Southern Roots/Deep Roots: an Overview of Southern Research
Speaker: Marilyn Edwards Roberts
Marilyn Edwards Roberts was born in Winter Haven, Florida on St. Patrick’s Day, 1953. She attended Auburndale schools, graduating from Lakeland Senior High. She attended Polk Community College majoring in Business.
Marilyn worked in the family business as Office Manager for 16 Years, before beginning a career in Real Estate. She owned a Century 21 Agency before becoming a Real Estate Appraiser. She was trained as a mortgage banker, which led to a career as a contract mortgage underwriter, working for nationally known mortgage companies.
In 2002, she began to research her mother’s family, because she only knew of the name of 2 grandparents. This research led to a passion for Genealogy and the starting of her company, In My Father’s Footsteps, in honor of her mother and grandfather. Marilyn has documented her mother’s family back to Connecticut in circa 1640.
Marilyn Edwards Roberts volunteers at the Denver Public Library Western History Genealogy as a Genealogist-on-call for over three years. She has worked as a Professional Genealogist for the past 18 years and is a member of APG and CAPG. Marilyn has served as the Secretary and Vice President of WISE-FHS, and she now serves as the President of WISE-FHS and the President of the Colorado Council of Genealogical Societies. She is a member of the Colorado Genealogical Society, the ISBGFH (International Society for British Genealogy and Family History), South Carolina Genealogical Society, North Carolina Genealogical Society, Georgia Genealogical Society, Virginia Genealogical Society, Alabama Genealogical Society, Columbine Genealogical and Historical Society. She serves as the Chaplain for the Major General Alexander Macomb Chapter of the National Society United Daughters of 1812 and a daughter of the American Revolution. In her “spare time” she is a speech writer for Pamela Wright, her cousin who is the 1st Vice President of the DAR, a writer for WISE-Words (the quarterly publication of WISE-FHS), and prepares programs to present on a variety of Genealogy subjects, with a focus on the U.S. Southern States.