Here's the other address: http://www.usroots.com/~lovitt/books.htm Erased it when I moved Savage! Oh Woe! Carolyn McDaniel cmacdee@teleport.com =========================================--- Visit American Crossroads --- http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads

Dear Cousins, There is no doubt about it, I have shirked my responsibilities to our New England heritage. However, I have found a very neat couple of sites which may make up for some of my neglect. The first is a general index of History and Genealogy e-texts found at Rootsweb. Thank goodness for Rootsweb. They are just wonderful, AND, our Most Generous Hosts of the List and website. http://www.usroots.com/~lovitt/books.htm Savage's NE Dictionary . USE Savage with care, but it is a great finding aid: http://www.usgennet.org/usa/vt/state/savage/ Next, Blackwell's New England Books Project http://www.usigs.org/library/books/ma/books.html Mea Culpa! Instead of putting up the pages I should be loading onto the website, I have been prowling the Maryland online Archives to verify some of my theories. A huge number of the Virginia Backcountry (Frontier) settlers came from Maryland. Their patterns are fascinating. Early research (Maryland settlement began in the 1630's) is complicated because of the writing and spelling. One must remember too that these people had accents almost impossible even for their English compatriots to understand. Dialects still abound throughout England, and if you ever watch the irrepressible Hyacinth Bucket ("Pronounced Boo-Kay!") of the BBC's "Keeping Up Appearances" on PPS you can appreciate the challenges researchers face in in attempting to decipher 17th century Maryland records. But the rewards are there if one persists. I have (temporarily) ignored New England for another reason: it is much more straightforward research than the Mid-Atlantic region. Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia all claimed the Backcountry areas where (present-day) West Virginia and Ohio come together with Northern Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. This was a vast, mountainous area with boundaries stretching (in theory) to the Pacific. In trying to unravel the genealogical mysteries that hang in the mountain timber shadowed valleys, I am once again impressed by how much computers and internet can change the nature of our quests and answer questions that have gone unanswered by previous genealogists and historians over the past hundred years. Some of the problems are these: 1. people have not yet learned to use the new technologies in the best ways. 2. results of research are not yet transcribed in the best, most accessible and understandable manner, 3. technology has not yet provided genealogy software to record results and analysis 4. Old methodologies are not being emulated by new "Tekkie" searchers 5. New methodology such as search engines makes it hard to check for multiple spelling variants 6. Transcriptions made by machines are often inaccurate (just like the old human transcriptions!) I am working within my own research to overcome some of these problems. Naturally, I suggest that the best solutions I have come up with are being reflected on the website through the research format of Locality, History and Kinship = Identity. American Crossroads has existed for less than two years. In that time, I believe I have found the keys to unlock several Pennington Identities and have unraveled an almost impossible Smith ancestry. In turn, in Maryland, I have researched upwards of 100 other Surnames, then followed them along the Frontier of Civilization as it kept moving west. In addressing the new workings of research and scholarship, one must also cope with ideas as simple as the implications of "new-age" terminology. History is no longer simple history. It now embraces Geography and Anthropology with pieces of each interlocked with the other. Cultural Anthropology is similar to Ecological Geography. I had one anthropology professor (her specific sphere was a Chinese community in Indonesia) tell me I could not research American "clans" because I would not be able to prove the female side. She had no knowledge of such research, but insisted I was wrong in proclaiming I already had, to a great degree in my Smith-Watts-Markham family of Virginia. Proper genealogy research is the interlocking piece, and now, with computers I believe we will make our own Great Leap Forward at the Crossroads! And I will heartily thumb my nose at that professor! -- along with a Surname Association whose middle name is Research! You can do the same! Just let me know how to guide you in more understandable ways. That's what we're trying to do here. Don't misinterpret my comments. When I say e-Lists don't work well for transmitting family information I simply mean they don't work well for huge amounts. E-mail DOES work well when you transmit it individually to persons who are interested via attachments. Or put it on the website! Or put it in our new magazine/newsletter we're going to start together! I am not a Dictator! Your ideas are HUGELY welcome! Love, Your Cousin, Carolyn Carolyn McDaniel cmacdee@teleport.com ========================================= --- Visit American Crossroads --- http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads

Dear Cousins, This gem came to me from a non-genealogical friend. Remember when our grandparents, great-grandparents, and such stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well check this out. Could any of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895? This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 Salina, KS. USA. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, KS & reprinted by the Salina Journal. 1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters. 2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications. 3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph. 4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of do, lie, lay and run. 5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case. 6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation. 7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar. Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours) 1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic. 2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold? 3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts. bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare? 4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals? 5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton. 6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent. 7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft.long at $20 per metre? 8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent. 9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods? 10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt. U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes) 1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided. 2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus. 3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War. 4. Show the territorial growth of the United States. 5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas. 6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion. 7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe? 8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607 1620 1800 1849 1865 Orthography (Time, one hour) 1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication? 2. What are elementary sounds? How classified? 3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals? 4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'. 5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e'. Name two exceptions under each rule. 6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each. 7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup 8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last. 9. Use the following correctly in sentences, cite,ite, sight,fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays. 10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication. Geography (Time, one hour) 1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend? 2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas? 3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean? 4. Describe the mountains of North America. 5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fermandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco. 6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. 7. Name all the republics of Europe and give capital of each. 8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude? 9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers. 10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth. Gives the saying of an early 20th century person that "she/he only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning. WHAT DO YOU THINK??? Love, Your Cousin, Carolyn Carolyn McDaniel cmacdee@teleport.com ========================================= To subscribe to the American Crossroads Discussion List: Send a message to: AMXROADS-L-request@rootsweb.com with the single word subscribe in the body of the message --- Visit American Crossroads --- http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads

My new email address will be mary3619@home.com please reply.Mary

Dear Cousins, Once again I have had some severe problems with my local internet service provider, but I believe all is straight now. I have uploaded a new homepage for the American Crossroads website. It's not perfect yet, but I'm working on it. Sometime later today I hope to have a new Master Index -- although all letters will not be functioning yet -- which will be the basis of connecting to databases, family summaries, localitiy summaries, etc. The other thing I hope to have up will be a Kith and Kin page which will sort of be the lead in to family summaries. One of the families I am using to demonstrate the value of following and researching allied families is the Litzenberg(er) family, who began in Radnor twp, in that part of Chester County, Pennsylvania which is now Delaware County. I wrote this article some time ago, and am reformatting it in a manner which I believe more clearly portrays the families involved than the current genealogy software, and the old style 5 generation systems did (similar to the LDS reports, which sometimes details so much information on descendants in each generations you can't see or remember where you began. and what it means. I have long believed that conveying true meaning of our thoughts is not so easy via e-mail. I've tried to set up this list and the American Crossroads website so that an interactive exchange of information can be facilitated. Evolving good formats doesn't come easy. We are still really in a time when internet possibilities are still being tested and expanded. Another concept I've tried to promote is the free exchange of genealogical information. Rootsweb has made itself a model for doing this. So many Dot com businesses that have sought to make money off of users or subscribers have either failed, or alienated enough people that they've had to change. I think there are quite legitimate means of making genealogy into a business, and Ancestry.com is one of the few which has successfully done so. They have worked a balance between free information and databases which one must subscribe to, and ultimately I hope we might achieve the same balance with our American Crossroads information. Someone who has gone out of their way to research and compose copyrighted information from their research should be compensated for their efforts. I hope we can explore ways to find a balance in this area. In the meantime, I am putting up the Litzenbergs as the example of a format for presenting information at the website. This information is part of the section of American Crossroads which I'm labelling "Family Summaries." The information comes from a source which is not guaranteed to be accurate. It is family information, not data; not verified research, unless so designated. It is to be used as a guide, used for developing clues to research possibilities, and as a finding aid. I want to be able to set up any number of these Summaries and let them point the way to networking (which I believe is the true purpose for e-mail.) I would like for all of you to include this same type of information for your own family summaries. From these family summaries, and cooperating in research on them, we can develop your own sections of the website. You may have unlimited space at the website to do this in your own name. On each of the family summaries a section will appear with those who are fellow toilers in the vinyard of this particular family. We will do the same thing in the Locality Summaries. So far I have set up pages for Mary, Marilyn, Cari and Leigh, (Cousin Jim is next) but I haven't really had time to format them into an organized way until now, and so just now I am beginning to get them into understandable arrangements. By this I mean understandable genealogically, and understandable for computer and internet use. The other format I want to address is a good means of expressing a Family Group Page on the internet. I felt that Diana Gale Mathieson's format for her family groups was especially good. I am putting the Litzenberg information into that type of format, and invite your comments. Thanks to our faithful cousin Marilyn for her comments on Diana's pages and format! If you missed it before, here is Diana's site again: http://dgmweb.net/genealogy/ The location of the Litzenberg article will be: http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads/Famsum/litzen.html The location of the new Kinship page is: http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads/Kinship/index.html Love, Your Cousin, Carolyn Carolyn McDaniel cmacdee@teleport.com ========================================= To subscribe to the American Crossroads Discussion List: Send a message to: AMXROADS-L-request@rootsweb.com with the single word subscribe in the body of the message --- Visit American Crossroads --- http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads

Dear Cousins, In addition to many others, the USGENWEB has transcribed the ASHE county, NC census from 1800 to 1850. One of the notes to these census transcriptions mentions the difficulty the transcriber had in determining correct names. Please remember, a transcription or an index is just one more person's opinion of a letter or a name, and in turn, also is trying to identity the census taker's opinion! This makes it most difficult. I believe that a John Ferinton I saw is actually a Pennington. This is what frustrates us so when we find a person on one census year and can't find him in the next cycle, then there he is in the following decade! The transcriber also mentioned that determining a Jos. from a Jas. is almost impossible. Keep this in mind, and read the full census text to decide for sure. Of course, when the censustaker only used initials this magnifies the problem. J's and I's and T's become indistinguishable. Benningtons crop up where Penningtons used to grow! Remember too, it doesn't do a great deal of good to examine lists for a single surname. The Kith and Kin are enormously helpful in determining identity. Another good identity clue to remember is that in the colonial era and well into the 19th century, families determinedly held onto family names. As families migrated onward, and some remained behind, it was very often one of the few remnants they had to tie them to maternal families or others who held great meaning for them, but were physically far away. Almost all the Backcountry families practiced this, and often forenames were given to children to indicate connection to another family's surname. We find this again and again in these families. Even with names that we might now consider forenames, such as Douglas and Gordon and Allen, stop and take a look at other families in the proximity of yours. You may well find Douglas and Gorden and Allen (or similar ones) families who are not just Kith, but Kin as well. Our cousin Jim is burrowing around in this NC area, and we are depending on him to straighten things out! Ashe was formed 1799, just before the 1800 census. Ancestry has the 1800 and 1810 images, so it is possible to check out the actual census online. Love, Your Cousin, Carolyn Carolyn McDaniel cmacdee@teleport.com =========================================- -- Visit American Crossroads --- http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads

Dear Cousins, Caroline, your last two posts to the group have been of great interest. I looked at Diana's web site and love the way she has it set up. Haven't been researching here lately. TOO hot to even think. Love, Marilyn

Dear Cousins, I got a nice catch-up from Barb last night, who has been on vacation in Kentucky. And researching, of course! She knew that "Kith" is the other side of the kinship coin when referring to one's neighbors and friends. "Kith and Kin" is an old style way of denoting the more modern term "community." It's what is meant by the African concept of "it takes a whole village to grow a child." Our ancestors quite literally depended on their Kith and Kin for survival. Relatives were called in to witness wills and at the same time reassured that the interests of the survivors were protected. Even on the husband's deathbed, a wife's dower interests were looked to by her male relatives or close friends. Orphaned children were taken in by their Kith and Kin. Trips and migrations were rarely undertaken without an accompanying contingency of Kith and Kin. Neighborhoods literally moved from a poor locality to one that offered more hope down the road -- or across the "crick," or over the mountain. My great-grandfather, William Marion Pennington was taken in and raised by relatives. I believe the relatives were Samuel and Rachel Baker, shown on the 1860 Johnson County, IA census with an older John Pennington, b. MD and a young James Pennington, b. OH -- allliving together in Washington Township. I ultimately determined that this John Pennington was my William Marion's grandfather, and I now believe James and Rachel were John Pennington's son and daughter, and that Samuel Baker was his son-in-law. Other familiar surnames among their Kith and Kin are Chapman, Briggs, Stewart, Randall, Bales, Gist, Harrison, Owings, Gorsuch, etc. etc. This Pennington family is shown quite early in MD, but establishing identity has been very difficult because they are referred to in most early Baltimore county records as Pemberton. Later MD identity is difficult because they split into two factions and were known as Pennington in the Upper Delaware Hundred and Pemberton in the Soldier's Delight Hundred. Still later, these elusive Penningtons seem to vanish for awhile (I believe to Virginia) and then return to the Upper Delaware Hundred, where John and Jesse Pennington fought in the war of 1812. Shortly thereafter, they moved to the area along the border of Guernsey and Belmont County, OH. Susanna Pennington married Allen Baker in Baltimore County in 1797. In 1803 they gave ground from their property for a church. They died in the 1850's and are buried in the church yard. Susanna is likely a sister of John and Jesse Pennington who served in the War of 1812. Allen is likely a brother of Samuel Baker. Susanna and Allen are those who stayed put while the others rode on. The Baker family is detailed in Robert Barnes' magnificent "Baltimore County Families: 1659-1759." Family names include Samuel, Charles, Maurice, or Morris, AND INDEMNION! Now, even though this name can be spelled at least 50 ways, it is a grand clue, especially when used in conjunction with Penningtons and Bakers. Bakers and Penningtons are found allied in many, many localities, as are Moores and Davises. I find Bakers and their Kith and Kin on 1807 and 1818 Clay County, TN tax lists. The Penningtons -- Welcome, Efrom (Ephraim), and Drinan, Dem, Demion, etc. are on the Jackson County, TN census indices. I believe this latter Pennington name is Indemnion. There is an overwhelming representation of Maryland surnames and Pennington and Baker connected names in these same localities. I have been collecting and listing these and will put them on the website. (it is still down for repairs) Names include Sizemore, McDaniel, Sims, Carter, Randall, Beall/Bales/Bell/Ball, Amis (attn: Cousin Leigh,) Minatree Pennington, etc. etc. When you start doing genealogy you soon see the oneness between all of us. Many of these lines connect with both maternal and paternal sides of my family. If anyone is interested in some of these files before the website is back up, I will e-mail them to you. BUT please, write via the list. Let us share our Kith and Kin, and our oneness! That's what we are about here, you know -- amid the peaks and valleys -- to help and love one another, as our ancestors did with their Kith and Kin. Our cousin Tom is recovering from additional operations on his eyes, and is doing well. Welcome home Barb, and a special Welcome Home to Jim, who has resettled across the country in his ancestral homeland. What a wonderful homecoming! How we envy you! Now, we expect some real good data from you! I am working toward a clearly defined format for family group pages, and will want to present it once our website is back up at Rootsweb. In the meantime, you might want to take a look at Diana Gale Mathieson's pages. http://dgmweb.net/genealogy/ Her group sheets are set up in ways that we can emulate. Love, Your Cousin, Carolyn Carolyn McDaniel cmacdee@teleport.com ========================================= http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads

Dear Cousins, I have consistently found the land records to be the most fascinating and relevatory "official" contemporaneous portrait of those elusive rascals who became our ancestors. There are many types of land records -- the most helpful are the actual deeds and patents, of course, and these often give details of family relationships -- as in cases when the deed record substitutes for a will as a means of devising property. Other information sometimes refers to property elsewhere, providing a clue to the ancestor's last place of residence, or sometimes to a relative's place of residence. Tax assessments reflect property ownership and can thereby be said to be a land record. Land records of this type are wonderful because they provide a listing (like the census) of the various neighbors as well, and show proximities to one another. They can be used in conjunction with the census to expand the picture of your families and their kith and kin. (Do you know what kith is???????) Military pensions and grants reflect another aspect of land records, with faithful supporters receiveing land in payment for their services. After the Revolutionary War land was doled out in the "west" which had previously been held by the Indians, and in the south, other Indian lands were opened to white settlement as a result of the cessations (principally) in Georgia. Georgia lands were offered up in lotteries beginning around 1800 and continued through the 1830's when Andrew Jackson offered up resettlement in newly created "Indian Territory" at the end of the Trail of Tears as the final solution to the Indian problem. In the Delaware Hundred of Baltimore County I have used and compared the Census, Assessment Lists, Deeds, Wills, Military Records and Family histories as a means of identifying my Pennington/Pemberton family. This is a particularly interesting (and frustrating) study, and I believe it is fairly representative of the struggle many of us have when dealing with families of the Back Country and Frontiers, for it shows how lists help and hurt, and how name changes and spelling changes can defeat us when out targets move on to the next Crossroads. It also shows how the kith and kin can be effectively used as identification, and re-identification. Remember that "some stayed put, and some rode on." Comparisons between the two can substantiate identity. Your own research can help enormously in these Crossroads localities. I have found that families of the Philadelphia Perimeter (this includes Maryland, NJ, DE) wended their way to Virginia, NC, SC, GA, and on to the West. These same type of comparisons can help pain a full picture. You will undoubtedly recognize southern and western (KY, OH, WVA, etc.) conections in the Delaware Upper Hundred. You may be surprised to learn (as I was) that these names reappear in your own backyards. The given name "Indemnion" occurs with Bakers and Penningtons in Kentucky, and the surname "Woolery," recurs where I grew up in Morrow County, Oregon over two hundred years later. I am using the new images at Ancestry.com to illustrate some of this. They are just great. The pages at the website are temporarily down at Rootsweb, and they are working on getting the problem fixed. I hope to have these new Delaware Hundred pages up soon thereafter. Love, Your Kith/Kin Cousin, Carolyn Carolyn McDaniel cmacdee@teleport.com ================================== --- Visit American Crossroads --- http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads

Dear Cousins, Thank you, Beej, Sandra and Jaimie, for the generosity of spirit in your messages How we all need this in these days of far-flung families and shattered communities. I am so happy that the three of you have joined our AMXROADS family. My first (local) website was called Homecoming, and it is very much a part of what AMXROADS is about. We may not know one another in the face to face way, but it is a wonderful thing to nevertheless be able to reach out to one another in heartfelt kinship. As we suffer our personal battles and losses, it is a comfort to know that we are not alone, and that others care. Robert Frost wrote so many beautiful poems, but this one is my favorite -- and has brought me much comfort in times of feeling great loss and loneliness. Love, Your Cousin, Carolyn The Tuft of Flowers I WENT to turn the grass once after one Who mowed it in the dew before the sun. The dew was gone that made his blade so keen Before I came to view the levelled scene. I looked for him behind an isle of trees; I listened for his whetstone on the breeze. But he had gone his way, the grass all mown, And I must be, as he had been,—alone, "As all must be," I said within my heart, "Whether they work together or apart." But as I said it, swift there passed me by On noiseless wing a bewildered butterfly, Seeking with memories grown dim over night Some resting flower of yesterday's delight. And once I marked his flight go round and round, As where some flower lay withering on the ground. And then he flew as far as eye could see, And then on tremulous wing came back to me. I thought of questions that have no reply, And would have turned to toss the grass to dry; But he turned first, and led my eye to look At a tall tuft of flowers beside a brook, A leaping tongue of bloom the scythe had spared Beside a reedy brook the scythe had bared. I left my place to know them by their name, Finding them butterfly-weed when I came. The mower in the dew had loved them thus, By leaving them to flourish, not for us, Nor yet to draw one thought of ours to him, But from sheer morning gladness at the brim. The butterfly and I had lit upon, Nevertheless, a message from the dawn, That made me hear the wakening birds around, And hear his long scythe whispering to the ground, And feel a spirit kindred to my own; So that henceforth I worked no more alone; But glad with him, I worked as with his aid, And weary, sought at noon with him the shade; And dreaming, as it were, held brotherly speech With one whose thought I had not hoped to reach. "Men work together," I told him from the heart, "Whether they work together or apart." Carolyn McDaniel cmacdee@teleport.com ========================================= --- Visit American Crossroads --- http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads

To one and all, Please change your records to use my new email address smwoody@stny.rr.com . Thank you! The other one is no longer valid Thank you! Shawn

In a message dated 6/25/01 6:01:25 PM US Mountain Standard Time, AMXROADS-D-request@rootsweb.com writes: << [AMXROADS] Jamie's Posting and Silence >>] Carolyn: I just got home today and was saddened to read you also had a loss in your family. I went to IN to visit my father, family and do genealogy. Daddy has been failing lately and all my brothers and sisters were there all at once. Daddy seemed to think it was time to let go and he just quietly went to sleep and did not wake again. We are thankful for that knowing he did not suffer. When an unexpected death in ones family happens it is so tramatic. I will pray for your family in this hour as others have sent their prayers to me in my hour of grief. I don't think you need to appologize to anyone for anything as life is full of unexpected happenings be they happy ones or sad ones. It is what life is made of. We all roll with the punches and end up on our feet. I do like your following statement and will suggest the same thing for our reunion for next year. It is always the second Sun in July. This yr. daddy missed it by a wk. We used the day for rememberances and stories of our father and our cousins Uncle Earl. <So in mid-July we will commune with one another once again and comemorate our members who have passed from us on this earth. It is the circle of life.> May the Great Spirit guide your path in life and help those that walk the Spirit Trail to the here after. Billie Jean Reese (Beej)

Dear Cousins, One of the nicest things at the National Genealogical Society's recent annual meeting here in beautiful Portland Oregon (other than the award I received!) was the inclusion in our packet of registrant goodies of a wonderful guidebook, "My History Is American History." This was a millenium project by the (Clinton) White House and the National Endowment for the Humanities. "My History Is American History," perfectly reflects my goals and attitudes within American Crossroads -- both this list and the website. The guidebook lists 15 things you can do to save America's stories. You can obtain a copy from the website at www.myhistory.org or you can call 1-877-NEH-HISTORY The 15 things are: 1. Journals; 2. Why Family Recollections matter 3. Playing Detective with photographs 4. Discovering clues in family papers; 5. Uncovering history in the attic; 6. Exploring your home's history; 7. Climbing the family tree; 8. Finding your family's place in American History; 9. Writing your own story 10. Fun for the family 11. Sharing your story 12. Connecting with your community 13. Finding help 14. Teaching American History through family history; 15 Joining your hometown experts Each section expounds upon the basic topic and is beautifully presented. Just like us! Have fun! Love, Your Cousin, Carolyn Carolyn McDaniel cmacdee@teleport.com ========================================= -- Visit American Crossroads --- http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads

Dear Cousins, Some of you know I think the Library of Virginia is the finest internet resource available. Well, now it's just gotten better! Incredible! There is news in two sections -- Land Records and the Historical Inventory section. The Land records, which cover the colonial period and beyond, are now fully searchable. This means you can find references to names in the deeds, not just the grantee. This is -- needless to say -- a fabulous tool. You can search several parameters, name and location for example, using boolean techniques, and further refine your results. The new Historical Inventory section has a number of SW Virginia Pennington entries -- one for James Pennington's Lee County, Virginia house dating between 1793 and 1836). The Historical Inventory was done under the wings of the WPA in the 1930's. It was a fabulous project which provided work for jobless thousands, and provided us with records. With their usual skill the Library of Virginia has taken the pictures and descriptions of area houses (and other historical structures) and families and put it together with interactive maps. This is just so great. You can see how far the Elijah Penningtons lived from the James and Levi's and where the Coldirons lived. Some of the information contains the chain of title, as in the Thomas Pennington property. This work is so fine, and so wonderful, and so exciting. A Win/Win Project -- my favorite kind! While you are at the Library of Virginia, check out their Family Bible and Manuscript section: It is fabulous. Actual photocopied documents are online, waiting for your discovery. The Library of Virginia Home Page: http://www.lva.lib.va.us/ The Digital Library Program: http://www.lva.lib.va.us/dlp/ The Land Records http://image.vtls.com/collections/LO.html The New Historical Inventory Records http://eagle.vsla.edu/vhi/ Happy Searching! Love, Your Cousin, Carolyn Carolyn McDaniel cmacdee@teleport.com ========================================= --- Visit American Crossroads --- http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads

Dear Cousins, Seems like everytime I write lately, it's to say I'm sorry I haven't been more chatty. Well, I must say so again. After my last complaint to my landlord, I was given notice to move from my humble abode and since the notice came after three years of asking nicely, it appears that I'm going to I'm forced to fight this retaliation. This is an historic property scheduled for decimation. So it goes in our neck of the woods. As for American History elsewhere, I hope you have had a fine day celebrating our National Independence! God Bless America and protect her, and us, from those who would decimate our freedoms! Love, Your Independent Cousin, Carolyn Carolyn McDaniel cmacdee@teleport.com ========================================= --- Visit American Crossroads --- http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads

Sorry to hear that you lost you aunt recently. Glad that you were up there and able to find time to spend with her shortly before her death. Enjoy the reunion next month...what a great place to have it. I'm headed for Wallowa Lake this summer for the first time in decades! What a wonderful part of the country we live in. Love and prayers, Kay

~*~ A list of some of my lines I'm fishing for.... ALLEN, ANDREW, ANDERSON, ANTRAM, ANTRUM, AMSBRY, ATCKINSON, BEALS, BECK, BISHOP, BUFFINGTON, BURL, BUSH, BUTCHER, CAMPBELL, CAPASSO, CHESLEY, COOKE, COX, CURL, CURLE, DAVIES, DEARDORFF, DIXON, DOANE, EDWARDS, ELKINTON, FISHER, FLEMING, FOX, FRAZIER, FRENCH, GREEN, GREG, GREGORY, GRIFFTH, GRINER, GRINNER, GRUBBS, HADLEY, HAHN, HAINES, HALTON, HANCOCK, HILL, HOBSON, HOCKETT, HODSON, HOGG, HOLLOWAY, HUDSON, HUMPHRIES, HUNT, HURTER, IVES, JACOBS, JONES, KANE, KERAN, KINNESON, KINNISON, LINDLEY, MACGREGOR, MARSHALL, MCGREGOR, MCGRIGER, MEIGER, MENDENHALL, MILLER, OGLEBEE, O'HAVER, OSBORNE, PAINTER, PARSON, PIGGOTT, PRIZER, QWINN, QYWN, REUTZEL, RIDGEWAY, RIUTCEL, RIUTZEL, ROBINSON, SLOAN, SPIVEY, STANDHAL, STANFIELD, STANTON, STAUTON, STRATTON, TALBOT, THOMPSON, WEST, WILKERSON, WILSON, YANAWAY........ ........... these are just some of my family lines that I'm fishing for........I'm interested in any other branches hanging on the tree...... ~ * ~ my lines are known for swimming in these areas: Scotland, Ireland, England, the Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, the village of Ichenheim in the duchy of Baden (which is now the province of Baden, Germany) California, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvannia, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, and other states in the USA ~ ~ ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ .........sshhhhh......be very quite........I'm hunting for forebears........ Jamie Gone Fishing 4 U from the Air the Angels Breathe <<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>>

Dear Cousins, I am sorry for such a long silence. First I had a trip to Eastern Oregon over Memorial Day which was quite wonderful, and then came back to Portland to try and catch up on school and finishing up classes. Then my Aunt/Cousin Elma died, and I had to repeat the same journey with great sadness. Every year my McDaniel family has a Reunion Picnic in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon, from which all of us have sprung. So in mid-July we will commune with one another once again and comemorate our members who have passed from us on this earth. It is the circle of life. Jamie, thank you for your posting. You will find many among us who are researching your same lines. Georgia has Grubbs, and many have Davis! I am particularly interested in your Elkintons. Actually it will probably come down to who ISN'T of interest! Many of your families are of very great interest and we will be able to help one another. We are slowly evolving a format for group sheets and pedigrees. There is unlimited room at Rootsweb for you to submit your pages. Part of my catching up on the website (including adding links that already appear there) will be a samples of the Individual pages and Family summaries, and then you can start sending me yours if you want them included. I am reworking a massive Indexing System for the site, and then I think we'll be in business. Love, and welcome, your Cousin Carolyn Carolyn McDaniel cmacdee@teleport.com ========================================= --- Visit American Crossroads --- http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads

Dear Cousins, I've received a wonderfully positive e-mail from Billie Jean (or Beej,) one of our new list members. I am reposting it with her permission. It is so nice to get responses like this one. I've written Beej that there will be more information on Van Meter, Ballenger, and Teagues before long. I'm working on further indexes that I hope will continue to clarify Kinship and Migrations and am editing the Site map. Love, Your Cousin, Carolyn Carolyn McDaniel cmacdee@teleport.com ========================================= --- Visit American Crossroads --- http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads Carolyn McDaniel: I was very impressed with the first of my digest posting from AMXRoads. I have already found two of my surnames in the reading I have done in your site. Van Meter and Teague. I knew the Van Meter's traveled west with the Dye's but have not put them anywhere else. Let alone in the state that I was born and raised in, being IN. Later in the reading there was a Ballenger that could lead somewhere as my father is a Ballenger, also a Burton entering as a servent to a family. So There are four surnames to enhance on. I have my ggg grandfather George Burton with George Washington at Valley Forge marring a Lee from NJ in First Shelby Co., KY and moving on up into IN to Jefferson Co. about 1800's. Problem is I am in AZ and doing research in IN on my families. My sisters are doing Genealogy and collecting data but not resourcing it as I am trying to do. My older sister did research yrs. ago but no documentation as to where she found things. I am trying to follow her tracks and putting that in my papers. Her research has helped in that I don't have to blindly look, I can go and find and document I already know that you can find a like name in a different family and that all to often happens in the Burton line. Sorry I did not aim to get off on a tangent but I am hopeing to really learn on this list and give positive responses and help. Oh, I will need to unsubscribe in a week or so as I am traveling to IN to visit my father and do some research in Henry, Hancock and Jefferson Co.s, IN and mybe go to Shelby Co., KY. I am a school but driver so have a few weeks of R&R. Billie Jean (Ballenger/Burton) Reese PasaPeruva@aol.com

Dear Cousins, First -- welcome to our several new subscribers -- we are so happy to have you join us. A brief recapitulation for you: Essentially, American Crossroads is a combination of my theories and methodologies, which combines the standards of "B. C." (Before Computers) genealogy with A. D. (After Discovery of Computers) Genealogy. It is very much a work in progress. People have found that using computers and the internet is easy, but what is difficult is the right blend between B. C. and A. D. There is more to properly transferring genealogical information than putting it into a software program. We have begun by tracking families that merged in the Delaware River Valley, and have been following resources, migrations and allied families. Each area begins as a "Crossroads," and is subdivided into Kinship and History Perimeters which often overlap many county lines and even state borders. My principal thesis is that History + Locality + Kinship = Identity. The Pennington family has comprised my core research and through pursuing them and their Kinship groups I have developed a pattern of movement. and an evolution of what I believe is the heart and soul of American culture and history. These basic ideas have revolutionized my own research and I believe, that in conjunction with our amazing new technical tools, can be successfully applied to solving many genealogy and history problems that have eluded us before. I've made some corrections to that new Kinship page, although many of the links still do not work because I haven't uploaded the pages yet: http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads/Kinship/index.html I am back from re-communing with my early heritage in Eastern Oregon, continuing to re-bond with my 89 year old mother and soaking up networking and community, Old Style. There is something so valuable and comforting in reconnecting with our families, even those who have passed to a different sphere. I hope your Memorial Day was happy, and brought reconnection for you as well. Carolyn McDaniel cmacdee@teleport.com ========================================= --- Visit American Crossroads --- http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads