Hello Mischelle, I am going to forward your nice letter to the Amrev- Hessians list, because I recall we have discussed the name Boland before. Just check our mail list archives http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?list=amrev-hessians But there is also a BOLAND Rootsweb Message Board, which you can find here http://www.rootsweb.com click on Message Boards. I am sorry that I cannot help more, but this will give you a good forward signal. Cheers, John Merz ----- Original Message ----- From: Mickey156@aol.com To: hessian@sympatico.ca Sent: Thursday, November 25, 2004 7:05 PM Subject: Mitchell Bernard Boland - Pulaski County, Kentucky Hello, John! I am having the darndest time trying to get anywhere in a search for my father's father and family. My grandfather was Mitchell Bernard Boland (Bolin) born around 1900 in Kentucky. His father died in a tragic drowning when my grandfather was only 9 years old. His name was John Boland (Bolin). As the eldest son with a family of sisters (Rhoda, Lizzie, Elsie and little brothers John and Sam and others who later died in a fire), my grandfather set out to support the entire family by working as a waterboy on the railroads when he was only nine years old. At one time, the family held title to hundreds of acres near what is now Lake Cumberland near Tateville, Kentucky. Over time as a widow struggling to feed her large family, "Mammy" Boland (Laverna Hollars, I believe) traded 50 acre plats of land for a cow, 20 acres for a couple of bags of grain, and so on and so on until there was only 100 acres of the family land left. A relative bought about 40, and my sister and I have left to us the remaining 60. When Lake Cumberland was first established, my grandfather showed us how far his father's land had once extended: from the waters in front of General Burnside Island all the way up and across another mountain on the back side of the lake. He showed us a spreading elm or oak (can't remember which) where he said he had sat many hours during the Depression after walking all over the county looking for work. On the land that remains above Caney Branch closer to the mountain top, there were remnants of two very very old log cabins where we are told family members once resided. When I was a child (b. 1948), these cabins were already disintegrated to ground level with rotting logs and surrounded by young sapplings intent on obscuring them permanently. From family records, we know that this land was inherited by Laverne (Laverny) Hollars from her parents, Rachael and Levi, and then belonged to great-grandfather John Boland and Laverny upon their death. This much is known from the deeds passed to my grandfather and then on to his grandchildren. We will never sell this land, because there are no "things" or tangible mementos to share with our children and grandchildren. There is a silver cream and suger set, an old pie safe, and a set of grape and cable carnival ware (LOL). On the edge of the Cumberland Forrest, we must walk our grandchildren along a rutted logging road and gaze down into smoky hollows and recall our visits there. There are tales of copperhead nests, scorpions by the well, long walks across the boundaries to search for poachers or intruders, and trips to a spring in one of the mountain hollows where no water on earth has ever tasted better or more icy. There are trees tucked in hiding places that grow almost nowhere else in this hemisphere, having been left behind during the ice ages and whose whereabouts are still known only to few. There are memories of rabbit hunting, planting red clover and fescue for the dove population and (covy), the sounds of the fox hounds at night and the horns blowing to call them home. There is my grandmother's roast duck with oyster dressing that no five star restaurant could ever equal. But, I would love so much to be able to give my younger ones a more complete picture of how rugged and determined were their great-great grandparents. GERMAN, my grandfather said to us always. He said his father came from Germany. And, that is as much as we know. If you can steer me in the right direction, I would so very much appreciate your help. If you have read this far, thank you for your time. Best regards, Mischelle Martin (nee: Boland)