Genealogy is an acquired taste. I don't believe you are borin with the desire to know about your roots, but, it comes to you as you age and life seems so short. Then you start to think about all those ancestors who came before you and wonder about the lives they led.

 

In my case, I must confess that I had zero interest in ancestry until in 1987 I inherited some old studio photos from a sweet aunt who had no children. They were wonderful but, many were not identified. As I looked into those faces who resembled our family, but had no names, it unlocked in me a desire to know more about them. Its a long story, but, I eventually found a historian who lived in the same area they had lived and happily most were made known to me. I next wanted to know about their lives and fortunately, some family stories survived regarding their origin. I was able to find their history via the Czech embassy and Archival Researchers in Plsen and Prague. It came to me piecemeal , a few families and dates at a time, and was in Czech, German, Latin; whatever language the priest happened to know. It had to be translated before I could read it. The first mailing I received I opened with such excitement, which quickly dissolved when I realized I couldn't read a single word. Eventually , there were seven mailings for the Herink family. By then, I was totally hooked on genealogy in every form. I knew I had to go to the Czech Republic to see the villages and churches of my ancestors. We made seven trips there, each one rewarding in some way. Certainly, it was a great learning process ,not always enjoyable, but interesting.

 

I hope this result of my efforts will be enjoyed by anyone reading it. There may be errors...some I know about, some to be discovered. I have recorded the research as received and the dates that were found here. Sometimes they do not agree, especially with census data, but, that is just human error. I did my best with the information available at this time.