This organization was started 40 years ago by Colonel Lester Friend with the purpose to collect, record, preserve, and share the historical and genealogical history of all family groups and to strengthen family relationships, and to deepen appreciation for those who came before us and the values they cherished.
The headquarters building is located in Friendsville, Maryland, which houses the museum and library. Although the library is a non-lending library, research information may be requested for many lines including but not limited to the FRIEND family..
Through the years, as our files have grown, we have added information for many other associate lines, some of which are; Bittinger, Brant, Broadwater, Browning, Casteel, Coddington, Custer, Cummingham, DeWitt, Enlow, Fearer, Fike, Forsythe, Frantz, Frazee, Garletts, Glotfelty, Green(e), Harvey, Hoye, Riley, Savage, Sines, Sisler, Ward and Wilt, plus many more too numerous to list. As time reveals our ancestral lines we discover even more associate family names. It has also become apparent that there are several lines of Friends, coming from Sweden, England and Germany.