Dear Chuck, I have known Bruce for a bit longer and he was quite civil then provided a lot of helpful leads and data. I enjoyed his description of William "the carpenter" as "Wild Bill" tremendously. I agree that the Carpenter Roots Web should be for everyone. As long as we focus on the data and not on our fears we should be okay. "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." There is a gap about 1300 AD from the Carpenters called John/Jean Carpentier and his father Maurice and William "the carpenter" De Melun's line of about 3 or 4 generations. While it appears the connection is quite probable it is not proven. It is speculation or a theory until proven. Were there more than one Carpenter group coming into England from France in the late 1200s? - yes. There appear to be at least 3 related families. Could there have been Carpenters in England prior to this? - yes there were many. Unfortunately only tidbits of data describe them. How can we resolve who was who and when? We can submit the data we find (with sources) and our guess where the data fits. As the pieces of the puzzle come in they will slowly but surely clarify the puzzle of that time and local. Is this the only part of the puzzle that needs work? - NO! There are birth dates, locations and such that need to be found. In addition there are thousands of unconnected Carpenters looking for a family line. The only way such a great puzzle can be "Viewed" (I can not use completed because it never will be because of births, deaths and new data!!!) is "by the people for the people". IF the data that comes in excludes the William "the carpenter" or Wild Bill's line ... so be it. If it does include him, so be it. We all have our fears and concerns. We all have made our mistakes in our own genealogical lines. (I for one have made many!) Let us use the suggestions made and focus on helping each other. If we having nothing positive to say, then don't say anything. Remember that we all have our theories and opinions and we need to label them as such. Thank you for the suggestions and kind comments that help us keep on track. I would also like to thank you and the hundreds of others that have contributed their data to put the Carpenter CD Project over the 50,000 name mark. Sincerely, John R. Carpenter La Mesa, CA USA C.A.Carpenter ( Chuck's Wood-Knots) wrote: > > Ok, here's my situation. > > Three of four years ago John Carpenter of CA contacted me about my > Carpenter line that he had seen published in a journal published by James > Aussie Carpenter. I by the way made mistakes in that genealogy and > contacted James at a later date to straighten it out. > > I met James Aussie through my correspondence with Raymond George > Carpenter, Genealogist for the American Carpenter Family. Raymond was a > great guy but you had to decipher his handwriting. He didn't have a > computer and wrote long hand :) > > At any rate, I sent my feeble gedcom to John in CA and he in turn sent me > his work which at that time consisted of a database of about 18,000 > individuals. > A while after this I became aware of an article in "American Genealogist" > October, 1995 > by Gene Burzinsky who gave new information about Carpenter ancestry which I > then sent to John. > Not long after meeting John in CA I started writing to John L. Carpenter in NH. > John was extremely helpful to me in understanding the Providence, RI line > and sent me many journals and publications. > > What I'm trying to say is you couldn't meet more helpful gentlemen if you > tried, I like them both very much and I respect them, I like to call them > friends and I do not use that term loosely. > > I met Professor Bruce Carpenter ( through e-mail) several months ago. We > talked in length privately about our Carpenter ancestry. He was also quite > helpful to me and quite "civil", a likable guy for sure. > Now I know some of you are going to call me on this but it's true, the > Bruce I know is quite friendly and "normal". > I can understand his anger,I mean if someone kept posting PUBLICLY that our > family was descended from Hitler for an example( and I'm not saying De > Melun was like Hitler, I have no idea who he was other than what's been > posted) and my records and research were totally opposite then I would be > upset. > Would I call the other researcher an idiot? I might, but not PUBLICLY! > I would publish my "Proof" and settle the debate in this manner. After all > is said and done this is the only way to get at the "truth". > Calling people names publicly solves nothing except perhaps the loss of > subscribers, which by the way cost this list at least 20 just this past > week. Please lets not lose any more of our family. > > As I said before I'm not qualified to offer an answer on who's theories are > correct Tony's or John's or Bruce's or none of the above I have not done > the PERSONAL research to offer an opinion. I AM overjoyed that people are > working on it! > > Do I think it makes a difference if your from the Rehoboth line or > Providence line or Zimmerman? > Not at all.... the list is for ALL Carpenter and Zimmerman lines. > > So, you see the problem here for me, I consider all three gentlemen > "friends" of mine and I respect them all. > Am I interested in medieval Carpenter genealogy? You bet I am. I have had > my "American" ancestors for quite some time now and would like more info on > the early line. > > I have by the way applied for a separate Medieval Carpenter genealogy list, > don't know if I will get it. > > The other thing is this.... If this bickering bothers you why in the world, > as has been suggested don't you configure your e-mail program to not > receive mail posted by anyone who offends you? This is simple to do... > I can't imagine myself getting a computer and going on the Internet not > knowing the first thing about how the computer or my programs work! > I agree that this is not something you should have to resort to but it is > an option and this is the real world. > > Doing this would immediately solve your problem, end of story. > > Please, lets get along.. > > Chuck > Who's family came down from the trees when John L.'s did :) Hey, maybe > they even lived together! > > PS: I have asked John L. Carpenter in NH who I feel most closest to and who > I also know would do a great job to take over this list, so far I haven't > had much luck........ > > Please visit my web site "Chuck's Wood-Knots" at: > http://www.evcom.net/~chuck2/index.html > > Carpenter Genealogy at: > http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/6712/index.html