I am a family historian and an avid student of American history, especially the antebellum and Civil War era.  I have a Professional Learning Certificate in Genealogical Studies for American Records. My family helped settle Florida, the earliest Florida settler arriving around 1820.  Since retiring from a day job I’ve been busy writing a number of books, centered around local history and genealogy of the northwest Florida panhandle.  These days I spend my time writing, reading, studying, working on my family genealogy, doing photography and scanning and labeling my families’ photographs, giving occasional lectures on history and/or genealogy, gardening using permaculture principles and volunteering.