BentreeConnections is a website dedicated to exploring the family history, genealogy, and interests of Mike & Dianne Workman. I (Mike) wanted to create a space where I could document and preserve the history and events of my life, as well as those of my family, ancestors, descendants, and relatives.

I want to share facts, stories, and anecdotes in a variety of ways. It is also a place where I can share some of my other interests, such as photography, travel, and theology.

Family (cousins, in particular) and friends are the target audience. Friends may not be too interested in the genealogy or family history, but there are events in my own life that intersect with many of them.

As they say, life is short…and mine is getting shorter with each passing year. As I write this, I am 76. I hope God grants me the mental acuity and motivation to complete this project in a timely fashion.

Genealogical/Family History research is labor intensive and time consuming. Fortunately, there is a large amount of information on our families out there, so a lot of the research has already been done. A project like this will never actually be “completed”, but I want to publish as much information as possible, over the next few years. I view myself as an organizer and editor of our family history. My goal is to put things together in an accurate and interesting manner. To accomplish this, I will use graphs, charts, timelines, photos, videos, audio files, music, slide shows, and other information.

I became interested in photography in the late 1960’s and have taken MANY photos over the years. Those photos provide a wealth of information and chronicle family history. One might call it photojournalism. The medium has changed (from old black & white photos to color photos, to slides, to digital photos), and the quality has improved dramatically. Needless to say, photographic equipment has exponentially improved, particularly in the past decade.

Probably my biggest task is to digitize my own photos and those passed along from others. I have tens of thousands of slides and prints. Fortunately, I have garnered the necessary paraphernalia and have developed processes that make this endeavor possible.

Over my lifetime, I have accumulated a massive amount of information related to family history. And it seems like it just keeps coming. Putting it together in a timely fashion is a monumental task. So, I have enlisted help from Dianne and Joelle. In addition, I will continue to call on certain aunts, uncles, and cousins to assist. I welcome input from all of you.

I wish that I had developed an interest in this when I was teenager. I would have spent more time with my ancestors. I would have documented family history better. I would have recognized the worth of older people. I would have…well, you get the idea. I cannot change the past, but I am grateful that I have been able to do as much as I have.

I think that we have interesting ancestors. According to first-hand accounts, recent family members demonstrated amazing resilience, fortitude, shrewdness, and spiritual awareness. I hope we can peek into the lives of certain ancestors and become aware of their character, whether mundane or extraordinary.

This information may be new to some people. So, I will try to present things as if the reader knows very little about our family. Occasionally, it might look like there is more information than is necessary. This is by design. I want to provide information that can be comprehended by someone who is unfamiliar with the people, places, etc. This will occasionally also create duplication of information.

To further define the nomenclature, I have labeled the first row of items at the top the MENU BAR. The items themselves are TABS, and the drop-down items are FOLDERS. In the example below, The first line is the TAB, and the succeeding lines are FOLDERS.

Workman/Mullins Family History

Workman/Mullins Genealogy

Family Events

Workman Family, General Info

Albert Mullins & Roxie Mullens, 1875-1965

Nathan Workman & Juditha Hamrick, 1877-1965

Walter Workman & Bertha Mullins, 1897-1992 (Biographical Overview)

Walter Workman & Bertha Mullins, 1920-1930 (The Early Years)

Walter Workman & Bertha Mullins, 1831-1937 (The Roughs of Buffalo Creek)

Walter Workman & Bertha Mullins, 1837-1952 (The Bentree School Years)

Walter Workman & Bertha Mullins, 1847-1972 (The Bentree Family Years)

Walter Workman & Bertha Mullins, 1872-1992 (The Bentree Later Years)

Denvil Workman & Catherine Kiser, 1945-1974 (The Bentree Years)

Denvil Workman, 1943-1946 (Military Service)

Catherine Kiser Workman, 1974-2021 (The Widow Years)

Damon Workman & Mae Reedy

Family History items in the website menu bar have been organized around family units, as shown in the partial list above. Hopefully, I can publish many of these concurrently. Other family units will be added as information becomes available.

The question may be asked, “What defines a family unit?” My answer is all people living together in the same home would constitute a family unit. I think it makes the most sense to include information about children in their parent’s family unit, until they leave home (via marriage, job, or military service).

Information in the Family History tab will be quite detailed. Graphs, charts, timelines, photos, videos, audio files, music, slide shows, and other information will be combined in an accurate and interesting fashion. Unavoidably, there will be some overlap/duplication of information between categories and family units.

Genealogy information in this website will be detailed, but not comprehensive in nature. I will not recreate existing, dedicated genealogical applications. There are many such apps available to anyone with a computer or tablet. Some databases are web-based (such as Ancestry.com, which is available for a fee, and Family Search, which is free). The genealogy application that I have used for a couple of decades is Reunion by Leister Productions, Inc. One of its best features is that it allows me to share information with others. If you have an iPad, iPhone, or Mac Computer (and an internet connection), you can securely access my master file. Reunion generates great charts, family trees, and specialized reports. It is my goal to make the Reunion database the most complete and detailed of any available for our family. Consult the FAQ folder for examples and more information.

At this point, I am focusing mostly on ancestors, rather than descendants. Eventually, as time permits, I hope to include family and genealogical information for descendants and their spouses.

Here are some guidelines regarding the type of information that will be included/excluded in the website:

- Public information (i.e., obtainable by anyone) may be presented without restriction.

- Sensitive or private information will probably not be presented without permission from the affected person(s). This would not be applicable to deceased persons. My rule is to exercise prudence and caution in these situations.

This website can be viewed on a phone, tablet, or computer. Obviously, the larger the screen, the better the experience will be.

Time between updates cannot be scheduled. I will endeavor to notify subscribers whenever changes are made.