And Away We Go...

Welcome to the Burns-Mettenburg genealogy blog. Here, I'll be posting information about the Burns, McCurdy, Mackley, Rushing, Staley, Chisum, Palmer, and other families in my tree, as well as the Mettenburg, Martin, Cowgill, Harkness, Raus, Jaeckel, Still, and other families in my wife's tree. Most came from Germany, Ireland, Scotland, and England, but I believe some came from France, Switzerland, and Holland.

I don't intend to provide a comprehensive family tree on this blog; for that, I would refer readers to FamilySearch.org. That's where I build my tree and store many photos and documents. It's free to create an account and build a tree, and it offers access to great source material, much of which is also free. I have found census records, death certificates, and more. Sometimes a search will lead to information that is behind a paywall at Ancestry.com or Fold3, or any number of other sites, but it still offers a lot at no cost.

Probably the best thing about FamilySearch is the collaborative nature of the site. You can build your own tree and link to other trees. In essence, everyone who contributes is working on one huge family tree. Which can save you a lot of time--you might find that a long-lost cousin has researched part of your family for you. And you have the option of making your contact information available, so you can connect with other family members and share information offline, too.

But there are drawbacks, to be sure. Your information might conflict with someone else's, and other users can log in and change information that you have entered. You can tell who did what, however, because every change leaves a trail. In my experience, the good far outweighs the bad.

But even though FamilySearch is free and very useful, it's not for everyone, so I created this blog for the sake of getting the stories out there and making contact. I invite relatives and friends to comment and get in touch. Thanks for stopping by!

Peter Burns
peterburnspeterburns@gmail.com