My interest in genealogy began in 1989, when I commissioned a drawing as a memorial to my great aunt, Blanche Slocum Mason. The artist of whom the work was commissioned was interested in history and ethnology and said he was "familiar with the Slocums of New York".
Tracing the family back a few generations through oral history and excursions to gravesites provided a firm base, upon which research at various state libraries, and ultimately, the internet has built exponentially.
Most of the direct lineal family are from New York State (particularly Dutchess, Ulster and Putnam Counties) and Rhode Island, with some in Massachusetts. Surnames include: Mason; Slocum; Decker; Ollivet; Sprague; Ellsworth; Tripp; Brown and Almy.
As an Episcopalian who spent several years in Connecticut, another area of interest and research is that of the fate of the dissenters (Baptists, Anglicans and others forced out by religious persecution at the hands of the state religion of Congregationalism).