At age sixty-one I find myself at the end of my career as architect, engineer and information technology professional. I retired as Vice President in charge of Research and Development for a consulting practice with annual fees in excess of $2B.
I recall asking my Dad upon the announcement of his retirement from the Navy as a radar man, “Dad – just what are you qualified to do?” His answer was “I could be an air traffic controller but that is the last thing I want to do!”
And now I find myself asking the same question - what I am qualified to do and what do I want to do?
I have designed laboratories, correctional facilities, chemical plants, and power plants. I have written and published software, technical books and numerous magazine articles. And I have been a paid speaker at industry events.
But, in more specific terms, I excel in separating fact from fiction. I can quickly and efficiently isolate meaningful information from large amounts of research materials. I typically handle the broadest of scopes of work and rapidly uptake massive amounts of information. I can reduce information to comprehensive facts or I can elaborate upon facts to manufacture comprehensive reports.
I have found that I can easily recall facts and that ability helps me find structure and patterns in information. I can conduct logical arguments. I know when to infer and when to say, “I don’t know!”
Given my deep understanding of the Internet, computers, and research, genealogy seems to be a fairly nice fit.
And in my case, I feel a deep connection to my ancestors that I cannot easily put aside. Perhaps this quote from Alex Haley applies:
"In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage - to know who we are and where we came from. Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning. No matter what our attainments in life, there is still a vacuum, an emptiness, and the most disquieting loneliness." Alex Haley, Roots
It is for these reasons that I feel qualified to undertake this ambitious project to communicate the pedigree and lineage of various Llewellyns, Lewellens, Lewallens, etc. And, I feel an obligation to argue in favor of the facts over the emotional half-truths of family history.
I attribute some of these half-truths to the advent of the Internet. The Internet has enabled us to connect and share information among complete strangers possessing different portions of a story and with varying competencies in story-telling.
Unfortunately, some of this information is not well qualified and may be regarded as incomplete information or worse, misinformation. In particular, misinformation is easily and quickly perpetuated. In my experience, this misinformation becomes a person’s version of the truth. And, it results in a closed mind.
Much of what I read, while interesting, is mostly grist; the same old stories simply circulating among new people mixed with truths, half-truths and some utter nonsense. Information, once repeated and relayed over and over begins to lose verity, just as a copy of a copy of a copy yields an imperfect copy. [Forgive my apparent condescension as it is not intended as such.]
The Internet has also been an enabler by exposing the availability of public records, private records, historical newspapers, microfilms, and other research materials.
Among us, the Llewellyn researchers, I have seen no truly aspiring or inspiring genealogist to research our beloved Llewellyn surname. I wonder if our research materials have been exhausted or merely yet to be discovered. So, I seek and seek and seek.
During the past 20 years I have traveled for business and in each new city managed to find a library with a genealogy section. And so, while my cohorts were indulging in fine dining, I was wandering the library stacks for books containing information about our Llewellyn surname. And though my note taking was at first somewhat poor, it improved rapidly as I understood the value of being able to cite my source of information. Consequently, I have collected many, many records pertaining to this colorful name that I am about to share with you.
Also during the past 20 years I have been following web technology in hopes of finding a good method for documenting my research about the Llewellyn surname in America and I am about to settle on this blog.
I have tried databases, Ancestry.com, Wordpress hosted, Wordpress self-hosted, custom web site, custom application, PDF, MyFamily.com, etc. And at 61 years of age (11/9/2016) I tend to be running out of time and options.
So here is my work, hosted on Ghost Pro with a hacked template that reflects my aesthete and utilizes my extensive technology background as simply as possible.
It is not without cost and not with any thanks expected from anyone. I would welcome contributions as thanks but most people who research family history have little in the way of spare cash. And, much like PBS fund-raising the station stays on the air, so will this site remain permanent until I pass.
So, please enjoy, please reference, please attribute and if you can, please contribute.