• 23%, Younger than 20
• 17%, 20 to 29
• 16%, 30 to 39
• 18%, 40 to 49
• 16%, 50 to 59
• 9%, 60 to 69
• 1%, 70 to 79
• .10%, 80 to 89
• .03%, 90 or older
• 1%, I don’t recall.

Edward Galvin, South Yarmouth, Massachusetts: In 1967, when I was 19, my mother and I drove to D’Escousse, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, to see where her father was born. We met with the parish priest in St. Hyacinth’s Glebe House parlor. He pulled out the sacramental books from the safe, and we started looking for anyone named McDonald, with me frantically copying down everything I could. That night, back in our motel, I made my first genealogical chart. I was hooked and am still at it today, 59 years later.

Liz DuBois, Bremerton, Washington: My dad died in November 1989, when I was in my forties. He and Mother had been doing research for over twenty years, collecting a disorganized jumble of information. In January 1990, Mother asked if I would “tie up the loose ends of Dad’s genealogy.” Knowing how my folks researched, I immediately declined. Her response was a heavy helping of guilt with the caveat that if I didn't take it, she was throwing it all out! So, I took it, spreading papers out on the living room floor for the initial sorting and spending months creating order out of chaos. Mother then asked if I would do the same for her research. Again, I told her no. Too late. She had already shipped her stuff. Well, somehow, I was hooked and I’ve been doing genealogy ever since.

Jacci Wagner, Indian Land, South Carolina: When I was in my early twenties, I had a roommate who had immigrated from Cuba in the early 1960s. One night at her parents’ house, her homesick dad launched into a history of his family. This conversation made me realize how little I knew of my own family—my only fact was that my paternal grandmother came through Ellis Island. The next day, I asked my mom what she knew. She shared that she had promised her grandfather that she would document his Revolutionary War ancestor. It took me three years to do it. I’m still researching four decades later.

Sandra Kidd, Travelers Rest, South Carolina: At 14, I was given a 9th grade civics class assignment to complete a family tree. After phone calls to my grandparents and great-aunts, I filled out a poster board and turned it in, only to learn that a boy in my class had more generations than I did on his tree. Ever competitive, I vowed to learn more. That was 54 years ago.

Janet Fulton, Woodland, California: My BA is in History and my MA in Public History, leading to my career as an archivist. I helped others with their family history research but deferred beginning my own. Genealogy always seemed like a lot of fun, but time consuming. I finally started in my fifties, directly before retirement, by working on an application to the Daughters of the American Revolution. I love how placing my ancestors in context gives me the opportunity to learn more about history—oftentimes arcane elements glossed over in survey history courses. I wish I started sooner, but I plan on carrying the torch for my generation for as long as I can.