Retired aerospace engineer, married to high school sweetheart, and spending time with our two grandkids. Resided in Florida, Alabama, California, and Virginia, and visited numerous European countries and Japan. Exploring our family's lines across Southeast US and "across the pond". Mine: Jones-Rickett + Millican-Simmons. Hers: Walker-Foster + Kilgore-Payne.

My family tree journey began with a time-worn wooden box with cast iron handles that I found in my Dad's workshop; it had been handed down from his paternal grandfather. I asked what it was, and he said, "It's a Civil War box of some sort. It was my Grandpa's. It's yours if you want it." I said yes, and I was hooked! It was a Union Army field officer's desk, most commonly used for maps and correspondence. But how did my paternal great grandfather get it? The journey had begun.