I was recently asked how I caught the genealogy bug and had to give that some real thought.
I'd always been kind of interested in where we came from, but in 1995, we were assigned to command The Salvation Army Corps in Mountain Home, Arkansas, USA. My Aunt Pat and Uncle Joe came to visit and Aunt Pat started telling stories of my grandparents and great grandparents. It turned out that my Wood family (my paternal lines) had some very deep roots in Arkansas. Just 235 miles south west of Mountain Home was the town of Prescott in Nevada County - Nuh VAY duh, not Nuh-VAA-duh like the state. Some of her stories were wonderful and ignited a real passion for family history and genealogy that never took root when I had tried in 1991.
I never made it down to Prescott. I did, however, make it to Paragould in Greene County, Arkansas and to Heber Springs in Cleburne County, Arkansas. That said, I had no clue then that my maternal line had very deep roots in those two places. I didn't know Great Grandpa Wood, but I did know Great Grandma Jones and saw so many of the places she grew up around without being able to feel her spirit there in happier times of her life. These locations are on my bucket list. Fortunately, both of my sons are interested and maybe some second cousins that live close to Prescott. I hope we get to meet one day.
The rest is history. I now have 10,819 individuals on my family tree program, most of them researched and documented to my satisfaction, 38 GB of disk space in documentation that holds 28,745 files. The picture I have fleshed out as to where I come from and who got me here has broadened my horizons in ways I never could have imagined. I wish I had been into genealogy when I was a much younger woman and stationed in England. I traveled extensively in Lincolnshire where my mothers paternal line originates. I have visited all those little villages and probably met living kin. Another entry on my bucket list!
I'd always been kind of interested in where we came from, but in 1995, we were assigned to command The Salvation Army Corps in Mountain Home, Arkansas, USA. My Aunt Pat and Uncle Joe came to visit and Aunt Pat started telling stories of my grandparents and great grandparents. It turned out that my Wood family (my paternal lines) had some very deep roots in Arkansas. Just 235 miles south west of Mountain Home was the town of Prescott in Nevada County - Nuh VAY duh, not Nuh-VAA-duh like the state. Some of her stories were wonderful and ignited a real passion for family history and genealogy that never took root when I had tried in 1991.
I never made it down to Prescott. I did, however, make it to Paragould in Greene County, Arkansas and to Heber Springs in Cleburne County, Arkansas. That said, I had no clue then that my maternal line had very deep roots in those two places. I didn't know Great Grandpa Wood, but I did know Great Grandma Jones and saw so many of the places she grew up around without being able to feel her spirit there in happier times of her life. These locations are on my bucket list. Fortunately, both of my sons are interested and maybe some second cousins that live close to Prescott. I hope we get to meet one day.
The rest is history. I now have 10,819 individuals on my family tree program, most of them researched and documented to my satisfaction, 38 GB of disk space in documentation that holds 28,745 files. The picture I have fleshed out as to where I come from and who got me here has broadened my horizons in ways I never could have imagined. I wish I had been into genealogy when I was a much younger woman and stationed in England. I traveled extensively in Lincolnshire where my mothers paternal line originates. I have visited all those little villages and probably met living kin. Another entry on my bucket list!
