|
Although illness
has hampered me greatly the past couple of years,
I am, as all of you are, I am sure, a combination of more than
one person.
Wife and mother. Gene and I have been married over 20 years
and have a 17 year old daughter Jenny Rose. When I am able this
includes lots of things I took on in order to try and make our house
a home. Canning, gardening, crocheting, sewing, quilting, and hobbies
galore. All of this is glued with hugs and kisses and support when
needed. My family calls me Kathy or Kat as my name is Mary
Kathleen. That's where the kat in kat@bright.net comes from. (That
and the fact I have always loved cats and my Grandpa Elva Sparks
called me "Puss"... real embarassing in public let me tell you)
I've always been a history nut. So from the time I was a
10 years old I had a passion for Kentucky and history. So out of
this came the genealogist. I always have atleast one more question
to ask. So after over ten years of digging around and not depending
too much on family tradition I took learning the art of genealogical
research seriously. This lead me to the Family History Center at
the local Church of the Latter Day Saints, where my constant
involvement lead me to be a staff member there. Hey, when you can
pick up the telephone and call Salt Lake City and ask the librarians and
researchers there what to do to solve a problem, its a great experience
for hands on learning resources and their availability. I was also blessed
to be a staff member along with and were often put in touch with
speakers, professional genealogists, authors, and combinations of more
than one speciality on subjects including genealogy, Native American,
German, Scandanavian, Appalachian and other topics. When I am back
on my feet I plan to get my certification for Southeastern US and to
study Appalachian History at KSU. After some support from friends
and family I also plan to share again, what I know on genealogy, land
platting, internet genealogy, etc.
KyGenWeb has added an entirely new direction for me. When I was
accepted by Jeff Murphy in May of 1996 to be the first Johnson Co
coordinator, it was like being voted in as president in Florida or
something.
I already had my Eastern Kentucky History and Genealogy pages up.
It was really weird. I was doing the same thing KyGenWeb was and I
had never heard of the project at the time. Not only did I work harder
at the computer learning web page creation, I found so many cousins
and information I had been searching for (family traditions, etc) that
I couldn't keep track. I then got an informative letter from a
cousin who told me that our common family was possibly Melungeon. Well
I asked "What is a Melungeon?, started an email list and helped, along
with four others to set up the first Melungeon history and genealogy
conference in history, in Wise Virginia. As 'always in fear'
leader,treasurer, listowner, and website for the event, I learned so much!
(Both educational and common sense worth). I then gave "First Union"
to/ and helped to create the Melungeon Heritage Association, who
has held Unions ever since.
As always I have lots of plans for Johnson Co KyGenWeb, including adding
Johnson County researcher Mary Ann Merritt as Johnson Co's Co-coordinator
This will speed up modification and additions to our website and when I
am ill, will keep us on the move. |
