A copy of the letter below from Arthur Jolley to a cousin of his, Mrs. D.L. Artchison, that lived in Huntsville, TX has floated around my family for years. Most of you who do any Ozment research will note there are some flaws, but it is an interesting letter just the same. There is no date on the original letter so we don't know just how many years ago it was written. Arthur wrote: Dear Cousin, Here is the story I promised you. I will tell you how the Ozments came to be here. They first lived in England about 1760. James Henry's father moved from England to France. James was 6 years old. He had a brother named Anderson who was 4 years old. John Henry's father had a sister named Elizabeth who married a William Eddings. They had a son who was named William. They called him Billy. He was one year older than James. They moved to France when James was 22 years old. The Revolutionary war broke out. Laffayette, the French General came to American to help Washington, James, Billy, & William came with him. When the war ended, the boys stayed in America. Being educated well, the 3 became teachers in an Indian mission teaching Indians. Billy married a Chief (Keoto) daughter, named White Fawn or Elizabeth. Chief Keoto had a brother who had a daughter named Martha Arder. James married her. Billy and Elizabeth had 13 girls. James and Martha had 4 sons and 1 girl. The sons were James, Alfred, John L. & Richard. The girls name was Lucille. James L m. Elizabeth Eddings Alfred m Nancy Lane John L m. Dora (?) Ann Frazier Richard married Rebecca Eddings Martha m. Ben Franklin In 1811 the Ozments & Eddings moved from N.C. to McCoon Co. Tennessee. James Jr. fought in the war of 1812 under Andrew Jackson. In 1839 Alfred & James Jr. & Martha moved to Ozment Bluff, Ark. John L. Ozment and the Fraziers moved to northern Miss. Later moved to Arkansas with the other Ozments about 1845. About 1850 he went to Texas to join his son, John Jasper Ozment who was there with some of John L's other children, 8 girls and 6 boys. His son, James G. had 14 girls and 2 boys. John L. had 12 children, 6 boys and 6 girls. John Jasper Ozment was one of the boys. NOTES: My dad tells me that this Mrs. Artchison died and her children came across her correspondence with Arthur and notified him of her death. Dad says that Arthur wept and grieved for days after receiving the news of this cousin he had never met. Cuz Rdea, I have a xerox copy of the original letter if you would like a copy of it. I know that when I post, it is usually long and drawn out. Chastise me if you need to, Cousin Melissa!!!! BW