Genealogy is another one of my favorite hobbies. I've been researching my family history for many years. Like many Americans, I have roots from various parts of the world escaping oppression and the hangman's noose. Sinners and saints, I have them all. And with the new NBC show Who Do You Think You Are, there has been a renewed interest in genealogy. In Who Do You Think You Are, Sarah Jessica Parker traced her family back through the California Gold Rush and the Salem Witch trials ( turns out my husband is a distant relative). Emmitt Smith's family survived the slave trade. The stories are compelling and inspiring.

If you would like to research your family tree, start with the oldest surviving members of your family. Let their knowledge get you on your way. If you've been watching the show, you'll notice Sarah & Emmitt started with their parents. You don't always get much information when you say, "Tell me about grandpa." When we asked my grandfather about living through the flu epidemic, the stories just flowed. When I asked my mother about the family legend of her grandfather getting mixed up with a burlesque dancer, I was able to get just enough clues to start digging. After telling her that I had found a newspaper story about him escaping the law in 1904 to Panama, it was an "Oh yeah, I remember now" moment. Many details are there, sometimes it's a matter of prying them out.

Once you have some names, dates & places to work with, see what other information you can find on-line. I like starting with the free datbases at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ and http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp

Above are family photos that were discovered while helping my parents to move. The man is my 3rd great grandfather Lewis Lombard of Truro, Mass. The older woman is my 3rd great grandmother, Ruth Young Mayo Baker also of Truro. The girl, Katharine Baker Lombard is my great grandmother. She later married Herman Emile Haass who embezzled from her father's bank in Chicago for burlesque dancer, Millie De Leon and escaped to Mexico & Panama.