The Beginning

Jack and Peggy Livingstone

Everything must have a beginning, and so this is mine. What started as casual curiosity about my family tree has grown into an ambitious project that will span years to come, and may never be fully complete! This is primarily a blog to document my progress as I research my own ancestors and digitize hundreds of photographs and papers that have been entrusted to me. I am also researching the genealogy of other members of my family, so my posts will probably touch on those topics as well.

There a few primary tools worth mentioning that I use regularly. For organizing my family tree I use Ancestry.com as well as the Family Tree Maker software published by the same company. I scan photos on an Epson Perfection V750-M Pro, and use Photoshop for editing the images - but I'll reserve anything more technical than that for future posts!

Pictured here are my maternal grandparents, Jack and Peggy Livingstone, who passed away in 2001 and 1996 respectively. I was fortunate to know them for many years and have countless fond memories of them, but I wish my interest in family history had developed while they were still living. I will always regret the missed opportunities to ask them about their past and their own memories. Happily, there are many letters and other first-person accounts among the materials I have access to, and of course there is a wealth of information available online. Piecing together the past is certainly a puzzle and a challenge, but one I look forward to meeting head on!