Talk about FIGHT talk. My Dad, uncles, and grandfather asserted that Yankee was actually a 3-syllable word. My Uncle TD was the worst. His two greatest fears about my genealogy searchings: -That I'd find some "people of color" <NOT his exact wording!!> in our ancestry -WORSE YET: That we might have ancestors from "The Nawth". -- He complained bitterly that we were all wrong when we found his own mama's grandpa fought for the Union in the War of Secession. My gg father William Asbury Devenport supposedly fought in the Confederate Forces. The only record in the Confederate rolls is: "W. A. Devenport, absent on leave" 1 month. NEXT MONTH: "W. A. Devenport, absent WITHOUT leave". The only "details" we have of his confederate service ( he was a strapping 16 years at the time): He received permission to return home to "take care of sick relatives". While there, the area was overrun by Yankee soldiers. William hid out in the woods during the day and would only come to the house for supper and sleeping at night. The family contrived to help him by hollering "Oh, PAP!!!!" whenever soldiers were near, as if calling for an elderly relative. One night, while sitting at supper (dinner to you dern-Yankees), Union soldiers surrounded the home and called for William to come out and give himself up. William clambered out a back window, and escaped, crawling on his hands and knees through the brush. Whenever he heard footsteps approaching, he'd "Grunt like a Hog" and keep crawling. He escaped unharmed. As far as we've been able to determine, he never fired a shot in anger. Unlike my other Great-Grandpa Pitt, who shot a neighboring Texas sheepherder in the back, over a water dispute. As for the high cost of DNA testing, several in my cousins and family contributed $10, $20, or $30 to the "pot", so it didn't cost any of us too much, and the results will be very interesting and eagerly examined by us all. This is possible since it only requires one male relative to get his DNA sample submitted. Jim -----Original Message----- From: Bonnie Davenport [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 16:18 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [DAVENPORT] A "Must Read" For All Davenport Researchers Boy I (ain't) never have been accused of being from the south before. Or even thought about it. My G Grandfather (Absolam B) fought them Grey backs an was wounded in Battle Of Parkers Grove. Thats fight talk-- I don't even like to look towards the south.. Also think some of the spelling dif was due to education--some census takers were not very good spellers. Also some folks were not spelling Bee winners . Wish I had funds for the DNA test or it was free. .