Roberta King

Roberta ""Bobbi" King was born and raised in Nebraska, and now lives in Lakewood, Colorado. Her specialty area of research is the homestead records, about which she writes and speaks. Her three great-grandfathers were homesteaders in Nebraska, establishing farms in north-central Nebraska on the edge of the Sandhills.

Bobbi wrote "Research in Nebraska," one of the Research in the States series of publications from NGS. In March 2010, "Research in Nebraska" was updated and published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. Her articles have appeared in NGS Magazine and FGS FORUM. She continues to research and lecture about the homestead records held at the National Archives, the homestead laws, the public lands survey system, and western settlement. She wrote the descriptions for the Homestead Records Collection at Footnote.com. She attended the National Institute of Genealogical Research in 2010.

Articles by this author

• Homestead Records: A Glimpse Into Your Ancestor's Past

What passes for identity in America is a series of myths about one's heroic ancestors. It's astounding to me, for example, that so many people really seem to believe that the country was founded by a band of heroes who wanted to be free. That happens not to be true. What happened was that some people left Europe because they couldn't stay there any longer and had to go someplace else to make it. They were hungry, they were poor, they were convicts. -James Baldwin

The homestead records, the homestead laws, and the public lands survey system deeds, and federal laws involving western settlement; my research interest is regionally located in the Great Plains area.

I began researching the lineages of cousins attending a large family reunion. I compiled everyone's genealogy, put together booklets of families, so everyone could see how we were all related. During this research process, I discovered Nebraska homesteaders and was hooked on the family history revealed within the records.

My grandmother's middle name on her Social Security Application, which no one knew until I found it there.

Abraham Lincoln. His commitment to keep the nation as one and diminish slavery was noble and risky.