As it happens, my people have always kept books, so it's not hard to trace one's own descent. I'm mostly German, on both sides, and some Swiss but it's possible there is also some French there, considering there is a long-time history in the Alsace (The Amish like the thought of German better. :))There was one wee orphan Irish lass by the name of Catherine Dunn who was adopted into the family in the 1850s, and who later married one of my ancestors and that's the only Irish we have.

Kat, the part we don't have, and that I would like to find, is the *human* element. How does one look up that kind of thing? I don't know if anyone in my family married someone of another race, (I do know about out-of-wedlock babies) or if there are any horse thieves, or any other kind of thief, any drunkards, any activists, any rebels... My ancestors (and contemporaries, for that matter) have been mostly farmers, carpenters and preachers. They tend to be pacifistic, so they don't go to war, they don't have phones, they don't own cars, they don't votem and they don't take part in community issues.

I find a lot of material on my family name on the Internet, but I really haven't found anything I didn't already know.

The older I get, the more interested I am in roots. To people who are not interested, I can only say that your grandchildren will have an H of a time finding their history! On the other hand, if each generation adds its bit to each slice of the loaf...

Ebbie