Today I received the first published copy of "Tombstones of Omey" to arrive Stateside from the General Secretary of the North of Ireland Family History Society. It is a monumental work documenting 184 pages of listings of 15 cemeteries located within a five mile radius of Omagh, Ireland (now Northern Ireland). Mr. William J. McGrew and his wife transcribed all of the tombstones over ten years ago and it has now just been published. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the book launching at the Emigration Studies Library to which I received an invitation. There is a listing for Cappagh Cemetery for a Francis FERGUYS who died at age 81 on Oct 8, 1796 (so born in 1715) and (probably his wife) Jane FERGUYS who died at age 61 years on April 6, 1784 (so born in 1723). My g-g-g-g grandfather, Francis FERGUS was born Sept 8, 1752. Francis FERGUYS would have been 37 years old and Jane FERGUYS would have been 27 years old. The time frame would certainly fit! In March, when I was in Omagh Bill McGrew told me to look in Cappagh Cemetery - so I did. I walked row by row looking and reading each tombstone and did not find this one. So, it is possible that I missed it or that it is now unreadable from when it was first recorded. Bill has offered to take me there upon my return. Only 6 days before the launching of the book, Bill McGrew suffered a stroke and lost his speech. However, I learned that he did attend the book launching and walked unaided. His brother delivered the speech for him. What a great blessing to have Bill be recovering so rapidly. If you are so inclined, please add Bill McGrew to your prayers for recovery of his speech. As you might have guessed, he is a remarkable gentleman. The research material for the time frame of the 18th century is almost non-existent, however I will continue to work on this new information. Does anyone on this list have any information which would confirm a connection from Francis FERGUYS to Francis FERGUS? Please post it to the list! As soon as I find the information for ordering the book I will post it to this list. Cynthia crussell@traversecity.com FERGUS Website http://www.traverse.net/people/crussell/fergus_family.htm FERGUS Newsgroup FERGUS-L@rootsweb.com Rootsweb Archives: http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl