This is by its very nature a work in progress, but thanks to my niece Alicia Milburn,  who did an enormous amount of the initial research, it's not quite the huge job it  could have been. While I continue to gather some more of the nuts that fell from our  family tree, here are some notable quotes about family and history that explain the  need for tracing our family histories:
 but please sign my guestbook to let me know you were here 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For the healthy growth of any tree we need to know where its roots lie ~ Karyn

History remembers only the celebrated, genealogy remembers them all ~ Laurence Overmire

You Will Know the tree by the fruit it bears and in our case the family bore an  enormous crop of nuts  ~ Karyn

We are who we are because they were who they were!

Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past,  present and future ~ Heidi Swapp

In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage - to know who we are  and where we came from. Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning.  No matter what our attainments in life, there is still a vacuum, an emptiness, and the  most disquieting loneliness ~ Alex Haley

Remember that when a family member passes away, they take a library of memories with them. It’s a genealogist’s duty to record them before that happens.

If you don’t want your descendants to put a twisted spin on your life story, write it yourself!

Many genealogists neglect telling their own stories, while in the midst of telling the stories about others. Don’t let that happen to your family.

If you’re the family photographer (and not showing up in photos), your family historian descendants will become upset with you.

How will our children know who they are if they do not know where they came from. 

In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future  ~ Alex Haley

Generations pass like leaves fall from our family tree. Each season new life blossoms  and grows benefiting from the strength and experience of those who went before  ~ Heidi Swapp

Genealogy, n. An account of one's descent from an ancestor who did not particularly  care to trace his own ~ Ambrose Bierce

If you don't recount your family history, it will be lost. Honor your own stories and  tell them too. The tales may not seem very important, but they are what binds families  and makes each of us who we are ~ Madeleine L'Engle

My charge, then, in putting down my pen, and giving over this work to posterity, is this: Take the time. Take the time to preserve the stories, the photographs, the small mementos that mean so much. This is your legacy to future generations. Give it the attention it deserves. Your children and your grandchildren will thank you for it. ― Laurence Overmire

Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.
 ~ Jane Howard

If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all  generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in  your body. You are the continuation of each of these people ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors ~Jonas Salk

To forget one's ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root ~  Chinese Proverb

We need to haunt the house of history and listen anew to the ancestors' wisdom ~ Maya  Angelou

In different hours, a man represents each of several of his ancestors, as if there were  seven or eight of us rolled up in each man's skin, - seven or eight ancestors at least,  and they constitute the variety of notes for that new piece of music which his life is  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tell me about your family," I said. And so she did. I listened intently as my mother went through each branch of the tree. Years later, after the funeral, Maria had asked me questions about the family - who was related to whom - and I struggled. I couldn't remember. A big chunk of our history had been buried with my mother. You should never let your past disappear that way.  ― Mitch Albom, For One More Day

One can never be 100% certain when it comes to family lineage. One must always keep an open mind, willing to go wherever the facts may lead. ― Laurence Overmire

No normal sheet of paper could possibly trace their family tree, which in any case was more like a mangrove thicket.  ― Terry Pratchett

Life is lived forwards, but understood backwards. – Unknown
Our most treasured family heirlooms are our sweet family memories. – Unknown
Like branches on a tree, our lives may grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one. – Anonymous

Generations pass like leaves fall from our family tree. Each season new life blossoms and grows benefiting from the strength and experience of those who went before. – Heidi Swapp
If you don’t recount your family history, it will be lost. Honour your own stories and tell them too. The tales may not seem very important, but they are what binds families and makes each of us who we are. – Madeleine L’Engle

You live as long as you are remembered. — Russian proverb

We inherit from our ancestors gifts so often taken for granted. Each of us contains within this inheritance of soul. We are links between the ages, containing past and present expectations, sacred memories and future promise. — Edward Sellner

The thing that interests me most about family history is the gap between the things we think we know about our families and the realities. – Jeremy Hardy

One could only wish there were more who understood the love of family, of history, and of ancient, sacred bonds that grow deep within us all. If family is not worthy of our time and attention, who or what is?  Laurence Overmire

Tradition is the glue that binds past with present, and eventually with the future. As traditions are passed down, we get a chance to reach back and touch one small part of our history. ― Ann Christine Tabaka

Just like our ancestors, we too will fall out of living memory and be forgotten.
It will take a future genealogist to find us again.
Make it a good find. ― Stephen Robert Kuta

The family historian must master the art of storytelling. What, after all, is truth without anecdote, history without events, explanation without narration--or yet life itself without a story? Stories are not just the wells from which we drink most deeply but at the same time the golden threads that hold and bind--Ariadne's precious string that leads us through the labyrinth that connects living present and the living past.  ― Joseph A. Amato, Jacob's Well: A Case for Rethinking Family History

Over the course of the millennia, all these multitudes of ancestors, generation upon generation, have come down to this moment in time—to give birth to you. There has never been, nor will ever be, another like you. You have been given a tremendous responsibility. You carry the hopes and dreams of all those who have gone before. Hopes and dreams for a better world. What will you do with your time on this Earth? How will you contribute to the ongoing story of humankind? ― Laurence Overmire

Our stories make us who we are. And each story has its own purpose and its own reward. Each story rings true and each story is worthy of the ages. There is no such thing as an insignificant life.   Laurence Overmire

An honest, poor, but otherwise unremarkable man and his loving, tender-hearted wife, though long forgotten and lost to history, may have been the ancestors who are most worthy of our admiration today.  ― Laurence Overmire

Ultimately, the great truths of family history don't live in any book. They live in the hearts and minds of the living descendants. They live in the way we conduct our lives, in the passing of traditions and values to those who will follow. - Laurence Overmire

Just as astronomers have mapped the night sky, geneticists have mapped the human genome, the strands of DNA telling your story through every cell in your body.  But it’s not just your story; the human genome is rich with thousands of years of history, passed down from mothers and fathers to sons and daughters.  Those who have come before you live inside you, shaping who you are.  Secrets drift through time, your identity whispering like a feather across your cells.  Nearly three billion particles, thirty thousand genes, the microscopic world cracked open as wide as the cosmos, reminding you of who came before and pointing toward who will come next. - Julie Clark in The Ones We Choose.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ May the roots of your family tree grow deep and strong