Hi Folks, I would like to thank you all for your kind words. And I do agree that "family history" is more than collecting dates/places of birth/death etc.. and in that way I guess, I'm not a genealogist - but a "family historian". I too was a 'poor history' student. Memorizing all those dull dates and battles in school wasn't my cup of tea. Do you notice that all the history books were written about famous folks? <g> But, the backbone of this country was build by ordinary people doing extraordinary acts. And the fact that the blood of those ancestors runs in my veins is, as the younger generation say. "totally awesome". When I read the pension/military papers on my 3rd g-grandfather and find a description of him "6'1" eyes amber, hair red " and then look at my son and see the same traits it really, to borrow another phrase, "blows me away!" I suspect that if "family history" was taught in school, youngsters would take more pride in themselves and appreciate their Country more. The long strings of DNA runs from the misty past to immigrant/emmigrant ancestors, to revolutionary ancestors, to railroad builders and farmers, to Civil War ancestors to I WW, II WW, Korea, Viet Nam, Desert Storm. . .All the generations of my "mothers" and "fathers" make me what I am. To paraphrase President John F. Kennedy: If we don't know where we came from - how can we know where we're going. So, if the Good Lord's willin' and the creek don't rise, I'll keep "discovering who I am" through the discovery of my ancestors. Cheers, Carol ==== NCORANGE Mailing List ==== Larry Noah - lrnoah@bigfoot.com - Listowner - NCORANGE mailing list Orange Co, NC USGenWeb site is at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncorange USGenWeb Orange Co, NC Archives site is at http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/nc/orangnc.htm