It does seem that genealogy is one of the things many pick up when they retire or have a bit more time. These days young couples raising a family have very little time for such endeavors.

Still some do pick it up when they are quite young. They have more energy. A friend tells stories of going on family picnics to cemeteries and paying his kids a treat if they find an Eckler grave. They tend to have sharper memories for details.

Once you could do a lot by writing letters. Now few letters get answers. Email and internet seem to be the way.

But there are still passionate hobbyists out there.

I note that Ancestry seems determined to put all of the census records into family trees. Users are asked to contribute their part. Imagine what Ancestry will look like in 30 years. Look at how far we have come from the first printed census indexes. Eventually it will all be done.