Welcome! I’m Hart Inlow. I’m pleased you’re visiting.
I’m a husband, father, pastor, missionary, teacher, and part-time amateur family historian and genealogist (totally self-trained, unless you count reading and lots of webinars). I don’t know how good I am at any of those things…but I love them all. It is, of course, the family historian and genealogist role which has given birth to this website.
I was born in 1948 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma…which means I am 73 years old as I write this. I don’t feel old. Lynn and I have been married 52 years as of January, 2022 (that makes me feel older!) We have two sons, Jerrad and Brett. Both are married, to Andi and Heidi. We have five grandchildren: Parks, Liv, Grant, Liam, Genavieve.
I am an ordained pastor, though I retired from actively serving churches in 2011 when Lynn and I moved to Florida to help care for her aging father. Lynn has been an elementary school teacher for many, many years. In retirement we are continuing to live active Christian lives…including involvement in the school we started in Tanzania (more about that in the next paragraph). In retirement I’ve been enjoying a few interests I didn’t have time to pursue while working – with genealogy at the top of the list! However, when we came to Florida Lynn found ‘retirement’ didn’t suit her very well. She opened a gift shop/stained glass studio which became so successful she realized she was working way too hard. She has downsized considerably, and moved the studio into our townhouse. But she’s still as busy as she wants to be creating custom stained glass and selling online.
For about five years we lived in Tanzania, East Africa, as missionaries (1999-2004). I taught Bible college students in training to be pastors. Lynn taught in an English language primary school. But the most important thing we did was co-found The Lion of Judah Academy, which is a genuine miracle of God. It is designed to serve the needs of pastors and church workers by giving them a place where their children will receive an affordable high-quality education in a Christian setting. It started with about a dozen students in 2001. Today it has 800 students and it is one of the outstanding schools in Tanzania. God has done it all…and is still at work! We continue to be deeply involved with the school and travel to Tanzania at least once a year. www.thelionofjudah.info
I enjoy history…especially American history and Christian church history. My interest in family history and genealogy began to slowly percolate in the late 1980’s. After retiring I tinkered with a few things, but I didn’t do much of anything on my own until 2015. Around that time a few interests converged and a few major responsibilities came to an end. I committed some time, as well as a few dollars to join an online genealogy website. And before I knew it I was hooked!
I’ve been learning so much really great “stuff” about our family, and I’ve been especially fascinated to see how our ancestors have been involved in the history of our nation. As I learn things, I store and organize it on my computer, I enjoy it. But no one can see it there except for me! I realize most people aren’t that interested in family history – I wasn’t either for most of my life. But if – when? – others (children, grandchildren, cousins, etc.) feel inspired to learn more about our amazing roots and ancestors, I’d like to be able to point them someplace where they can start their own discovery adventure about our family. This website is me starting to put something together.
I’d love to hear from you!
Hart
