I've been experimenting with making videos that incorporate my family history and genealogy materials and information. I put one together on some of my Peterson ancestors and it was a fun learning experience. I used iMovie and Youtube and felt like I was able to figure it out pretty easily. I'm looking forward to making more and better videos in the future. Anyone else out there doing this?

Here are a few historic couples from my family. :) Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm busy adding content to my surname pages! Check out Peterson, Porter, and Brink, and come back often!

Family history research is not just about learning our ancestors names, but also about understanding what life was like for them. Benjamin Lewis Nicholas (12 Mar 1856-05 Mar 1939), pictured here as a police officer in Haverfordwest, Wales, held many occupations throughout his life. While in Wales, he was a police officer, a tailor, and a farmer. Due to ill health, he was encouraged to leave for America and set sail with his wife in 1882. Once in the States, he was mostly a rancher and eventually established a successful homestead in Custer County, Nebraska. It certainly seems that the change in environment helped his health, but it could not have been an easy first several years, building and living in a sod house with a small and growing family.

Here's a map to a hard to find cemetery in central Nebraska. The Danish Basin Lutheran Cemetery is 8.5 miles south of Mason City, NE and is an amazing artifact of our pioneer history. I remember being a very young child and exploring the abandoned prairie church that was across the country road. It's important to document where these places are and why they are important to your family story. The headstone pictured to the left is of Soren Nelson, a person long forgotten in our family. He died shortly upon arrival in Nebraska and his wife and children would soon take a different surname. His story, and the practical story of how to get to his resting place, are important to document for future generations.