Genealogy
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GENEALOGY: The only endeavor where going backwards means progress!

I've been interested in Genealogy and researching my roots for a number of years now, ever since a maiden aunt passed away suddenly, and with her went an enormous amount of anecdotal information and history that I was vaguely aware of, but never bothered to document. I realized that if I didn't start collecting and documenting it, then the stories and family connections that were known by heart by my mother and her sister, and known only vaguely by me, would be completely unknown to my daughters.

I have collected a main database of over 5300 names, representing people from both my side of the family tree and Lynn's. I also track separate databases of names and families from old genealogy books and published articles, where there is a reasonable possibility of a connection. 

As to what software package I use, choosing genealogy software is almost a religious experience for some.  My previous genealogy software of choice was Broderbund's Generations. It is descended from Leister Productions' Reunion for Windows and has gone through a number of owners (Sierra being the most recent).  For my money (and it is my money we're talking about here) it was the best value - hands down.  Unfortunately Broderbund has decided to remove Generations from the market, so it's no longer available. I'm moving to The Master Genealogist, a very capable but much less intuitive program.

For a more detailed explanation of why I choose Generations over others, read "acorn #3" on the How-To-Start page.

I've also changed the way I present family tree information on this web site.  Previously, I had four trees output in the now-common HTML format that many genealogy software programs produce automatically.  That's ok, but those formats produce lots and lots of HTML files, and they take up lots and lots of space.  For example, the four family trees I had (nowhere near my entire database) composed over 700 files, and took up 3+ MB of web space.  I've come across a shareware JAVA applet called GenViewer from Gen Viewer Shareware that is spectacular.  It reads in ZIPzed GEDCOM files directly as its data source, and outputs a number of visual formats, including a navigable tree.  Try it out by looking at any of the four trees listed below. You'll be amazed, as I was.

My Side (VOGT, McGRATH, OLIVER, BUTTIMER etc.)
I have established my VOGT family name back to my Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather (5G-GF), Heinrich VOGT, who was probably born in the late 1600's in the village of Lich, near Gießen Germany (north of Frankfurt).  His son, Jean Nikolaus VOGT (my 4G-GF), was born 15 March 1710 in Lich, to Heinrich and his wife Anna Maria (nee WOHMANN).  His son, Jean Henri Joseph VOGT (my 3G-GF) was born 28 January 1762, in a town that was called Mayence by the French but is known as Mainz in German. Jean Henri Joseph married Marie Catherine RETTIG in the village of Alsenborn on 28 March 1801, and they had 12 children, all born in Kaiserslautern. The eleventh was my GG-GF, Jules (Julius) Oscar!  Read about a visit I made to Kaiserslautern and Alsenborn to commune with the ghosts!  Read further about my recent successful efforts to push the VOGT line back further in the Mainz StadtArchiv!!

My mother's (Irish) side is well-established and we still keep in touch with the 2nd and 3rd cousins back on the "auld sod."  I've visited a number of times the (once thatched-roofed) farmhouse called Knockbrack ("speckled hill" in Gaelic) in Ardfert, county Kerry where my grandfather was born (it's still owned by a cousin), and I even have enough official documentation to qualify for Irish "citizenship" and get an Irish passport, if I wanted to! On this side I have McGRATH, CARROLL, BUTTIMER (BUTTIMORE) and BARRY harking from counties Kerry and Cork, just to name a few.  I also have cousins from Georgia to Vermont who are also doing genealogy on that side of the family, so we all share notes and information.

Lynn's Side (MUNROE, TAYLOR, GRIGGS, COPLAND, etc.)
On Lynn's side, there is more to work with. Her G-GF, Arthur Orison TAYLOR, was a life-member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and had done an enormous amount of research himself. From his work (a recently discovered unpublished but well-referenced manuscript, written in 1923, that adds in the vicinity of 700 names to her tree) we have established Lynn's lineage back to Henry DUNSTER, first president of Harvard College (her 7G-GF), to Gov. Thomas DUDLEY, 2nd governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony after John Winthrop (her 8G-GF), to the Mayflower passenger and signer of the Mayflower Compact. Degory PRIEST (her 11G-GF), and to Ezekiel RICHARDSON, one of the 7 founders of Woburn MA in 1642 (her 10G-GF). It also lists (confirmed and signed by a member of the British College of Arms in 1937) that Lynn is descended from William the Conqueror (her 32G-GF). My daughters expect me to kiss their hands now that they are descended from royalty, but I know better! ;)

Some Genealogy Stuff of Interest . . .
	Further Research on the VOGT Name - New	HTML File
	Communing With The Ghosts - New	HTML File with photos
	My Grandfather At Work	51kb in 2 JPEG files
	Old Photo Found	47kb JPEG file
	Gene's Ancestors - Updated	JAVA GEDCOM Viewer
	Lynn's Ancestors	JAVA GEDCOM Viewer
	TAYLOR Manuscript Contents	JAVA GEDCOM Viewer
	Descendants of the VOGT Patriarch - Updated	JAVA GEDCOM Viewer
	Sep 1995 VOGT Family Reunion	14 images, 239kb
	Jun 1997 VOGT Family Reunion	2 image, 87kb
	Gene Vogt's Family Tree	23,291 byte inline GIF File, with text
	List of Names in my Database	3191 Names in a 15kb ZIP File
	GG-GF Jules Oscar VOGT	10,590 byte inline JPEG file, with text
	Boston Irish Music Club	24,848 byte inline JPEG file, with text
	Knockbrack, County Kerry, Ireland	12,990 byte inline JPEG file, with text
	GG-GF Wilhelm WILSON	7,364 byte inline JPEG file, with text
??	Family Skeletons and Mysteries	HTML file
	My Favorite Genealogy Links	HTML file

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