Mrs. Charles H. Starrett Mrs. Melissa Van Cleave Starrett, 88, died at 3 a.m. Thursday at the Circleville Home and Hospital, after an illness of two weeks. Born Sept. 8, 1859 at Logansport, Ind., she was the daughter of John and Sarah Dunn Van Cleave. At the age of seven, she moved with her family to Iowa. She was a graduate of the Missouri State Normal college and she taught in the public schools of Iowa, Missouri and Kansas. On. Sept. 30, 1891, she was married to Charles H. Starrett of Norton, Kan., who died several years ago. Since 1926, she had made her home with her daughter, Mrs. Irving E. Reeves, Route 1. She was a member of the First Christian church. Surviving in addition to Mrs. Reeves are twin sons, Ellis L. of Norton, Kan. And John D. of Chicago, Ill., five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Sunday from Ware's funeral home with the Rev. M. O. Johnston officiating. Burial will follow in Greenlawn cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 4 p.m. Saturday until time of the funeral. Source: Chillicothe Gazette, 4 Mar 1948 [she lived in Van Buren Co.; her parents are buried at Thompson Cem., Vernon Twp., Van Buren Co., IA - I would like to hear from anyone with information on this family - Rich Lowe]

Hello Rich I think I have subscribed to your site quite sometime ago as I have searched in Van Buren County in the past.. You may remember me, I was working on Barnabus and Polly Sell and his mother Catherine. Its possible we may get back up that way again sometime this summer. I am interested in Mt. Sterling. Is there any streets left there now. When we went through there a few years ago, we did not have time to look around, only went to the Harness Cemetery. I am also interested in where Barnabus (barney) Sell's land was located there out of town. Thanks Evelyn Skelton Sell

This information was just sent to me through another list, and I thought it well worth passing along. Currently, if you wish to obtain a copy of your ancestor's Social Security Number application and you can provide the SS number, the fee is only $7. As of July 1, it will jump to $27. Rates higher without the S.S. All information is available at the site below. The new fees are posted at: http://www.ssa.gov/foia/foia_guide.htm You can do a search and actually fill out a form requesting this info at: http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/vital/ssdi/main.htm The application form (SS-5) contains the following information: Full name Full name at birth (including maiden name) Present mailing address Age at last birthday Date of birth Place of birth (City, county, state) Father's full name "regardless of whether living or dead" Mother's full name, including maiden name, "regardless of whether living or dead" Sex and race Ever applied for SS number/Railroad Retirement before? Yes/No Current employer's name and address Date signed Applicant's signature Rich ___________________________________________________________ «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»§«¤» Rich Lowe richlowe@web-iowa.com Van Buren Co. IA GenWeb Coordinator http://www.rootsweb.com/~iavanbur/ IAVANBUR-L Mail List http://www.rootsweb.com/~iavanbur/how-to-subscribe.html Villages of Van Buren http://www.800-tourvbc.com

Lloyd Glad to hear you will be in Van Buren Co. doing research. You will find the records you mentioned at the Van Buren Co. courthouse in Keosauqua in the Recorder's Office. You may also want to visit the Clerk's Office there to check for any probate info. The genealogy section of the Keosauqua Public Library is a place you will want to spend a good deal of time. This is the location of the genealogical society collection which is one of the best you will find. If you can, you will also want to visit Bonaparte and Farmington libraries. However, though what you find may be more localized, you won't find near the collection there or in such as organized fashion. Keosauqua Library hours can be found at: http://showcase.netins.net/web/keolibrary/ I have people at both Bonaparte and Thompson cemeteries. Both are very nicely maintained. Indexes can be found at the Keosauqua Library for both. I am sure your trip will be productive! Enjoy! Rich P.S. If you need info on lodging, here is a link to check out: http://showcase.netins.net/web/villages/lodging.htm > > > Subject: [IAVANBUR] VBC research advice > Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001 23:00:05 EDT > From: LAHOLLYTREE1@aol.com > To: IAVANBUR-L@rootsweb.com > > CATES, WORDEN, MILFORD, TOOPS > > Hi, > Will be in VBC in two weeks. Planning to search birth, marriage, death, land, > etc. records (ca. 1850 - 1910) at county court house for above ancestors. > Also, the Thompson and Bentonsport cemeteries (only two cemeteries where I > have leads at the moment). Anyone have any experience obtaining sexton's > records? > The VBC web site has been extremely helpful on background, maps, etc. > Expecially would appreciate any advice on searching records at the court > house. > Also, as time allows will visit Keosauqua and a couple other libraries. Do > the other libraries like Bonaparte and Farmington have genealogy research > materials? Thanks for your help. > Lloyd Holly > LAHOLLYTREE1@AOL.COM

CATES, WORDEN, MILFORD, TOOPS Hi, Will be in VBC in two weeks. Planning to search birth, marriage, death, land, etc. records (ca. 1850 - 1910) at county court house for above ancestors. Also, the Thompson and Bentonsport cemeteries (only two cemeteries where I have leads at the moment). Anyone have any experience obtaining sexton's records? The VBC web site has been extremely helpful on background, maps, etc. Expecially would appreciate any advice on searching records at the court house. Also, as time allows will visit Keosauqua and a couple other libraries. Do the other libraries like Bonaparte and Farmington have genealogy research materials? Thanks for your help. Lloyd Holly LAHOLLYTREE1@AOL.COM

There was a Leman Brattain who married a Sybil Cooper in Van Buren Co. in 1845. I wonder if they are his parents by chance? If you have not visited and searched the Van Buren Co. GenWeb site for this family, be sure to do so. Several hits on this surname come up. I would imagine that this surname ended up being spelled a number of ways so you may want to check several variations. Lemmons BRATTON shows up in the 1847 census, for example. http://www.rootsweb.com/~iavanbur/ Rich > > Subject: [IAVANBUR] Brattain/Bratton and Seeker > Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2001 22:02:46 -0600 > From: Betsey Browning <dbrown@webpipe.net> > To: IAVANBUR-L@rootsweb.com > > I am looking for info for an upcoming trip to IA. I am looking for > Lemmons W. Brattain who married Caroline "Carrie" Seeker 9 Nov 1869 in > Henry Co., IA. He was born Oct 1846 in IA. I find him living in Mt. > Pleasant; Center Twp IA and Liberty, Marion, IA and the last place in > the 1920 census was Bonaparte, Van Buren, IA. He had a daughter named > Cordie born Aug 1876 in IA. Cordie married G.M. Carr and they had a > child William K. Carr born 1899. If anyone can help me I would > appreciate it as I am going on a trip to IA this next week. > Betseylee

I am looking for info for an upcoming trip to IA. I am looking for Lemmons W. Brattain who married Caroline "Carrie" Seeker 9 Nov 1869 in Henry Co., IA. He was born Oct 1846 in IA. I find him living in Mt. Pleasant; Center Twp IA and Liberty, Marion, IA and the last place in the 1920 census was Bonaparte, Van Buren, IA. He had a daughter named Cordie born Aug 1876 in IA. Cordie married G.M. Carr and they had a child William K. Carr born 1899. If anyone can help me I would appreciate it as I am going on a trip to IA this next week. Betseylee

Alma Anne Mussetter was the dau of Henry Mussetter, b. 4 Apr 1811 in Ijamsville, Frederick Co., MD; d. 1892 near Lebanon, Van Buren Co., IA; m. 2 Jul 1846 in Van Buren Co., IA, Maria Ann REAM. Both bur. Pittsburg Cemetery; Pittsburg, Van Buren Co., IA Henry was the son of Christian Mussetter, Jr. & Ruth IJAMS.

Hi Rich, I just took a look at the new site and can only say that why bother to look at it. The font they use for the info that various folks have sent in is really impossible to read. I was looking up my Abel/Abell's and gave up in despair. Priss

Some of you may have visited the so called "new and improved" Board system that Ancestry.com and RootsWeb have sprung upon us. The system at this state is poorly designed in some aspects and was even more poorly introduced. Administrators have no instructions for usage, lack tools to do any administering, etc. Tools that are there in many cases are not functioning correctly. We cannot even fix errors to posts at this point and are told it is unlikely we will ever be able to. Hopefully, time will see improvements made. If not, the various county coordinators will have to decide whether to continue with this system or find an alternative. Alternatives are being explored as we speak. I would encourage you to experiment with the site from time to time. Would suggest you check back if features don't seem to be working at the time, as this appears to be a work in progress rather than the finished product. Presently, at least, you can reach the new combined board by clicking on the puzzle links on the main page. http://www.rootsweb.com/~iavanbur/ The advanced search function should be the key to making this work for visitors, but the last time I checked was not working properly. Good luck and thanks for your patience during this time. Rich Lowe Van Buren Co. GenWeb

Thanks for letting me know what is going on: and good luck in getting it all straight again: I do appreciate all that you do on the Van Buren scene ! Gerald Clark ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rich Lowe" <richlowe@web-iowa.com> To: <IAVANBUR-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 9:45 PM Subject: [IAVANBUR] GenConnect Boards > Those of you who have tried to visit the Van Buren Co. GenConnect Boards > this evening have no doubt noticed they are a mess. Rootsweb and > Ancestry.Com have unilaterally decided to revamp the boards and at this > point nothing is working at all. If and when the do work, the format is > going to be much different. > > Hopefully, when all the bugs are worked out we will end up with > something we can still use. If not, we will look for or develop an > alternative of some sort. > > Stand by . . . . > > Rich > ___________________________________________________________ > «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»§«¤» > Rich Lowe richlowe@web-iowa.com > Van Buren Co. IA GenWeb Coordinator > http://www.rootsweb.com/~iavanbur/ > IAVANBUR-L Mail List > http://www.rootsweb.com/~iavanbur/how-to-subscribe.html > Villages of Van Buren > http://www.800-tourvbc.com > > > > > ==== IAVANBUR Mailing List ==== > To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the IAVANBUR List > http://www.rootsweb.com/~iavanbur/how-to-subscribe.html > >

Those of you who have tried to visit the Van Buren Co. GenConnect Boards this evening have no doubt noticed they are a mess. Rootsweb and Ancestry.Com have unilaterally decided to revamp the boards and at this point nothing is working at all. If and when the do work, the format is going to be much different. Hopefully, when all the bugs are worked out we will end up with something we can still use. If not, we will look for or develop an alternative of some sort. Stand by . . . . Rich ___________________________________________________________ «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»§«¤» Rich Lowe richlowe@web-iowa.com Van Buren Co. IA GenWeb Coordinator http://www.rootsweb.com/~iavanbur/ IAVANBUR-L Mail List http://www.rootsweb.com/~iavanbur/how-to-subscribe.html Villages of Van Buren http://www.800-tourvbc.com

We've been advised that there are changes in the works for the various GenConnect Boards/Forums that we used for posting Van Buren Co. obits., queries, bible records, etc. They (RootsWeb.com and Ancestry.com) are promising many improvements. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and just hope it is indeed an improvement and not something else. Apparently this will be happening soon. In fact, in the middle of posting Obits. this morning, suddenly the option to post disappeared. Nor can I do my normal administrative work so I suspect this signals a changeover is upon us shortly as they must be trying to "freeze" what is already on the boards in order to move the data over to the new system without losing any new posts or changes. Stay tuned . . . and keep your fingers crossed as I am! Rich P.S. The advance announcement which came a few days ago. COOL TOOLS COMING by Jake Gehring, Executive Producer, RootsWeb.com Drum roll please! In the next few weeks, Ancestry.com and RootsWeb.com will be unveiling a new integrated message board system. The biggest change to the new system is the combination of two powerful message board systems (i.e., GenConnect and FamilyHistory.com) into one -- users will be able to take advantage of a much larger community in which to share experience, tips, and genealogical information. The new message boards will be indexable by the major Internet search engines, and as a result queries, discussions, and helpful suggestions from the genealogical community will reach the widest possible audience. In addition to new messages posted, the collection will contain more than 15 million messages from researchers who have shared their experience and expertise since 1987. Messages in the new system can be accessed from Ancestry.com or RootsWeb.com and access will remain free. Other enhancements include: --- Improved search functionality with hits ranked by relevance --- New infrastructure allowing for faster access, and larger traffic loads, and better stability --- Users will be able to view the e-mail address of message authors and respond to them easily and privately. However, the message boards cannot be "crawled" by unscrupulous third parties to gather e-mail addresses for spam mailings. --- The new message boards will be able to handle attachments to e-mail messages in the form of uploaded pictures (scanned documents, family photos, etc.), and GEDCOM files. Administrators rejoice! The new message boards also feature centralized and simplified admin capability for the benefit of the thousands of volunteers who monitor and administer individual boards. Administrative improvements include: --- Each message board has a special "administrator" page, where administrators can supply information about themselves and/or the topic. They may even add helpful text and links to appropriate resources elsewhere on the Internet. --- URLs in messages are automatically recognized and hyperlinked so that users can visit referred sites on the Internet with one simple click. --- Administrators can take advantage of a convenient "recycle bin" feature which allows them to delete inappropriate messages (spam, inappropriate content, etc.) or even restore such messages if deletion was inadvertent. * * * ___________________________________________________________ «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»§«¤» Rich Lowe richlowe@web-iowa.com Van Buren Co. IA GenWeb Coordinator http://www.rootsweb.com/~iavanbur/ IAVANBUR-L Mail List http://www.rootsweb.com/~iavanbur/how-to-subscribe.html Villages of Van Buren http://www.800-tourvbc.com

Posted on: VanBuren Co. Ia Query Forum Reply Here: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ia/VanBuren/11473 Surname: Plowman ------------------------- He might be indirectly related -- but not the person I was looking for. Thank you for responding. Ron Dick

Hi listers, I'm looking for a Patterson-Douglas line that seems to have been in Van Buren County during the 1860s. My-g-g-grandfather was James W. Douglas (1861-1926). According to a biography of James he was born July 19, 1861 in Van Buren County, Iowa to a Henry Douglas and Mary (Patterson). Around 1874 this family moved south to Sullivan County, Missouri, and they seem to have made the move with other Douglases and Pattersons. James Douglas's father Henry Douglas seems to have moved back to Iowa by 1908, but his mother Mary (Patterson Douglas) remained in Missouri with him. That's all I know about James's family, and I haven't been able to find them in the 1860 or 1870 Census indexes, and I haven't been able to find his father Henry' (according to the bio) anywhere at all. Presumably, they are in Van Buren County somewhere, at least between 1860 and 1870. I also don't know anything about the Van Buren Co. Pattersons (where James's mother) comes from. They seem to have been a Kentucky family before that, but I'm not sure. This has been a big brick wall for me. If anyone recognizes any of the above or the Douglas/Patterson families I would love to hear from you. I have many Patterson relatives from Missouri and a bit more information (and some photos) on the Patterson line if anyone is interested. Thanks in advance! Robert J. Powell rjpowell72@yahoo.co.uk

Posted on: VanBuren Co. Ia Query Forum Reply Here: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ia/VanBuren/11472 Surname: Shaw ------------------------- I just learned that my ancestors, Warren and Samantha Shaw were buried in Van Buren County. Warren was born in 1808 in Johnstown, New York. They were married there in 1833. One of their children was Rufus Millington Shaw and he married, raised children, lived, and died in Trumbull County, Ohio. Please contact me if these people are part of your family.

Posted on: VanBuren Co. Ia Query Forum Reply Here: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ia/VanBuren/11470 Surname: Plouman ------------------------- The Van Buren county school picture has a Delber Plouman pictured. Is this your family? I guess that I took the u to be a w.

Posted on: VanBuren Co. Ia Query Forum Reply Here: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ia/VanBuren/11469 Surname: DOTY, MONDA, COFFY, COFFEE ------------------------- am seeking information on the JOSEPH DOTY family that was in Jackson Township, Van Buren Co. Iowa in the 1860 Census. Joseph, wife: Eliza; Children: William,Mary, Henrietta, James, Oscar, Edwin.

Posted on: VanBuren Co. Ia Query Forum Reply Here: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ia/VanBuren/11468 Surname: Plowman ------------------------- My husband's great grandfather was Thomas Plowman. It is Plowman (with a w) not Plouman. Who is the Plowman's first name in the picture? Thank you for your assistance.

Posted on: VanBuren Co. Ia Query Forum Reply Here: http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/gc/USA/Ia/VanBuren/11467 Surname: perkins ------------------------- I am looking for a perkins family that has the following siblings: MARTIN,JEFFERY,ELIZABETH,WILLIAM,STEPHEN, AND ROBERT. WILLIAM WAS BORN IN 1850 DIED 1925. IN OHIO. STEPHEN BORN 1848 DIED 1925. IN OHIO. ANY INF. APPRECIATED.