I began this journey just out of curiosity.  My mother knew a lot about  her family history, well her recent history anyways and her family in  Arkansas.  But neither my father nor my mother knew much about my father's side  of the family.  So I began asking questions and from what little information I  was able to gather I have found a wealth of information.  This has become a  hobby that I have totally enjoyed.  And like most other people that get into  genealogy it is a continuous work in progress.

My lines:  CRONE, BYNUM, WILLIAMS, YOUNG, POOLE (POOL, PETTIPOOL, PETTYPOOL),  PRESSON, COBB, SPIGNER (SPIGENER, SPEIGNER, SPAIGNER, SPEIGENER, SPEIGENOR, SPIGNAR)

Through tracing my family I have found that most of my ancesters came from  England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany,  Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Kiev, Poland, Austria, Turkey, the Middle East,  etc.  And like more then half the population of this world I also descend from  royality.

My family has been in this country for over 400 years.  For the biggest part our  journey began on that second supply ship to Jamestown. It is from that point  on that I am most proud of.

The migration of my direct family line has for the most part followed a  southern and western route.  Seems they just couldn't sit still.  My love for  this country and its history is very important to me.  Because it is who I  am.  It is who we all are.  And eveyone of us should be very proud of it.  I  am an AMERICAN...I am a citizen of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.... and it  will always be my home.  I am very proud of my ancesters and the courage they  had to come here and start a new life.

I remember a story I heard, around 1976, when the United States of America was  celebrating its 200th birthday, about a group of immigrants that were not  happy living in this country because we did not have a long history like the  countries they had come from, that we were to young.  At the time I guess I  was to young to really understand what they were talking about.  To me this  was the greatest place on earth.  But as I aged and began to think about it I  could understand what they meant.  But then I began this genealogical  journey.  And what I have found is that my history as an American is actually  a history of the world.  I cannot claim to be English, Italian, French,  German, etc....because I am a combination of so many nationalities and  cultures....but I can claim to be American..a citizen of the United States...  a place that the world came to to be free.  And though its history is young  compared to some other countries in this world, it has a great history.

"We are not a nation, so much as a world?" Herman Melville1 

"Here is not merely a nation but a teeming Nation of Nations"?Walt Whitman 

"Remember always, that all of us?are descended from immigrants?" FDR2

To know where you are, you must know where you have been.  This website is a minute  account of one place you have been.  Through a long line, for the most part, of hard- working, determined, no-frills people, of whom we can be proud.

Genealogy is more than the research of names, places and dates. It is also the  gathering of stories of the lives of the men and women who came before us.

"Walking, I am listening to a deeper way.  Suddenly all of my ancestors are behind me.  Be still,  they say.  Watch and listen.  You are the result of the love of thousands."  Linda Hogan, Native  American Writer.