Who We Are

The Austin Families Association, forerunner of the Austin Families Association of America (AFAOA), was founded by siblings Edith Austin Moore and Henry Warner Austin in 1942 in Washington, DC at a family reunion.  AFAOA is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) association organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes. It is dedicated to the research, preservation, and distribution of Austin family genealogies and histories. The organization maintains an online database and website documenting more than 70 Austin progenitor lines and related families, providing resources and expertise to genealogists, descendants, and the general public. AFAOA supports education through publications, digital archives, webinars, conferences, instructional materials, and administers a DNA Project to advance genealogical understanding. All activities are conducted for the public benefit to promote historical knowledge, family heritage preservation, and genealogical education.

A SPECIAL WELCOME MESSAGE FROM EDITH AUSTIN MOORE

Our Purposes

Our Purposes as stated in our Bylaws:

1.  To research, gather, preserve and disseminate the Austin genealogies and Austin family histories, currently in excess of 70 major progenitor lines, including related families such as Austen, Auston, Asten, and Aston, and make these educational materials available to the public.

2.  To establish, maintain, and continually update the Association website and a specialized database of Austin information that can assist genealogists, members of the Austin families, or any member of the public trying to connect their family heritage to our Austin progenitor lines. Our database contains over 172,000 Austin individuals and related family members in nearly 65,000 family groups and the information is freely searchable and available online.

3.  To establish and perpetuate an Austin DNA Project that emphasizes the Austin families of the Association’s specialized databases, the results of which shall be publicly available.

4. To help foster wider acquaintances and long-term friendships among the members of all branches of the Austin families.

5. To provide genealogical research information and educational materials on our website, via our monthly webinars, in our quarterly newsletter, at our annual conference, and on our digital documents repository website at the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Operations

We host monthly webinars on special topics of interest as selected by our Board of Directors. We also gather for an annual conference at different cities around the United States.

For more information, visit our Webinar pages and our Conference page.

Our History

The archival holdings of the AFAOA began with the research efforts of Edith Austin Moore as she searched for her Austin ancestors. From 1922 until her death in 1979 Edith compiled a collection of Austin genealogies and research data and eventually produced books or manuscripts on eight Austin lines. To further her Austin research, in 1942 Edith and her brother, Henry Warner Austin, founded the Austin Family Association, which later became the Austin Families Association of America. Janet Austin Curtis continued her work, followed by Bonnie Austin Bigolin from 1990 to 2001, Liz Austin Carlin from 2001 to 2023, Carol R. Austin from 2023 to 2025, and Susan Lewis from 2025 to present.

We currently have 70 databases representing over 172,000 individuals who are either surnamed Austin, have married an Austin, or are children of an Austin. Our databases are updated regularly. Since we first posted our data online in 1991, we have made our data freely available for non-commercial use by everyone.

Milestones

• 2026 - AFAOA became a nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization incorporated in Michigan
• 2026 - Transitioned website to responsive technology for use on smaller mobile screens.
• 2023 - Monthly Members Webinar Series Initiated
• 2020 - Initiated partnership with Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center (ACPL-GC)
• 2018 - All databases migrated to The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding (TNG) software.
• 2011 - AFGS research data preserved by AFAOA and made available for research on this web site.
• 2010 - New website operating software implemented.
• 2003 - Austin-Austen DNA Project funding jointly sponsored with AFGS.
• 1998 - Some Descendants of Richard Austin of Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1638 published.
• 1995 - AFAOA genealogy website created.
• 1991 - AFAOA Computer Project begun.

Board of Directors: 2024-2026

Elected Officers

Appointed Officers

AFAOA is dedicated to preserving and continuing Austin research. We invite you to join us! If you are interested in Austin research please consider supporting the work of AFAOA by becoming a member or making a donation.