Mission Statement

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I have created this website with an ulterior motive: to get people off my back! Just kidding! Actually that is part of my goal in a way. Over the years I've received countless letters, e-mails, calls, etc. asking about various families I've been researching, and asking "what is your source for so and so" and "who else is researching this line", and "Send me all you have on so and so", and many similar questions. I have always had trouble finding the time to respond to all the requests I get. This website is meant to provide all that data to anyone who is interested, and to make it easily (and freely) available. I make no claims that everything on my site is perfect or 100% accurate, but I've done the best I can.

So therefore, my "Mission" is to provide a comprehensive set of web pages for each surname that I am interested in. Each of these pages will be a site unto itself. In most cases, the site will contain documented pages for each individual family (my ancestors first, then Uncles and Aunts, and other collateral relations). Where applicable, I will also include documented pages for other families of the same surname from my areas of interest. These pages will be as well documented (hopefully) as those of my own relations. Each page, or set of pages will have (in addition to the documentation) commentaries, lists of those researching that particular family, and if applicable, links to other websites for that particular family. Each page will also have a standard Register Report for that particular family (no living people will be included, or in some cases they will be, but no birth dates will be listed for them.) In most cases, no more than 3 generations will be listed on any particular family.

My primary goal then is to provide documented data for my ancestors and relations, to also include theories and speculation (and make sure it is clear what is proven and what isn't). My goal is also to include researcher lists, so relatives, or like minded researchers can find each other. For specific information on how to navigate my site, go to my help page.

A brief history of my website

A few years ago, 1997, I think, I found out that America Online offered free website space for its members. I decided to post my genealogical research (mainly in the form of register reports) for all to see. In my mind, I figured this would make the answers to all those questions publicly available, and give me more time to research (boy was I wrong!) Each AOL member was given 2MB of storage space, and I very quickly used that up. I found that each screen name (up to 6) also had 2MB available, so I created new screen names, and soon used up my entire quota.

Soon I found that in order to meet my goal, I would need my own domain name and have my site hosted by a professional web hosting company. I tried to think up a clever domain name, but couldn't come up with anything, so I chose "martygrant.com". I registered it, and got 100MB of web space with a web host company (which I dumped after a year of problems, and now I'm with a different company). I set up pages for each surname I was researching, with the goal that each page would be a full fledged, world class, self contained, genealogical "web site" in and of itself. In some cases, I succeeded, in others, not quite. Each surname site would (in theory) have my ancestral lines listed, and fully documented. I would also publish all my raw record abstracts, as in deeds, census, court minutes, etc and also publish fully documented pages for all other family connections of the same surname, whether related or not. This is still my goal. I just had no idea it would take me so long to get it done.

I have so many ancestral surnames (don't we all!) that I tend to spend weeks or months working on one or two lines, and let all others fall by the wayside during that time. However, each week I get anywhere from just a few or up to 100 e-mails from cousins and possible cousins requesting information. My original goal was to have all of that correspondence cut down by having the answers easily available on my web pages. However, since I haven't reached that point yet, I still get inundated with requests. And even though I get so many requests each day, I tend to only answer less than 5 per day (really!) and that means that I get hopelessly behind on responding. I'm sure this frustrates some of you, just "knowing" that I may have the answer you need, and not being able to get it out of me. I sympathize completely.

At some point (in the far distant future!) I'll have all of my web pages the way I want them. Then my response to queries will be: "If you don't see it on my web pages, then I don't know the answer." Ha, Ha, but I do hope to get to that point someday. I'm already there with certain surnames, but I have a long way to go before all (or most) are at that level. I do enjoy helping my fellow cousins, and fellow researchers, whether related or not, and that is my ultimate goal, to have all the answers (as far as I know them) fully documented on my pages.

I've often had people tell me that I could make a lot of money charging people for information, but I don't see anyway to do that, as it just doesn't seem ethical to me. I did eventually decide to put advertising on my website to help defray some of the costs, and it helps a little. I didn't really want to do that, but when I lost my job, I saw no other choice (besides shutting down my site, that is.) After awhile the ads helped me to break even each month (or close enough), though lately the ad revenue has dropped to zero most months.

I receive countless compliments on my web site, and I do appreciate it all. I do get the occasional negative comment as well. I'm trying not to let the compliments go to my head or the insults hurt me too much. However, I have noticed that there are very few personal websites out there that can compare to mine. This is not a matter of pride for me, in fact it makes me feel bad! I know that if I can do a site like this, others can as well, so why not do it! You don't have to make it as large as mine, but go for one or two surnames that you consider yourself an expert on, and make it the best site available for those surnames! Considering that on many of my surname pages, I have set a cut-off date, for example, 1860, meaning that I am only interested in publishing data on that family from before 1860. In a case like that, you can create your own page for the same family, and include documentation from 1860-1920 or something like that, as a continuation, or addendum to my pages, but make them all your own. If you do this, let me know, and I'll provide a link to your pages.

If anyone has any trouble with my website (technical or just questions), please let me know. Also, if you have any suggestions, whether in regard to content, format, fonts, legibility, etc, please let me know. I'm always open to suggestions, and constructive criticism. If you see errors, omissions or any other problems with any of my data please contact me and let me know. I'll address it as quickly as I can (though I'm often pretty slow about it.)

I hope you find everything you need on my web pages. If not, then consider starting your own page for your surnames of interest.

Last Updated April 14, 2006