Everything is more fun when you can share the experience with someone else. Sharing lightens the load, makes for a good laugh and provides encouragement. But in genealogy, a "buddy" can be hard to find. Regular friends, even family members, may have a hard time sharing a genealogist’s enthusiasm. Not everyone can get excited over discovering a long-lost g-g-aunt in the 1880 census or finding a tombstone in an overgrown cemetery.

I’ve been extraordinarily lucky. My maternal grandmother was as interested as I was in our family history. A dear aunt also is interested, although not quite as driven as I am.

My longest term "buddy" however, is my cousin, Stephen. For over 25 years he and I have worked together: researching, discussing, excavating and, occasionally, arguing over our family tree hunt. We are different in many ways. We’re of different generations (and ages); our research styles are different; our temperaments, while complementary, are different. We’re also 1500 miles apart. But the differences actually turn to strengths and we make a really good team.

So it seems perfect that Stephen joins me in this blog. The blog will be much more fun for the both of us together. And hopefully, for readers, will give two different (but complementary) viewpoints.

And we just might stop boring our families!

Remember in the sitcom "Friends" how Ross would wail "we were on a break!" Well, that’s where I’ve been with this blog. I was on a break for a while. Lots of reasons: life; change in blog hosting requirements; sunspots. But I’m back now and determined to continue this blog.

Genealogy demands breaks, too. Whether a day, a month or even years, stepping back from the research helps in the long run. We can return with a fresh perspective to analyze old clues. Sometimes those old, tired clues suddenly make sense. And just the activity of refreshing the memory can trigger news ideas and avenues of research.

Taking a break--recess, if you will--also prevents burn out. It can be frustrating to repeatedly hit our head against those family brick walls. The whole process stops being fun. A break can get the juices flowing again and bring the enjoyment back into this unique hobby.

So don’t feel guilty if the time comes to take a break. Enjoy the other activities of life and know that the research, and alas, the brick walls, will be waiting for you when you’re ready to resume.

My title refers to the prehistoric groups of humans who were divided into categories based on their food selection. Hunters went out in search of prey, gatherers were those who gleaned food from the flora around them…eventually cultivating their own crops and, therefore, becoming farmers.

 My thought in naming the blog in this matter takes a spin on these ancient practices. In genealogy, there are hunters and gatherers also, but of very different natures and results.

 A Hunter is the fact finder. Like the hunter of ancient times, a genealogy hunter goes in search of the facts. She travels to where the “prey” is, whether it be a cemetery, courthouse or library. She can “clean out” an area—get all the information the repository has—and then be forced to move on to other locations, much like the hunters whose game has been hunted to the point it requires regeneration. This Hunter is a stickler for facts and finds great joy in the “chase” for the tidbits of information. The Hunter lives for the “Eureka!” moment, when the hunt has yielded a feast of data.

 The Gatherer is a different creature altogether. He stays in one place—probably the Internet, and roams around to find as much as he can.  He doesn’t care to much about references or logic—he really wants a quick find, no long hunts for him. These are the folks that find a GEDCOM or website that mentions a name in his family (whether it really is a family member or not is unimportant. Sure looks similar!) and swallows it into his own “research” without ever questioning its accuracy or its source.

 This analogy came to me when, in one of my Internet hunts (yes, Hunters can hunt the Internet, as I will describe in a moment) and found references to my long-time brick wall, a great-great-great grandmother. I wrote the gentleman who had posted the references, as he had information I did not. I inquired as to his sources, as I was thrilled that someone had found something somewhere I had missed.

 His reply? His sources were other peoples databases…including a cousin I had corresponded with several times. Turns out my g-g-g grandmother was not kin to him, just a in-law of some third great aunt. None of the databases had any sources, and, in fact, had some errors. So he had just cultivated a diseased crop—no facts, no references, but boy, did he have a bunch of people in the database!!

 I was so sad. But I should have expected it. A brick wall is rarely broken down that easily.

 However, here is where I think the Gatherers might be helpful to the Hunters. He did have one little piece of important information: the birth location of the aforementioned g-g-g grandmother’s husband (my g-g-g grandfather). An actual Tennessee county! I had known he was born in Tennessee, but never where. I certainly do not take that information as accurate, but it’s a clue. A starting place. A new hunting ground.

 So Hunters can use the Gatherers information almost like bait, like you would use carrots or lettuce to catch a rabbit. The Gatherers collect the carrots and lettuce and the Hunters use it to trap prey, or rather secure the facts. So while using the Internet is certainly dangerous for fact finding, it can come up with some great bait!

 So welcome Hunters and Gatherers. Let’s enjoy the discussion!