My journey with genealogy started in 2009, when I signed up for Ancestry.com. I had always known about my paternal line being from Italy, and my maternal great grandmother immigrating to the United States from England when she was young, but beyond that, I didn't really know much else for certain.

I created a tree with the relatives that I knew: my parents, grandparents, and great grandparents. When I needed some help, I reached out to family. My maternal grandfather gave me a book his uncle wrote on the genealogy of that side of our family. It went back 10 generations, to the 1600's! It helped us confirm an inkling we've always had about being connected to a war within U.S. history: I descend from a Revolutionary War soldier! I'm a proud member of the Sons of the American Revolution, having joined my great uncle, his sons, and my other cousins, through this patriot.

What I love about genealogy is how the search, the desire, to know my ancestors served a few purposes: it fostered in me a love of history and it brought my family and I closer, helping us to connect on a deeper level.

What I love about going to cemeteries, such as one of my local ones, is I find graves that aren't listed, but they're also very old. I love being able to put them on here and try to find their information through Ancestry and Newspapers.com to learn more about their lives (though I know it's somewhat of a long shot with solely their names and dates of birth and death sometimes).

My journey with genealogy started in 2009, when I signed up for Ancestry.com. I had always known about my paternal line being from Italy, and my maternal great grandmother immigrating to the United States from England when she was young, but beyond that, I didn't really know much else for certain.

I created a tree with the relatives that I knew: my parents, grandparents, and great grandparents. When I needed some help, I reached out to family. My maternal grandfather gave me a book his uncle wrote on the genealogy of that side of our family. It went back 10 generations, to the 1600's! It helped us confirm an inkling we've always had about being connected to a war within U.S. history: I descend from a Revolutionary War soldier! I'm a proud member of the Sons of the American Revolution, having joined my great uncle, his sons, and my other cousins, through this patriot.

What I love about genealogy is how the search, the desire, to know my ancestors served a few purposes: it fostered in me a love of history and it brought my family and I closer, helping us to connect on a deeper level.

What I love about going to cemeteries, such as one of my local ones, is I find graves that aren't listed, but they're also very old. I love being able to put them on here and try to find their information through Ancestry and Newspapers.com to learn more about their lives (though I know it's somewhat of a long shot with solely their names and dates of birth and death sometimes).