Thanks to the format at DU3

[PatSeg]

I'm finding groups that I didn't know existed before. I will definitely be spending time at this one.

[WheelWalker]

1. I didn't realize

you had this interest, Pat.

[PatSeg]

2. Oh yes indeed

I am an obsessive genealogist. It seems to be a family tradition. We have a lot of searchers in our family. A second or third cousin got the ball rolling back in the twenties and a number of us have carried on where she left off. Of course, she had to use snail mail and visits to libraries, so it took many years to achieve what we can do relatively quickly online.

Are you interested in genealogy as well?

[kdmorris]

3. The fact that people can come here without a star helps, too

I lost my star at the old DU for about 18 months and couldn't get into any of my favorite groups. It's nice that others get the chance to participate, as well.

Where's your family from? How far back have you gotten?

It turns out that I'm a complete mutt... but mostly German/English. My mother's paternal line came over to American in 1732 to PA (Kerbaugh/Carbaugh from Germany). My mother's maternal line has been traced back to 1713 in Virginia (Neel from England). My father's paternal line came over in the early-mid 1700's (Huffman/Hoffman probably from Germany) and moved around so much that it's hard to keep track of them or trace them. And my father's maternal line has been traced back to CT in the 1630 (Waterhouse from (probably) England).

[PatSeg]

4. I love the fact that members

don't need a star to participate in the groups now. Overall, I think DU3 is primarily an improvement.

My family came mostly from England, Ireland, and Scotland, and settled in New England and later Pennsylvania and Ohio. The earliest settler came to MA in 1635. I've found if you can go back far enough, it doesn't seem to matter what nationality our ancestors were. England and Ireland were settled by people from Germany, Rome, Norway, etc. So we're all probably "mutts"!