About the Author

Take a look at that little guy on the right.  Ah, a time when life was simple and my biggest concern was where to find that next meal or when to pull the cat's tail.  That was me, so long ago (June 21st, 1965).  That little tike you see became me.  These days  I tend to wear a little bit more clothing, but the smile is still there.  I enjoy working with computers and found myself on the internet long before "dial-up networking" ever appeared in an operating system.  I published my first web site back in 1994.  I have always found the internet to be a great way to share information and ideas with others.         I began researching my lineage in April, 1999.  However, I first became interested in family history when I watched Alex Haley's Roots in the 70's.  I knew then that one day I too would search for the origins of my ancestors.  As I began my research in 1999, I was fortunate to have some baseline information that my sister collected several years ago.  The advent of the internet and computer software combined to fuel rapid growth in the popularity of genealogy since the mid 1990's.  Up until the mid-90's, genealogy had been the domain of the elderly and early retirees.  In other words, those who had the time to venture into archives and spend countless hours reading microfilm.   E-mail and thousands of web sites have had a profound effect on genealogy, collapsing time and space and at the same time opening the field to millions who have limited time to do their research.

Chris (June 21st, 1965)

         My own travels since 1999 have taken me to Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Utah, Germany, Switzerland and the national Archives in Washington D.C.  I have reviewed miles of microfilm, visited dozens of cemeteries, numerous bureaus of vital statistics, several historical centers and many Family history Centers, as well as copied hundreds of documents.   Along the way I have met so many wonderful, interesting and helpful people.  I have renewed contact with long lost family members and discovered distant relatives I never knew existed.  

        My European ancestors were among the first to arrive in the "new" world when Sir Francis Wyatt and his brother the Reverend Haute Wyatt arrived in Virginia in 1621.  Conquest Wyatt, Haute's grandson, was the first Wyatt to be born, live his life, and die in the Americas.  Other branches of my family, the Grimes (English) and Wycoff (Dutch), arrived later in the 17th Century.  They helped build the new nation.  My early ancestors were eventually joined by my maternal ancestors (Germans and Irish) who arrived in the 19th century.