I first became interested in genealogy when I turned 19. Two important things happened that summer. I read the works of J.R.R. Tolkien for the first time, and as I saw family traits play out over multiple generations within Middle Earth, often to great consequence, I began to wonder about my own ancestry, and what I could discover about myself through learning about my ancestors (about whom I knew next-to-nothing at the time). The second important thing that summer was that my dad handed me a two-page biography of my great-great grandfather, Peter Buol, which had been published in a 1920 history of Wabasha County, Minnesota.
I've now been researching my family history for 18 years and have left scarcely a stone unturned on almost every possible line of maternal and paternal ancestry. My research is marked by a commitment to locating primary sources and fitting them into the proper historical context at local, regional, and national levels, in order to tell a richer biography. Having a chart of names and dates is nice enough for what it is, but it lacks the power to captivate and transform that story possesses.
Please feel free to email me. My email address is: vonbuol (at) gmail (dot) com.