am a big couch potatoes. 3. How long have you been interested? What initially spurred your interest in history/genealogy? I became interested 7 years ago when I moved to Garrard County where my family is from and had a more tangible connection to my roots and easy access to records. 4. How have your feelings and opinions changed toward your pursuit over time? I didn't plan to spend as much time with it as I did, and now I know you never really get finished. I only found a small portion of my ethnicity. It turns out that my family has been here for up to 12 generations. That's thousands of immigrants. I was only able to trace several hundred. 5. How/where do you do your research? Local libraries, county clerks offices, cemeteries, internet, books by Bill and Kathy Vockery and Cecil Arnold. 6. Have you ever been surprised or amused by your discoveries? Yes. I found the large cemetery where my grandfather is buried. I went to the office to ask where to find him. The sexton said, "Yes, I know where he is, would you like me to show him to you?" I said "Yes, thanks!" He reached behind the door and grabs a shovel. I said "Oh! You don't have to dig him up!" He said "I know, but I still need the shovel". It turned out that the tombstone was flat at ground level near a muddy bank and was covered over. Steve McKnight Paint Lick, KY