I have a lifelong love and appreciation for history. My interest in family history genealogy has been underway for 20+ years. Much of my family history on both sides is centered in southeastern Ohio, mainly in Morgan, Athens, Perry, and Muskingum counties as well as Roane, Mason and Doddridge counties in West Virginia.Our Ring surname intersected with the Pigott family in the 1880s, creating another branch on the family tree in which to research. My mother's maiden name was Murphy and many of the descendants from that line came from large families and were among the early wave of Irish coming to America in the 18th century. In 2014 we celebrated the 200th anniversary of our Murphy descendants purchasing land in Morgan County, Ohio and settling in the Muskingum River Valley to raise a family of five males and five females. While many are still residents of southeastern Ohio, we are scattered across our nation carrying on the Murphy family commitment to hard work, determination, strong families and a deep appreciation for spiritual values. My family has continued to gather for annual family reunions in Monroe County, Ohio (Ring)in July and Morgan County, Ohio (Murphy and Beach) in August. The Pigotts meet in Preston County, West Virginia in August.To share and connect with our past, I continue to look for ways to present the genealogical research that has been done by myself and many others on behalf our families. We've organized family photo archives, formed social media groups, produced audio-visual presentations of various aspects of our rich heritage as well as personalized family pedigree charts and family history stories. I published "Murphy Nation in the News," containing nearly 1,200 news articles from the period 1814-2014 about our Morgan County Murphy descendants. It is available for purchase online from The Book Patch.com Another publication is in the works, "Isaac's Legacy," which chronicles the descendants of the 11 children born to Isaac Murphey (1803-1865).Am happy to help others in their journey in any way possible.