My formal education consists of
a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering received
from the University of Minnesota in 1924. I worked in industry as an
engineer, administrator, and manager for 47 years. This background
provided the experience, discipline and respect for data, patterns, and
facts similar to that needed for a good genealogist. I started my
genealogical studies with my father, George Langford in 1932, also a
mechanical engineer. We were fortunate in having convenient access to
the Newberry Library in Chicago, Illinois which has an excellent
genealogical section. For 38 years my family history work was based on
information found in published sources supplemented by primary research
handled by correspondence with professional and semi-professional
genealogists. After retiring from industry in 1970 I did my own primary
research for about three years. The next several years were spent in
organizing the information developed and in preparing for publication.
During forty-seven years of experience, I have traced about two hundred
surnames in my family tree; in America, England, Scotland, and to a
lesser degree in various European countries.
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