Dear Gang: Well, I've had DSL for 2 days, and I'm like a kid in a candy store! Unfortunately, it's with Verizon and already things are "wrong." they did not enclose the CD, so I can't set up e-mail accounts, and one of my phones doesn't respond to the filter. Anyway, I have not heard from anyone for ages, so assuming nobody is posting to the list. Also, I understand that Janet's computer is out of commission, so nothing from her. Here is something I just found. This URL will get you to a printable map showing Burrows (Barrett/Burroughs, etc.) Cemetery. That's where our Barretts are buried in Madison County, Texas. Also--all the other cemeteries in Madison County are listed. They are USGS maps and very good, with mileage scales, etc. http://landmark.granbury.com/madison.htm And if you haven't checked out the Madison County web pages lately (you Texas cousins), they are really improved! One other thing to report is that I have learned how to re-jigger my scanner settings to reverse the color. That might not seem important, but here's the deal. The David Barrett 1826 letter is still in private hands (we hope, at least that it's still in existence) somewhere in Mississippi, owned by Whitten family descendants. In the early 70s, Arthur Reagan (whose research is now owned by William B. Moore) sent me a xerox of a photostat of that 1826 letter. A photostat was the only type of copying that was available before Xerox-type machines. It was a type of photographic process in which the black and white were reversed. Therefore, a photostat comes out white on black, rather than black on white. (That explanation was for you young folks.) My dad's photography studio had the only photostat machine (outside of the title company) in our little home town, so one of his tasks was making copies of documents for townsfolk. All these years, that xerox of a photostat of the 1826 letter has been languishing in a binder, with holes punched in it, no less!!! (Yes, I was pretty dumb.) Consider that this letter was probably written with pokeberry juice rather than India ink, and that the paper had yellowed terribly over the 140 years from 1826 to the 1960s, when Mr. Reagan photostated it. Therefore, there was little contrast in the photostat. Then, in the early 70s, he copied it for me in an early Xerox machine. And that copy has also faded. So, we are looking at a pale gray background with some white splotches on it--the writing. After many hours fixing and refixing the settings on my Epson scanner, I was able to make scans that, if you have persistence, will allow you to read David's original handwriting! I should have done all the pages at once, but I put them away "for the weekend." A week passed, meanwhile I cleaned out my desk drawer. So, when I went back to scan the other pages, I had thrown away the notes that I took on my scanner settings! I had to start all over trying to figure out what I had done! The sheets were very long, like legal size. So, I had to copy the bottom of the page separately. Janet told me before her computer crashed that she could put them together for me. However, that project is on hold until she surfaces again. When we do get them put together, I will be excited to put them on the Barrett pages, so everyone can see them. The other news is that I have reserved Freepages space for myself, under the name of McCann Kin (mccannkin). I haven't put much on it, yet, just a little bit of "stuff" on the Visers. I haven't told many people, but I suppose Google will find the pages eventually and I'll be embarrassed to have such poorly constructed pages. So, that's all the news from here. I hear from Cousin Don, and I know Hallie's alive, though I haven't heard from her directly for several weeks. Deb has just flat disappeared. Even Jim is quiet. No cemetery hunting, lately, Jim? Oh, by the way, if any of you (Deb?) have a photo of James McCan's stone at the Burroughs Cemetery, I would very much appreciate having a copy. I forgot my camera last year. I'm sure this message will take up a whole bunch of space, and maybe we'll get a digest! Greetings to all! Kuz Karen

Karen, I'm glad to hear you got DSL. I got it right after the reunion last year and I love it. We'll be watching for your new web space. While we were in Georgia this year Lee Barrett gave me some information on the David Barton Barrett family. Those of you who attended the reunion last year should remember Lee. Jan and I ate dinner with Lee and his wife this year. We really missed out when he didn't bring her to the reunion last year. Lee descends from David, son of Arthur and Nancy Barton Barrett. A couple of interesting point I found in this material: 1) David Elwood Barrett, son of David, served as District Judge of Cooke, Denton, and Montague Counties, Texas for 25 years. He had 9 children, all born in Gainesville, TX which is where he died and is buried. I'm trying to learn the name of the cemetery. One of David Elwood's sisters, Mary Rebecca Barrett, had several children connected to North Texas. A great grandchild of Mary, Irma E. Hodges, was killed in the March 18, 1937 gas explosion that destroyed the junior/senior high school at New London, TX. Some 300 people killed. For those of you who don't know about this disaster do a Google search for "New London" & Explosion, there are several well do web sites . This site http://www.nlse.org/ has a "Those Who Died" tab which takes you to a list of those killed, with an additional link to pictures. Our cousin, Irma, must have been a senior. There were three students and one adult named Barrett. I have no record of them being kin to us. Jim Barrett Bedford, TX