Bill: I checked out the webpage you referred to (Bath Co, VA) that contains your research notes, and I have a question: your notes mention a few times that the Andrew Bird that married Magdelena Jones was the son of Abraham Bird of MD, while the chart in your email message has him as the son of Andrew Bird of Raritan, NJ. Which do you feel is correct, or is this one of those mysteries that will probably never be solved? Judy ===== Judy Jamieson Pisano jupisano@yahoo.com "The Bird Families of New Jersey" <http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~birdnj> __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/

Judy, I could be mistaken, but I think that my 25 year old notes mention only twice, the that Andrew might have been the son of Abraham. One was where I was quoting an informant from Utopia, TX, and the other was where I was quoting (or paraphrasing) from Wayland's HISTORY OF SHENANDOAH COUNTY and Virkus Compendium of American Genealogy. I now believe this to be wrong. As is (or was) noted in the disclaimer that was originaly including with my posting on the Bath County site some two years ago, the 25 year old chronologies were posted in "unedited" form. These notes were compiled by me some 25 to 30 years ago (in the 1970's)in an attempt to organize my research notes in some meaningful form for my own benefit and were not intended at the time for publication. At the time that they were created, they were for my own use only and were never intended to be regarded as a final work for publication. I recorded information (sometimes conflicting information) as I found it, and (in most instances) I cited my sources; however my notations also included some of my own thinking and reasoning at the time ("theories" if you will) regarding possible lineages. These chonologies should not be regarded as a finished work. When the internet came along, I did, however, think that there was enough value in them to place them into the public domain in unedited form for the benefit of others. My intent was not to misinform (as seems to be the case); but to prompt the reader to consult my sources together with other sources and to judge for themselves. A lot has transpired in the last 25 years since these works were created as a personal research tool; and a lot of new information has come forward. In answer to your question, I no longer believe, nor claim, that the Andrew Bird who married Magdalene Jones was son of Abraham of Maryland or in any way connected with the Maryland BIRD/BYRD family. All indications are that this Andrew BIRD was probably among the group who followed Joist HITE and the Van METRE brothers from NJ to Bucks Co. and Chester Co., PA and thence to Virginia. Do I have proof? No! But I do have a lot of circumstancial evidence that points in that direction. Can it be proven? I don't know. But I've learned never to give up looking for more evidence. Do you have any thoughts on this? I've tried a few times to add an errata to the BIRD files; but I've run into some roadblocks with the coordinator of the Bath County site, who is an adherant to the old theory that Andrew was son of Abraham inspite of the new information to the contrary. Note that she has posted companion files expanding on the "Abraham" theory and placed them adjacent to my "Its About Time" files. Only the "About Time" files are mine. Unfortunately these other BIRD files have been falsely attributed to me because she included my e-mail address as a reference. My only recourse would be to insist that the "ITS ABOUT TIME" files (and my name) be removed in their entirety; and I'm not sure that I want to do that at this point. It seems like it would be "throwing the baby out with the bath water". Does the mystery remain? YES! But I would be happy to share what I have regarding Andrew's probable origin to help solve the mystery. William L. DeCoursey. Judy Pisano wrote: > > Bill: > I checked out the webpage you referred to (Bath Co, > VA) that contains your research notes, and I have a > question: your notes mention a few times that the > Andrew Bird that married Magdelena Jones was the son > of Abraham Bird of MD, while the chart in your email > message has him as the son of Andrew Bird of Raritan, > NJ. Which do you feel is correct, or is this one of > those mysteries that will probably never be solved? > Judy > > ===== > Judy Jamieson Pisano > jupisano@yahoo.com > "The Bird Families of New Jersey" <http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~birdnj> > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices > http://auctions.yahoo.com/