Family History

My Family Tree

It was old 60 years ago when I was a child, and it still stands.
No matter how long it lives, it will always be firmly in touch with its roots.

People are not trees. Who and what we are is not determined by our ancestors.
Our genes are passed down through generations, but each time they are changed a little bit. And those genes represent only a potential.
Each of us must make of them what we can; what we will.

Still, the stories of our ancestors can be fascinating, even if their lives were ordinary.
They spent those lives in a time we can never know first-hand. We can only learn from a distance, and travel there only in imagination.

The world has many walls, and many Wallers. If you're one of them we might be related.
On the other hand, we might not. The great Wallers of China are not my kin, though I have always respected their handiwork.
The Berlin Wallers are also a different family.

In the future, the world should not be divided by walls, but welcomed through open doors, both real and virtual.

Research is underway to discover the relativity of the Wallers. One might call it the theory of Wallertivity.

Seriously, if you think you might be a branch or a leaf...

My Early Years The author's childhood

Back In Time I Pictures from the past

Back In Time II More pictures from the past

Under the Walnut Tree
A narrative of Waller family history, from the 11th century to the present.

Ancestry of the Waller Family
A detailed list of all my known ancestors and past generations, starting with the present and going backward in time. Updated versions will be posted as the research continues. Nearly 600 ancestors' family names have been discovered, some traced as far back as the 9th century, 39 generations ago.

Table of Names in the Waller family tree
A reference list.
On My Mother's Grave
It needed to be found, and it needed to be marked.
Cosmic Chronicles Index
The rest of the story.