My Start in Family History

When I first started wondering about my family history, I had to first decide which family I wanted to search first:  my adopted family or my biological family.  The answer was actually quite simple at the time -- my adopted family -- as I had no information on my biological family at the time.  You have to remember this all started back in the 1980's when computers were not what they are today, and the family tree software were not as numerous as now.  I believe I had a Macintosh computer at the time, and purchased "Family Tree Maker" by Broderbund.  I was quite impressed with the software, and ended up using it quite intensively.

My first major family tree project was on my adopted mother's Nohrenberg line (her father).  I spent hours and hours over several months, poring over a copy of the Nohrenberg family tree, adding new information to it while compiling all of the information I had to build the Nohrenberg family tree on the software.  By the  time I had completed it, I had nearly 800 pages of family history saved, and had information on thousands of families over two hundred years, spanning back to the Nohrenbergs living in Prussia.

The second family tree I started was my adopted father's Sabin line.  The information was very scarce to find at the time, and I was able to retrieve some information from a distant cousin in California, but I was unable to put together a very strong family tree.  It is one project I may have to pursue later down the road.

Over the years during my second marriage I put aside my family history interest.  As time went on, I located my birth mother and eventually gleaned enough information from her to pursue starting new family trees on my biological families:  Barnes and Finley.  The search for additional information would become more readily available through improved internet service and new online resources, including Ancestry.com.  As I scoured the internet, I was able to gather enough information to start separate family trees on each of the two paternal family lines, and have progressed through several centuries with the assistance of Ancestry.com to compile a family list of over 2,000 families.

While having such a large volume of families may seem impressive, the work is not done.  I still need to go back and review each family, beginning at my end, working back to make sure the lines are correct, and to obtain verifiable records and sources to back up my family claims.  The search process can be long and tedious, and at times, may require some expenses for certified records.  But in the long run, it will all be worth it.  Who knows what information you may find on your ancestors that may lead you into the direction of royalty or fame?  Heck, you may even find yourself related to former presidents or foreign leaders!