"  Common Sense Principles "

In forming the Genealogy Trails Project, it has been decided that
all affiliated County Hosts have complete control over their respective
pages. In this respect, all have agreed to abide by a few principles
based on Common Sense and Good Manners. We welcome anyone wishing to
adopt one of the counties not yet hosted, and only expect them to follow
these simple guidelines also.

         If you desire to affiliate with this group, please feel free to contact :

To view the Volunteer Information for Genealogy Trails, please visit :

Our Family of County Hosts

Alabama
Baldwin Co.	Dawn Conway
Jefferson Co.	Christina Anthony
Lauderdale Co.	Christine Walters
Arkansas
Arkansas Co.	Linda Rodriguez
Mississippi Co.	Marcie Fessler
Pulaski Co.	Michelle Krieg
California
Eldorado Co.	Brenda Wiesner
Los Angeles Co.	Brenda Wiesner
Sacramento Co.	Brenda Wiesner
San Diego Co.	Candi Horton (Temp)
Colorado
Yuma Co.	Sherri Gregory
Florida
Okaloosa Co.	Fawn
Georgia
Chatham Co.	Angela Bagley-Marianchuk
Fannin Co.	Pam Rathbone
Metro Atlanta Counties	Angela Bagley-Marianchuk
Murray Co.	Leslie Riney
Richmond Co.	Angela Bagley-Marianchuk
Idaho
Shoshone Co.	Sandra Davis
Illinois
Adams Co.	Debbie Gibson
Alexander Co.	Anna Newell
Bureau Co.	Nancy Piper
Carroll Co.	Christine Walters
Cass Co.	Roger Whitaker
Champaign Co.	Donald Aikman
Clark Co.	Kevin Ortman
Clay Co.	Co-host: Gary Phillips
Clay Co.	Co-host: Sue Eskew
Coles Co.	Kim Torp
Cook Co.	Kim Torp
Crawford Co.	Kevin Ortman
Cumberland Co.	Barbara Ziegenmeyer
Edgar Co.	Kevin Ortman
Edwards Co.	Laurie Selpien
Franklin Co.	Nanette Riley
Fulton Co.	Sara Hemp
Hamilton Co.	Laurie Selpien
Hardin Co.	Leslie Riney
Jackson Co.	Leslie Riney
Jasper Co.	Kim Torp
Jefferson Co.	Cindy Ford
Jo Daviess Co.	Christine Walters
Johnson Co.	Nan Starjak
Kane Co.	Kim Torp
Knox Co	Foxie Hagerty
Lasalle Co	Nancy Piper
Lee Co	Christine Walters
Livingston Co.	Teri Moncelle Colglazier
Macon Co.	Nancy Piper (Temp)
Marshall Co.	Nancy Piper
Mason Co.	Kristin Vaughn
Massac Co.	Sharon Foe
McLean Co.	Teri Moncelle Colglazier
Menard Co.	Kristin Vaughn
Peoria Co.	Candi Horton
Perry Co.	Wayne Hinton
Pike Co.	Christine Walters
Pulaski Co.	Leslie Riney
Putnam Co.	Nancy Piper
Randolph Co.	Jeana Gallagher
Schuyler Co.	Sara Hemp
Stephenson Co.	Christine Walters
Tazewell Co.	Desiree Rodcay
Union Co.	Anna Newell
Warren Co.	Foxie Hagerty
Washington Co.	Wayne Hinton
Wayne Co.	Laurie Selpien
Whiteside Co.	Christine Walters
Williamson Co.	Jeana Gallagher
Woodford Co.	Dena Whitesell
Indiana
Crawford Co.	Christi Scovel
Floyd Co.	Barbara Ziegenmeyer
Gibson Co.	Terry Winchester
Harrison Co.	Barbara Ziegenmeyer
Knox Co.	Janice Rice
Lake Co.	Kim Torp
Lawrence Co.	Janice Rice
Marion Co.	Darlene Anderson
Monroe Co.	James D. VanDerMark
Parke Co.	James D. VanDerMark
Pike Co.	Terry Winchester
Posey Co.	Terry Winchester
Vanderburgh Co.	Terry Winchester
Warrick Co.	Terry Winchester
Washington Co.	Desiree Rodcay
Iowa
Marshall Co.	Dawn Minard
Pottawatomie Co.	Cathy & Dennis Danielson
Scott Co.	Candi Horton
Kansas
Barber Co.	David Smith
Butler Co.	Co-host: Lori DeWinkler
Butler Co.	Co-host: Peggy Thompson
Chautauqua Co.	Don Tharp
Dickinson Co.	Lisa Smalley
Elk Co.	Don Tharp
Graham Co.	Jackie Wilson Goddard
Hodgeman Co.	Don Tharp
Linn Co.	David Smith
Lyon Co.	Fred & Lori DeWinkler
Miami Co.	David Smith
Ness Co.	Don Tharp
Norton Co.	Jackie Wilson Goddard
Ottawa Co.	Lisa Smalley
Republic Co.	Sandy DeLauretis
Saline Co.	Lisa Smalley
Sedgwick Co.	Peggy Thompson
Kentucky
Butler Co.	Cathy Schultz
Edmonson Co.	Cathy Schultz
Grayson Co.	Cathy Schultz
Hardin Co.	Desiree Rodcay
Lawrence Co.	Nancy Hannah
Maryland
Frederick Co.	Vicki Hartman (temp)
Prince Georges Co.	Michael Hait
Michigan
Calhoun Co.	Kevin Ortman
Chippewa Co.	Christine Walters
Jackson Co.	Jan Stypula
Mackinac Co.	Christine Walters
Wayne Co.	Donald King
Minnesota
Nobles Co.	Gary Boomgaarden
Olmsted Co.	Karen Seeman
Rock Co.	Gary Boomgaarden
Mississippi
Perry Co.	Gene Phillips
Missouri
Adair Co.	Desiree Rodcay
Camden Co.	Carrie Tuck
Cape Girardeau Co.	Anna Newell (temp)
Carroll Co.	Linda Craig
Crawford Co.	Dave McCormick
Harrison Co.	Melody Beery
Laclede Co.	Carrie Tuck
Madison Co.	Frances Cooley
Ray Co.	Lisa Smalley
Scott Co.	Anna Newell (temp)
St. Charles Co.	Andrea Myers
Stone Co.	Carrie Tuck
Wright Co.	Carrie Tuck
Montana
Big Horn Co.	JoAnn Boyd Scott
Lewis & Clark Co.	Tina Oneyear
Nebraska
Dundy Co.	Sherri Gregory
Gage Co.	Frances Cooley
Jefferson Co.	Kristin Vaughn
Loup Co.	Melody Beery
Nevada
Humboldt Co.	Don Tharp
Pershing Co.	Don Tharp
New Mexico
Dona Ana Co.	Andy Bristol
Eddy Co.	Janice Rice
Lea Co.	Erny Long
Lincoln Co.	Christina Anthony
McKinley Co.	JoAnn Boyd Scott
New York
Orleans Co.	Melissa Rodriguez
Steuben Co.	Jennifer Morse
North Carolina
Cherokee Co.	Brenda Neely
Clay Co.	Brenda Neely
Graham Co.	Brenda Neely
Jackson Co.	Brenda Neely
Macon Co.	Brenda Neely
Swain Co.	Brenda Neely
Ohio
Vance Co.	Tina Oneyear
Ohio
Allen Co.	Linda Dietz
Auglaize Co.	Linda Dietz
Columbiana Co.	Christi Scovel
Erie Co.	LaRae Saiyari
Gallia Co.	Michelle Kennedy Spalding
Hamilton Co.	Kevin Ortman
Hardin Co.	Linda Dietz
Jackson Co.	Michelle Kennedy Spalding
Lawrence Co.	Sharon Foe
Mercer Co.	Linda Dietz
Preble Co.	Nancy Hannah
Putnam Co.	Linda Dietz
Summit Co.	Kevin Ortman
Vinton Co.	Michelle Kennedy Spalding
Washington Co.	Christina Anthony
Wayne Co.	Cynthia Nottingham
Oklahoma
Canadian Co.	Dale Donlon
Cleveland Co.krieg	Dale Donlon
Oklahoma
Garvin Co.	Linda Craig
Grady Co.	Dale Donlon
Lincoln Co.	Michelle Krieg
McClain Co.	Dale Donlon
Ponotoc Co.	Linda Craig
Pottawatomie Co.	Linda Craig
Seminole Co.	Linda Craig
Oregon
Coos Co.	Robyn Greenlund
Curry Co.	Robyn Greenlund
Marion Co.	Shauna Williams
Polk Co.	Shauna Williams
Pennsylvania
Adams Co.	Vicki Hartman
Allegheny Co.	Christina Anthony
Beaver Co.	Kat Lowrie
Berks Co.	Vicki Hartman
Butler Co.	Jeanne Hall
Columbia Co.	Tammy Clark
Delaware Co.	Kim Paterson
Fayette Co.	Kat Lowrie
Lawrence Co.	Jeanne Hall
Lebanon Co	Nancy Piper
Lehigh Co.	Vicki Hartman
Luzerne Co.	Claire Moran
Montour Co.	Tammy Clark
Northampton Co.	Vicki Hartman
Northumberland Co.	Tammy Clark
Philadelphia Co.	Kim Paterson
Westermoreland Co.	Kat Lowrie
South Carolina
Newberry Co.	Dena Whitesell
South Dakota
Beadle Co.	Karen Seeman
Hand Co.	Karen Seeman
South Dakota
Mellette Co.	Rita Bergendahl
Tennessee
Bedford Co.	Christine Walters
Benton Co.	Christine Walters
Blount Co.	Brenda Neely
Bradley Co.	Pam Rathbone
Cannon Co.	Brenda Neely
Carroll Co.	Christine Walters
Cheatham Co.	Brenda Neely
Chester Co.	Amanda Jowers
Decatur Co.	Christine Walters
Hamilton Co.	Frances Cooley
Henderson Co.	Co-host: Amanda Jowers
Henderson Co.	Co-host: Christine Walters
Madison Co.	Christine Walters
McNairy Co.	Wayne Hinton (temp)
Monroe Co.	Brenda Neely
Polk Co.	Pam Rathbone
Sevier Co.	Sam Maner
Williamson Co.	Darlene Anderson
Texas
Grayson Co.	Sandy Denney
Lincoln Co.	Michelle Krieg
Upton Co.	Janice Rice
Utah
Utah Co.	Marie Miller
Virginia
Charlotte Co.	Larry Newcomb
Prince George Co.	Desiree Rodcay
Washington
Whatcom Co.	Marla Snow
District of Columbia	Kat Lowrie
West Virginia
Tyler Co.	Christina Anthony
Wisconsin
Chippewa Falls Co.	George Taylor
Clark Co.	Sara Hemp
Columbia Co.	Sara Hemp
Eau Claire Co.	George Taylor
Dane Co.	Sara Hemp (temp)
Wyoming
Sheridan Co.	JoAnn Boyd Scott
Sweetwater Co.	Marie Miller
Uinta Co.	Marie Miller

A Little About Ourselves

Tammy Clark

I was born and raised in Northeast Pennsylvania. I am married with two daughters and a son. We live in the country and have a zoo! (horses, goats, rabbits, cats, dogs, turtles, fish, bird not sure if I got them all or not)       I started researching my family in 2002 after beginning told, as far back as I can remember, that we were related to the President Eisenhower, on my mothers side, and Pocahontas on my dad's side. Well I've managed to find the connecting to Eisenhower and my Indian connection but not to Pocahontas herself. I've come up empty handed here but haven't given up, one day I will find it.       While researching my family, I started helping others with their family in my area of Pennsylvania. I've have quite a bit of information and I'm happy I have found Genealogytrails to share it with others. I enjoy doing genealogy research and those who I have helped are always amazed at what I am able to find. I hope the information I transcribe will help other as well.

Teri Moncelle Colglazier

I was born and raised in McLean County and other than a brief time in Dayton, Ohio and Minonk, Illinois I have always lived here along with quite a number of relatives. I have three daughters (ages 24, 20 & 16) and a son who is 10, along with two grandchildren (ages 3 and 6 months) that my oldest daughter and her husband have blessed me with.       I've been doing genealogical research for my family tree for over ten years and have received so much in the way of information that when I had the chance to help Dena, the Woodford County host, transcribe some information I ran with it. Well, that transcription led to me thinking about volunteering more for Illinois Genealogy and then when I saw that McLean County needed a host ... the rest is "history".

Dawn Conway

I host the Baldwin County, Alabama Genealogy Trails site. I grew up in Baldwin County, as did my husband Pete. After becoming interested in family history many years ago, I discovered that many of our ancestors have been in the Baldwin County area since the late 1700’s, making them some of the first settlers in the area.       My husband and I left Baldwin County as newlyweds when he was serving in the Air Force. We lived in Zweibruecken, Germany for 3 years, then southern Maryland for a year, attended college in south Alabama, then back to southern Maryland. We lived and worked in the Washington, DC, area for over 13 years, but chose to move south to raise our daughters. We now live in north Alabama and work in the Huntsville area – my husband is a program analyst for a defense contractor and I am the lead software engineer for a NASA climate satellite project at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. We have been married for 31 years and have two amazing daughters – Kaitlin and Rebecca – Kaitlin is in college and Rebecca will soon follow. We also have a Shih-Tzu, Mollie, a Bassett Hound, Floyd, a mixed Bassett, Ginger, and three cats, Jake, Midnight, and Mitten.       We visit Baldwin County often since all our immediate family is in the area. We love to travel and lived in Zweibruecken, Germany for 3 years. I have been to Japan, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, many of our beautiful United States, and my hubby has even been to the Marshall Islands. Besides travel and genealogy, my hobbies include jewelry making and scrapbooking, and web page development.       I joined Genealogy Trails in September 2008 because I believe wholeheartedly in free access to genealogy records. I have been blessed by all the wonderful hosts as well as the researchers I’ve met. This is one of the most inspiring projects I have ever been involved in.

 

Linda Craig

First of all my name is Linda (Dyer) Craig and I have been working on genealogy for myself others for nearly 25 years now. I live in Oklahoma City. I have three children (one deceased) and five grandchildren. My husband and I gave up our home to move in with my mother, age 95, and take care of her full time, plus we now have custody of two of my grandchildren ages 11 and 10. I have lived in the Oklahoma City area most of my life and graduated from US Grant High School in 1969, attended Oklahoma Christian College and Oklahoma City Community College later on.       Along with my five Genealogy Trails counties; Carroll County, Missouri and Garvin, Pottawatomie, Pontotoc and Seminole Counties in Oklahoma, I have my own family web page that I maintain, plus a memory site that I maintain on my deceased son. I like many others want to share my findings with others so that they don't have to go thru the expenses as well of tracking down the family roots. My husband and children do not share my love of family history, but my two grandchildren that live with me do. I am a registered Republican but don't vote always with party candidates. I vote for the candidate I feel is the best.       I have two female dachshunds and one male and now we have four little ones. They are very cute and loveable.

 

Sherri Gregory

I was born in St. Francis, Cheyenne, Kansas on January 20, 1945, just as the Second World War was coming to a close. I grew up in that 3-corners area on a wheat and cattle farm/ranch northwest of “Sainty” as we called the town. We lived closer to Haigler, Nebraska so got our mail, had telephone service and did our trading in that small town. We lived almost equidistant from Wray, Colorado, Benkelman, Nebraska and St. Francis, Kansas.       I have two grown children and seven grandchildren ranging in age from 13 to 5.       My interest in genealogy came from the unrelenting search through books and many letters my mother wrote beginning in the 1970s and her excitement about it. I became involved and interested when she said we descended from royalty!! I always knew I was a “princess” and now I had proof!. Of course that became a search for details, stories, pictures, the study of places and people that has become almost an obsession. Housework and family gets neglected when I’m on the scent of new information! Our FamilyTree database contains almost 5000 names and is still growing.       In August 2006, I began writing a blog about my homn town of Haigler, Nebraska because the local newspaper was reluctant to publish longer stories written by the ‘old timers’. The “Haigler Happenings” portion of the paper was for social news only and space was limited. Since my aunt was the correspondent for the town news, she was interested in the stories so we came up with the idea to put them online. The blog grew from there with ideas coming from many places all over the world. People began sending us stories and pictures and school annuals and newspapers until it was hard to keep up with it all. The lay out of a blog is not the best way to display historical and genealogical information, so one day when I ran across Genealogy Trails History Group as I was looking for information about Dundy County, Nebraska, I decided to volunteer to become a host. Now I have a new obsession!

 

Vicki Hartman

My name is Vicki Hartman, nee Koller, and I am the webhost for the Pennsylvania counties of Adams, Berks, Lehigh and Northampton.       I grew up in central Pennsylvania in the Reading area of Berks County Fleetwood to be precise) for the first 19 years of my life. While I never thought I would move away from this area, immediately after marrying my husband (1980), we moved to Houston, Texas. I worked for a little and then we had a daughter. My parents, brother and grandmother moved to Texas (2 doors down after living with us for about 2 years), and we traveled back to the east a bunch, but I still had no interest in genealogy. When my daughter was eight I started my own business (1990) that I could do from home or wherever I was at the time.       Soon after moving to Georgia (1995) I rediscovered some work one of my husband’s uncles had done on his father’s side of the family. It seemed interesting, but was very incomplete. When I asked my parents if anyone in my family had done anything similar they did not think anyone had and seemed to question why anyone would be interested as my family had always been in the same area of PA. What peaked my interest was that when I inquired about my genealogical past, my parents and grandmother did not have very much information more than another generation back, and even that was sketchy. At the time I still had my own business and was a very capable computer user, but had little time to do much research.       Soon after my daughter graduated college (Dec 2004), and then got married (May 2005) my husband and I decided it was a good time for me to close my business (2006) and spend more time doing the things I really love: genealogy research, web design, traveling with my husband on business, needlework of all sorts, gardening, canning, hunting and training my bird dog. These are pretty much in the order that I do them too!       I have been doing our family research for about 10 years now. Most of the search has been online, however in the past found GenealogyTrails.com and I became hooked! I enjoy helping others in their searches for their pasts and putting people and info together for a positive outcome. This is a great and helpful group of people and I love it here.

Sara Hemp

I'm Sara Hemp, host of Genealogy Trails Schuyler and Fulton County, Illinois; Genealogy Trails Wisconsin State Host, Genealogy Trails Clark and Columbia County, Wisconsin; Genealogy Trails Kansas State Host; one of the host of Genealogy Trails WWII and temp host of many counties in Wisconsin and Kansas.       Schuyler County, Illinois is my second home, where I was born. I still have many relatives, and friends there. I lived in Wisconsin (45 miles north of Madison) but travel to Schuyler County every chance I get. My husband, Jeff and I have been together for over 20 years. He showed me Clark County, Wisconsin where he was born and I fell in love with it.       I have two daughters: Serena, and Crystal and three grandchildren: Kayla, Wyatt and Annalaura. My parents are natives of Schuyler County and Mom lives near me. I have a sister, Debra and a brother, Steven, both have children. Steve died August 25, 2002 and is buried in the Bader Cemetery in Schuyler County. Dad, Harold Bader died April 25, 2004 and is buried next to Steve, as, when the time comes, Mom. My wish is to be there also, not far from where I've spent many wonderful days.       Besides genealogy, I also love gardening (mostly flowers), water skiing (when the kids let me stop driving the boat), taking pictures with 35mm camera, digital camera and camcorder, camping in a tent, fossils, and anything you can do outside. My newest hobby is restoring old photos. I haven't worked outside of the home since I had 2 shoulder surgeries.

Candi Horton

I host the Peoria and Tazewell County, Illinois Genealogy Trails sites. I'm also the Missouri Sate Host. I became interested in Genealogy(1998) when I was living in Peoria County, Illinois. I now live in Scott County, Iowa; where I was born.       I'm a proud owner/ mom to a rottie, gsd mix and a pit bull. Their names are Mandie, Max and Chico. Bailey, mix pit, went to Rainbow Bridge May 1, 2007- R.I.P "Bay-Bay"       My favorite pass time is walking cemeteries and traveling.       I have lived in 5 different States and 8 different cities.

 

Michelle Krieg

I started my interest in genealogy while looking up my own family history. After putting in over 5000 names into my program, my interest has become very involved. Hopefully some of the information I have been able to gather will help some of you. I have information that will spread through many areas. I currently live in Seminole, OK; but was born in Salem, OR. And have traced much of my family from and there to Arkansas, Iowa, Tennessee, California and everywhere in between. So as I am doing this I will try to spread around my own information.

 

Gene Phillips

I was born in Marlow OK and grew up in Rush Springs OK and Lovington NM. I joined the Navy and spent 20 years on active duty and retired in OK. I've been doing online genealogy before there was an internet as we know it today. I was on several FidoNet to "talk" to other genealogists across the country.      Anyways, I have collected lots of stuff over the years to put online. I have much more for OK than MS. My g-gf was born in MS. His father was the only one of 14 siblings to leave MS. All the rest of them stayed around Oxford MS. 8 of them their spouses are buried in a little cemetery outside of Paris MS. The rest are buried elsewhere in the county. So if you have relatives around Oxford, I'm probably related to them.

Anna Newell

My roots are in Alexander County, Illinois, although I now live in Scott County, Missouri. My parents moved to Alexander County in 1939 from Missouri. My dad's parents were originally from Union County, Illinois, but went to Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. My dad's grandparents and great-grandparents were pioneers of Union County.       I have a part-time bookkeeping job so I guess you could say I am partially retired after raising three sons. I have also been a librarian and a secretary. My husband has been in education for over 42 years. My hobby has been genealogy since the 1970s when I started researching my dad's family. I now have that family back to the 1620s at Jamestown, Virginia with help of many cousins. My mother's side has been harder with one big brick wall. My husband's family history was done by some distant cousins back in the 1960s and this inspired me. I also have his mother's family history provided by cousins back to Germany.

Tina Oneyear aka "Swan"

I grew up in the Great Northwest. I lived around or on the Nez Perce Reservation, for the first 18 years of my life. My family participated in one of the tribal churches as my father was the co-pastor and we weren't even Indian. I left the Northwest in 1988 and spent most of my adulthood in the South, where I met my husband.       I've always had interests in my family heritage since I was in my teens, reading the family Bible that contain a long time of information, and the stories that my father told me about older generations. It wasn't until 1992 that I learned how to work in genealogy and my first trip to the local LDS church for help and info. It just grew from there.       I also love to mess around with WebPages and graphics since the late '90's. I try to make my own so that I don't have to worry about giving someone else credit. Sometimes I would forget where I got stuff.       I just signed onto Genealogy Trails in July of '08. Found it by searching the web for information. With the encouragement of Jo Ann, Kim gave me a shot. Thanks goes to both of them. "Thank you."

Leslie Riney

I was born in Cairo, IL. and raised in Pulaski County, IL. I am married with one grown son. We live in the country with our 2 dogs and 1 cat. I work full-time for a local VFW which other than Genealogy Trails is another one of my passions.       I became interested in genealogy several years after my grandfather passed away, for our family realized then that we knew very little about his roots other than a couple of his sisters. I began searching online and found what I thought to be his family in Murray County, GA. Two years ago I confirmed that and have met several online cousins. Together we have put together that whole clan.       During these searches, I also ran across Genealogy Trails and seen that Pulaski Co., IL. was up for adoption. I knew how to make web sites, so I thought I'd give it a go...it wasn't long before I also asked if I could take over Murray Co., GA.       The rest is basically where I am now. I now also host Jackson Co., IL. as that is where my father's ancestors are from and I host Hardin Co., IL. since I have a friend who has an abundance of information to contribute whose ancestors settled there.

Cathy Schultz

Compared to most hosts on this site, I am definitely still a "Newby." I've been doing research since the Spring of 2007. Since then, I've not only learned so much about my family, I've come to love GENEALOGY in general.       I host the Grayson County Kentucky site. My husband & I are raising 2 boys who keep us extremely busy (mostly me since my husband is a full time firefighter and gone for 24 hours at a time). I also work full time. When I have nothing else to do, I enjoy crocheting, sewing, making videos and reading.       I am from Grayson County. I love this area. My husband & I moved back here after the boys were born because this is where we want to raise them.

 

Jo Ann Boyd Scott

Grew up in Big Horn County, Montana on a cattle ranch. No neighbors within 25 miles, no electricity or running water, nearest grocery store was 50 miles away. That would be Sheridan WY. Spent most of my time riding and working with the cattle. Mom was a teacher so she taught me the first 3 years, stayed with a neighbor 30 miles away during the week for the 4th grade. Dad would ride horseback with me to their ranch. They had two kids my age and we went to school by horseback. Told not to race but we did everyday when out of sight of adult eyes.       My folks bought another ranch near Wyola so I could go to a "real" school, a reservation school. It was hard because there were few whites and the Indians spoke Crow. They came to 1st grade not speaking English, many parents came to learn the language and sat on the floor in the classroom. I did learn a lot of Crow, was fun.       Went to Sheridan High School in WY. Boarded there with a family. It was 50 miles away from home, then did my early college years in the sciences at U.W. at La Crosse WI. & U.W. Madison.   I have family in Edwards and Wayne County. Mom is 96 and from Albion, IL. and we know the cemeteries there. (one has a mean dog).. Those buried in Zion Camp Cemetery between Golden Gate and Fairfield are all family, and the others in Brushy and Geff cemeteries. (Mann, Inskeep, Austin, Smith) We were very lucky that both parent's families had camera's and took lots of pictures. More important, Mom labeled everything. She got me interested in genealogy and it has been an obsession for the past 30 years. I have pictures to share if anyone has relatives of "Ezekiel (Ezekial) SMITH" 1828-1889 Have hunted for his parents for years.

Sleeping Fawn
Fawn's "Native American" website             http://ancestralfires.com/

Peggy Thompson

I'm Peggy Thompson, host of Sedgwick County and co-host of Butler County, both of which are in Kansas. For 47 years I've was born and raised in Butler County and never thought I'd move away from there until this year (Jan. 2007) when I moved right next door to Sedgwick County, with Jim who I firmly believe is truly my soul mate!       I'm the proud mom of 3 grown children, Joey, 27 who is married to Bonnie and in the Air Force, stationed down in Florida. Brandi, 25 who along with her husband James, have given me a very precious granddaughter Makenzie. The youngest son Jason is 21 and has plans to marry his long time girlfriend Amanda who we already consider part of the family! I've just recently remarried after being single for 20 years and gained two more children; Jimmy who's also 27 and helps Jim (my better half) with Jim's sprinkler & lawn business; and Crystal who's 26 and has a pretty awesome son Devon that I love to spend time with!       I got started in genealogy thanks to my mom wanting to know more about her parents. My grandmother came over from Chesterfield, England in April 1921, so finding information at first about her family was a little tricky, but thanks to JoAnn (a saint for sure) I was able to learn a great deal about the Twiby family. JoAnn wouldn't take money for all the look-ups she did for me. So I turn, decided to "pay it forward" by helping out others by volunteering to do "free" look-ups. I love transcribing as well, so I started looking for a home to place all this information and then found it. Here at Genealogy Trails!       When I'm not at work, I'm at home transcribing, out looking up more information, or can be found in my new sewing room, working on the latest quilt top or playing with my new embroidery machine! When the weather's nice, I love being out doors messing around in the flower beds or tagging along with Jim on a sprinkler call!

Kim Torp

What started as a hobby to fill my days while being a stay-at-home mom has progressed into a full time job. It's been a fantastic journey, starting with a desire to know more about my family, which led into being able to work with this wonderful group of people who make up Genealogy Trails.      In my previous life (pre-genealogy!), I worked my way up the corporate ladder to eventually work as a purchasing agent and then a technical writer for a very large bank in sunny Florida. Now living in un-sunny Kane County, Illinois with hubby, our teenager getting ready to head out on her own in a year or two and our Chinese Crested dog (you know the ones that always win the "ugliest dog" competitions - uh huh, one of those! They're so ugly, they're cute!)  Her canine mom, Sally the beagle, passed away in February 2008 from liver cancer.      Hubby has long since declined to embark on research trips with me since the last few ended up with him gaining nothing more than points on his license from a few speeding tickets.  My research opportunities are now confined to whatever I can find online or in our annual jaunts down to Peoria for our group's reunions.      I got involved in online genealogy after making my first webpage just to see if I could do it. Through that Hicks Family website, I was recruited as a host for Jasper and Coles counties in Illinois and later in a moment of insanity, volunteered to temporarily take on Kane and Cook counties. However many years later, I'm still "temporarily" hosting those sites!   Our Illinois group expanded to cover the whole country, and Genealogy Trails was born... which leaves me no time whatsoever to research my own family lines anymore.  So I had to volunteer to take on the state of West Virginia in hopes of coming across my own families' data while transcribing for the other sites!      My ggg-grandfather came to Coles County in 1842 by way of Georgia, West Virginia and Kentucky. He and his family left Coles County in 1851 for Jasper County, where he remained until his death in 1866. His descendants stayed in Jasper county until the 1920's, after which they started to spread out within the state. My grandparents eventually settled in northwest Indiana, and their descendants have, for the most part, remained in that area.

Christine Walters

I'm retired from the "real" world and now live in the world of genealogy. I was born in the great state of Missouri, grew up in Illinois and now live in Tennessee. I'm the mother of 3 great kids, and 4 even greater grandchildren. I joined the "Trails" in June 2002 and its been a wonderful experience. After researching for over 20 years on my own family, I soon realized that genealogy data in the counties I was looking in - just wasn't there. It soon become my goal to provide this information for others, in the areas I'm able to work in, so that they don't experience the same problems I encountered.       I'm the current host of six IL Counties - Whiteside, Carroll, Lee, Jo Daviess, Pike and Stephenson. I'm now accepted six more counties, in the area where I live in TN - Henderson, Decatur, Bedford, Benton, Carroll & Madison. I have also taken on the State of Michigan.       My husband was born in Michigan and has put up with my never ending genealogy search, has watched our money go out "the genealogy door" and has spent many hours alone while I'm out running around or glued to the computer. Working on his "home state" is just my way of saying "thanks" to him.

Nancy (Caswell) Washell

I became interested in genealogy because of a school project in the 7th grade. Luckily my paternal grandmother had been researching the family tree and my mom was a huge history buff! My grandmother was excited to have someone to pass the information on to since my dad was her only child. I would trapse cemeteries for hours on end each summer with my oldest sister in tow when she would come home on vacations. It was hot and buggy but we had so much fun.       My father's family came to New England in the 1620's (Caswell, settled in Taunton MA). My mom's family originated in Canada and immigrated through New Hampshire and Maine then down into MA and Connecticut. I grew up in CT and feel very deeply rooted to New England. No matter where I go, New England is home. I have had piles upon piles of notes and pictures and records that I have wanted to put online but one or 2 websites just couldn't contain it all.       I have been part of other genealogy projects online that either fizzled or became too political, that's when I discovered Genealogy Trails. It is the perfect outlet for all records I have. I have built plenty of websites over the years so this combines my love of making simple websites and genealogy, what could be better! This site is growing daily and each host has the ability and hands on to be able to put their data online to share with the world as it should be!

Dena Whitesell

I was born in Germany, coming to the US of A when I was nine years old. My father was born and raised in Newberry, Newberry County, South Carolina meeting my mother in Germany when he was stationed over there during WWII (she was from Vienna, Austria).       I have always been interested in genealogy but did very little about it till year 2001. I have tried researching my mother's side of the family with very little luck so started with my father's side of the family.       This brings me to my interest in hosting Newberry County, South Carolina. Very little info is available online about our Southern states, that's why I'm so happy the Genealogy Trails has expanded to include ALL states.       My father's family extends into Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. My surnames include: Thomasson/Thomason, Dickert, Wilson, Suber (all from the South) and then Simsa from Austria.       I have no family ties in Woodford County, Illinois (except my hubby, 3 children and 8 grandchildren) but this is home - I hope to be able to help others connect with their long distant family through this site.