Bev, I agree with you!!! Jones worked with what ever sources he had at hand in that time period. I think it's great that he did as much as he did. Where would we be without our ancestors word of mouth, Bible records, etc. It don't have to be printed in a court record somewhere for it to be true. I appreciate things that my grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins or even friends of theirs told me, because sometimes that's all the proof we can find. And as far as going back before the Rev. War, it's very hard to connect with people who didn't have middle names, meaning that we might have a dozen James, Robert, Benjamin who all may sound the same but in fact are in a completely different family. So I say thanks to S.C. Jones for his contribution to genealogy. Jewel -----Original Message----- From: BBarnes525@aol.com <BBarnes525@aol.com> To: HAMRICK-L@rootsweb.com <HAMRICK-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Monday, October 11, 1999 10:55 AM Subject: [HAMRICK-L] Jones Book >Dear JR & List: >The folks in Shelby, NC will tell you that Mr. Jones would stop by to visit >Hamrick families and would ask who the children married and the names of the >grandchildren. He would usually stop at dinner time and would be invited to >eat with the family. If the woman of the family was a good cook, he would >stop by several times to get the family history! > >He could only write down what he was told so I think any errors are just >honest mistakes told him by the actual families questioned. I don't think my >own kids could tell you the names of their grandparents. His book is a good >starting point for any of the Cleveland/Rutherford surnames. A clue from his >book can point you in the right direction for a marriage license. As with all >genealogy material in print, you have to be willing to prove it with >documentation. The problem is when people accept the Jones info as gospel >truth and put it on websites and incorporate it in their own family trees >without checking it out first. > >Bev Barnes >