Dear Barb and Cousins on the List: Knowing your locality was SW Virginia and NW North Carolina, I started out by accessing New River Valley Notes, and putting Pennington Sizemore in their Google search engine. http://www.ls.net/~newriver/nrv.htm Through the New River Valley's Google search I found the Kentucky Biographies Project which used to be found through the KY Genweb pages, but doesn't seem to be there any more. It is an invaluable reference. You may want to go back and continue on with New River Valley Notes, because when I found the KY Biographies I didn't look further there. http://www.starbase21.com/kybiog/ Dr. John J. Dickey's Diary has much biographical, genealogical and historical information on the inter-related families of the NWSW Perimeter. If you have NWSW Perimeter families you will find a ton of references here and clues to follow up on. If you haven't any such relationships, you might want to read the biographies in Dr. Dickey's Diary anyway, for they are priceless, and will make you smile for a week with their guilelessness when compared to our sophisticated times. Here's one example: http://www.starbase21.com/kybiog/clay/asher.a.txt "Augustus Asher - June 23, 1898. My grandfather, Dillon Asher, came from Tennessee to Ford of Cumberlands in 1800, moved to Red Bird. His wife was Sally Davis. Their children: Blevins, Robert, John, Ira (Roberts), "Pug" (Henry Sizemore). There were others, I do not remember them. By Miss Davis, his wife's sister, he had children that took the name of Asher as follows: Jackson, Wilkerson, and Joshia who still lives and I think, Preston Asher was their brother. Bige, Matt, Jackson, Hugh, Tom and Dillon Asher are sons of Jackson. These are the men that have become so wealthy. All are worth more than Bige and he is probably worth 25,000 dollars. Jack, said to be worth $300,000, Matt, $200,000, Tom lives at Masiota, worth $3000,000. Hugh lives at Pineville, also Jack, though they have houses near Lexington. Matt, Jack and Hugh were famous lumbermen who started booming logs on the Kentucky River at Ford; they made big money. Their sisters are Mrs. Martha Morgan; Charity Howard; Puss, Bige Morgan of Sexton; Polly Gibson. Here's another: http://www.starbase21.com/kybiog/clay/bolling.jw.txt Dr. John J. Dickey Diary, Fleming County, Ky. Recorded in the 1870's and beyond. Reprinted in Kentucky Explorer, Volume 10, No 4 - September, 1995. p. 86. By permission. Clay County. "John Gilbert and John Amis married sisters of James Bowling [sic]. From Eli, John (grandfather of Judge Josiah Comb's wife), Christopher, William, Joseph, Nancy (Sizemore) another sister of these, have descended most of the Bollings in Clay County. Jesse Bolling, my great grandfather married Mary Pennington of Lee County, Va. He was born in North Carolina at Hillsboro. Hisfather was born in Virginia. David Pennington, her brother, was living during the War of the Rebellion. My grandfather, Elijah Bolling stayed with him in Lee Co. during the late war." Lots more here. I know Cousin Jim is interested in Coldirons, Cousin Leigh is interested in Amis/Amos/Amoss connections, and I am interested in Baker, Williams, Davis. There are many other lines to be found by investigating Sizemores and Penningtons and any other family name you find here. This makes a good American Crossroads point. One's history (when pursuing migrating pioneers) is invariably linked to someone else's in the same region and time frame. Remember these are secondary sources, and use them accordingly. Also in Dr. John J. Dickey Diary, under Fleming County, Ky: http://www.starbase21.com/kybiog/clay/gilbert.mj.txt Abijah Gilbert. When my father came to Clay County there was plenty of buffalo, elk and deer. He went to Richmond to get his license to marry. His wife was Mary Bolling. She had brothers: Eli, John, William, Levi; sister Nancy (John Sizemore). Her son, William Sizemore, lived with my father. He gave him a farm on Middle Fork on Rockhouse Creek. His brother, John Sizemore, assessed Clay County many times. The biography of James Campbell http://www.starbase21.com/kybiog/perry/campbell.j.txt (interviewed at Forked Mouth, Ky., on July 22, 1898.) is loaded with history and information including: "I was born in Perry County, in Campbell's Bend, August 12, 1822. My father was Francis Campbell. He was born on Walker's Creek in North Carolina, a tributary of New River. They could roll a hogshead of tobacco to Charleston, North Carolina, in a day. He was born May 15, 1800; he died January 8, 1893. He was well preserved. My grandfather was John Campbell. He was born in North Carolina also. His wife was a Couch. The Campbells and Couches came from the same part of the state. In 1806 a large number of families in that region thought of immigrating to Kentucky. Not willing to take their families into an unknown country, they selected the two men, viz. - Austin Couch and Charles Francis, two choice men unmarried." [He gives much history here on the ensuing migration] "...........Peter DeWeese settled at the mouth of Grapevine and died from choking. When they would find a bee tree they would cut down a small chestnut, peel it, and fill it full of honey and carry it home. The horses and cattle lived on the range. The cane was an evergreen and in winter and summer made good pasture. In the sumer the peavine was equal to bluegrass. Flax was introduced. Buckskin supplied the men. The fifty families of new River proposed to make a settlement about Lexington. They came on later and settled at different places. The Begleys, Sizemore, Rameys, and my mother, Margaret Williams, came from that section. The Nobles, Neaces, and Fugates came later. My grandfather was a religious man. He was a Freemason when he came here. His children were James, John, Mary, Sallie, William, Francis, my father; Elijah, Isaac, Stephen, Hiram, Samuel, and Bitsy (Betsy), 12 in all. William, his brother, settled at the mouth of Campbell's Creek. His children were: Charles, William, Elijah, Hanes, Henry, Daniel, Margaret, and Amy." Two marriage records I found for Clay County, but much later: SIZEMORE, JAMES PENNINGTON, ANNY 27 Dec 1861 Clay KY SIZEMORE, JOHN PENNINGTON, MINEY 24 Feb 1877 Clay KY Information on James and Liza Sizemore Pennington is included in the 1 (February 1990) Clay County Ancestral News Vol. 6. Check out the Biographies for your families! This is a treasure! Love, Your Cousin, Carolyn Carolyn McDaniel cmacdee@teleport.com ========================================= --- Visit American Crossroads --- http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads