I have been interested in family history since my father came into possession of an old book sometime in the 1940s. It was published long before I was born, a book in which I found my father's name; he was probably no more than 16-17 when the book was published. When I saw his name, I was excited and traced the family back several generations to the 18th century, to a farm in Virginia. (I have since forgotten which g-g-g- or g-grandfather that was..) The story about that farm contained photos of buildings that were still in existence at the time the book was written. No doubt they are now long gone, but reading that story of those families, my families, gave me such a feeling of belonging and purpose.

Now that I've grown and developed an ardent interest in family research, I have discovered findagrave to be a valuable resource in my search. I have found stories and photos of members of our own family whom I had not before known. They are often a real surprise. The only disappointments have been those times when the ancestor I've sought is not found. Even then, however, findagrave allows me to post a name to a cemetery where I have every reason to believe the ancestor is buried and that information will help the next researcher of our family.

Thank you findagrave!