Finally got the websites updated again... I apologize for the delay. Many thanks to those who sent in data. Check'em out! <A HREF="www.perrycountyillinois.net">www.perrycountyillinois.net</A> <A HREF="www.randolphcountyillinois.net">www.randolphcountyillinois.net</A> Jean Webmaster for: <A HREF="www.perrycountyillinois.net">Perry County Illinois</A> <A HREF="www.randolphcountyillinois.net">Randolph County Illinois</A> [email protected]

Mary, Maybe it is Johnson county? National Mapping Information: 1 record has been selected from GNIS. Feature Name: Rentfro Cemetery Feature Type: cemetery State: Illinois County: Johnson USGS 7.5' x 7.5' Map: Mermet 372130N 0884646W ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Location of Rentfro Cemetery, Illinois: The following maps are produced using a direct map request from the U.S. Census Bureau Mapping and Cartographic Resources at the U.S. Census Bureau. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnis/MapServer?f_name=Rentfro+Cemetery&f_state=IL&f_latlong=372130N0884646W&server=TIGER Hope this helps, Karima ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mary Riseling" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2003 1:27 PM Subject: [ILJACKSON] Rentfro Cemetery > Has anybody out there ever heard of a Rentfro Cemetery in Jackson County? > If so, where is it? > > Mary Riseling > Springfield, IL > > > > > ==== ILJACKSO Mailing List ==== > List Administrator mailto:[email protected] > List Guidelines: http://www.rootsweb.com/~illinois/JacksonCoWelcome.html > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.504 / Virus Database: 302 - Release Date: 7/24/2003

This cem is not listed on the list I have, ILLINOIS STATE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY CEMETERY LOCATION PROJECT, for Jackson Co. as of 2001. Sorry. Juli ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mary Riseling" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2003 1:27 PM Subject: [ILJACKSON] Rentfro Cemetery > Has anybody out there ever heard of a Rentfro Cemetery in Jackson County? > If so, where is it? > > Mary Riseling > Springfield, IL > > > > > ==== ILJACKSO Mailing List ==== > List Administrator mailto:[email protected] > List Guidelines: http://www.rootsweb.com/~illinois/JacksonCoWelcome.html > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >

Has anybody out there ever heard of a Rentfro Cemetery in Jackson County? If so, where is it? Mary Riseling Springfield, IL

The message below was posted on the Jackson County Message Board. If you wish to respond to this message, please click on the following URL which will take you to the message where it is posted on the board: Thank you, Karima List Administrator ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, July 25, 2003 3:21 PM Subject: McKenzies/Williams in Carbondale > This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. > > Surnames: McKenzie/Williams > Classification: Query > > Message Board URL: > > http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Gg.2ADI/331 > > Message Board Post: > > Seeking info on McKenzie family in Carbondale. Sybil Mckenzie gave birth to a daughter there in 1919. Brother Jesse McKenzie may have lived there 1920s. While working for RR he lost both legs in an accident, possibly Carbondale area. Mother Leona McKenzie later known as Leona Williams and lived at 403 S. Logan St. in 1942. Any further info on this family's connection to Carbondale greatly appreciated. > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.504 / Virus Database: 302 - Release Date: 7/24/2003

The message below was posted on the Jackson County Message Board. If you wish to respond to this message, please click on the following URL which will take you to the message where it is posted on the board: Thank you, Karima List Administrator ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, July 25, 2003 3:13 PM Subject: Dr. F. L. Lingle, Carbondale 1919 > This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. > > Surnames: Lingle > Classification: Query > > Message Board URL: > > http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Gg.2ADI/330 > > Message Board Post: > > Anyone know if this was a man or woman, doctor or midwife? I have that name on a 1919 birth certificate fronm Carbondale? > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.504 / Virus Database: 302 - Release Date: 7/24/2003

The message below was posted on the Jackson County Message Board. If you wish to respond to this message, please click on the following URL which will take you to the message where it is posted on the board: Thank you, Karima List Administrator ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, July 25, 2003 3:06 PM Subject: Carbondale City Directory/Phone Book 1942? > This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. > > Surnames: Williams > Classification: Query > > Message Board URL: > > http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Gg.2ADI/329 > > Message Board Post: > > I have Mrs. Leona Williams in 1942 living at 403 S. Logan St., Carbondale. Does anyone have access to a city directory or phone book from 1942 (or near years) and would be willing to do a lookup to see if anyone is listed as living with Leona Williams at that address? Especially seeking husband"s first name. Any info on her greatly appreciated. Thanks. > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.504 / Virus Database: 302 - Release Date: 7/24/2003

Little Egypt Heritage Articles Stories of Southern Illinois (c) Bill Oliver 20 July 2003 Vol 2 Issue: #27 ISBN: pending Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen of Little Egypt, My friend, Gene, asked how I could write about so many different things. "Writing is no trouble; yo just jot down ideas as they occur to you. The jotting is simplicity itself — it is the occurring which is difficult." [Stephan Leacock] This week seems no different. However, it does disturb me just a bit to think that this week all has taken place in my life time — it is history of which I have been involved. <G> When I was but nine the telephone began to be called an "ameche". A radio personality, who debuted on-screen in a 1933 "short subject", made a most memorable performance in 1939 as the famed inventor in the movie "The Story of Alexander Graham Bell". Thus, a surname became part of our language. Don Ameche was active, both on network radio as well as on-screen. Don Ameche had a brother named Jim. Jim Ameche was a radio personality also. Jim was the first Jack Armstrong; All American Boy. Jack Armstrong's was a high school student whose adventures were world wide. His friends, Betty and Billy [Fairfield], accompanied him on these safari's, which was most convenient due to the fact that their Uncle Jim furnished the air transportation. Jim Ameche played this role from the first broadcast [31st of July 1933] through 1938. It was a long lasting series, with its final broadcast on the 28th of June 1951, by which time I was still a year and a few days older than the program, but never could match the preposterous situations [errr, adventures] ever portrayed in [children's] radio thriller hours [dinner time in my home]. It is odd what one remembers. For instance, I don't remember any specific adventure, but I do remember the voice of the announcer introducing the show with "Jack ARMSTRONG! -- ALL AMERICAN BOY!" He did commercials with a capella quintet in the background called "The Norsemen". Well, from "wave the flag" for Hudson High School to "Eagle ... you're go for a landing" and "The Eagle has landed!" Thirty years ago, on my birthday, three men were launched into space. On that wild trip the visited a celestial being and accomplished a safe return to terra firma on Mother Earth. So from fictional Jack Armstrong to real life adventurer, Neil Armstrong. Today is the anniversary of the first landing on the moon and with a daughter and three grandchildren, we visited the Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio, named for this first man to set his footprints on the surface there. The children were most impressed with the walk way which gave them the illusions of the vastness of outer space. A fantastic job all done with mirrors. We certainly held onto the five year old fearless "All American Girl" for she was climbing over the railing wanting to know how far down it was. We did safely reach the other end without messing up any of the illusion. Neil Armstrong traded his bicycle in for flying lessons at the early age of sixteen. When I saw that plane on display in the museum, I remembered back to those days when my then closest friend, Sonny Davis, was learning to fly. Neil Armstrong being a tad older than myself has probably retired by now, but where his space colleague from Ohio, John Glenn, turned to politics, he turned to industry and became the Chairman of the Board of AIL [electronics] Systems, Inc. After serving as a naval aviator, Neil Armstrong served as an engineer, a test pilot, an astronaut, an administrator with NACA/NASA. His experience with flying over 200 different models of aircraft included the famed X-15. As an astronaut, Armstrong performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space. As the commander for Apollo 11, he was first to land a craft on the moon and the first to set foot on that surface. For all his achievements, Neil Armstrong has been decorated by seventeen countries. He and John Glenn were at the memorial to honor the Wright Brothers this weekend. e-la-di-e-das-di ha-wi nv-wa-do-hi-ya nv-wa-to-hi-ya-da. (May you walk in peace and harmony) Wado, Bill -=- Other sites worth visiting: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/SOIL http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/ILMASSAC http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/state/BillsArticles/LittleEgypt/intro.html

Hello, As some of you may be aware, about a year ago or so, the Illinois State Historical Library suspended their interlibrary loan services and reference and researches services. They did this in anticipation of moving their holdings into the new Abraham Library in Springfield. There has been a delay in the completion of the library (the latest being heating and air conditioning problems) and the Abraham Lincoln Library will not be open until sometime in 2004. Therefore (from the ISHL web site): http://www.state.il.us/HPA/lib/default.htm ******************************* "The Illinois State Historical Library (ISHL) continues to be open to the public for onsite reference and research services: Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. underneath the Old State Capitol in downtown Springfield. The ISHL has not moved into its new facility, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. No date has been announced for the start of the move. "The ISHL will RESUME its interlibrary loan services and mail reference and research services on July 7, 2003. "Please continue to visit our website for updated information. Thank you. Kathryn M. Harris, Director" ******************************* This is wonderful news for genealogical researchers. The library's newspaper collection is a true treasure trove. "The Library's 4,900 newspaper titles are preserved on nearly 73,000 microfilm reels. As the mandated newspaper repository in Illinois, the Library holds titles from all 102 counties. Many of the newspapers date from the early and mid-nineteenth century, and more than 300 newspapers are currently received through subscription." Visit their website to find out about the "search" policy and details. http://www.state.il.us/hpa/lib/Microfilm.htm Good Luck, Karima List Administrator Illinois Discussion List (ILROOTS-L) http://www.rootsweb.com/~illinois/Illinoismailinglist3.html Southern Illinois Discussion List (SOIL-L) http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilsoil/welcomeSoil.html Jackson County, IL Discussion List (ILJACKSO-L) http://www.rootsweb.com/~illinois/JacksonCoWelcome.html IL GenWeb Unknown Illinois County Web Site http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilunknow/ --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.501 / Virus Database: 299 - Release Date: 7/14/2003

Little Egypt Heritage Articles Stories of Southern Illinois (c) Bill Oliver 13 July 2003 Vol 2 Issue: #26 ISBN: pending Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen of Little Egypt, >From the section on Social, A History of Johnson County, by Mrs. P. T. Chapman, January 1925, page 82: "One great social with our people, perhaps not with the very first settlers, but a custom begun early and followed religiously until a few years ago, was the free barbecue. The cattle, sheep and hogs were furnished by the neighbors. These animals were dressed the day before. On the morning of the day of the feast, men versed in the art, began their work long before the dawn of day. The animals were roasted whole or in halves over a hot fire which was built in a vat or hole dug in the ground. The animals were turned and basted with a dressing until by noon they were a delicious viand fit for a king. One very famous barbecue was held at Simpson, 1892. There were said to have been 10,000 people present. Long tables had been spread, under the heavy leafed branches in the grove, with bread, salad, pickles, cakes, pies, coffee and all the necessities for a good dinner, including an abundance of barbecued meat. "The most wonderful part of the story is that, this was all free. After these dinners and sometimes before the crowd was entertained by a good speaker, a minister, a candidate or some friend of the candidate. Everybody visited with everybody else, meeting those who lived at a distance and making new friends. On the whole these were pleasant days." Well, the Largest Picnic in the World was yesterday. It was sponsored by the Toledo [Ohio] MetroParks. Yours truly was there, as a volunteer, dishing out stuff that makes for picnics, greeting visitors, directing traffic, serving some seniors and even holding an impromptu nature lesson about a lunar moth which appeared on the ground. Imagine, if you will, twenty-five hundred [2500] pounds of hamburger and ten thousand [10,000] hot dogs served at one picnic. The picnic was so large that it took place at four [out of nine] different MetroParks in the Toledo, Ohio area. Due to high water in the Maumee River, some parks were closed, and the festivities shifted to other parks in the system. The park officials envisioned, to celebrate the system's 75th Anniversary, the biggest, the largest, picnic ever. The [Toledo] Blade article is on line at: <http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030713/NEWS08/107130109> Two grands are visiting and earlier this week they "allowed" us grandparents to take them to the Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont, Ohio. We have visited the center often, toured the home each time. The most fascinating thing is that we have learned something new each time we visited. One of the guides, Sandy Wagner, had only "us" for her tour and since we had been "frequent" visitors emphasized more of the personal family interrelationships and activities, rather than the furnishings in the home. The Ayes' were an active family, with the parents working along side their hired help in all the domestic activities involved with running a farm. For "Mother Lucy" this involved helping to prepare the meals, even when there were guests to entertain. She also was a seamstress, in that the President said in his diary/journal that he always wore a "home-made" shirt while President. Other regular activities of the President were to walk six miles a day; answer an average of five letters a day; help with things like trimming the trees and reading, reading, reading. Our guide said that the President boasted of not only maintaining a very large library, but having read every single book in it. My guess is that the President did much of his reading while on his daily six mile walks. So we talked with our guide about our reading habits as well as other activities. We gleaned that she, in addition, to reading as many as seven books a week, beyond her household ‘duties' she was a quilter. So was my grandmother. Grandmother wanted to make and give a quilt to each of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She would always inspect the stitching of any quilt and would comment if it was hand or machine stitched and her value [opinion] of the stitching. Our guide does both; hand and machine stitching. Speaking of quilts; I'm beginning to think that next to genealogy, quilting is the next largest avocation in the nation. There are displays of quilts everywhere one goes these days ... not just county fairs. There have been several large shows in Little Egypt recently, and for six weeks, beginning August 1st, there will be a display at the Hayes Presidential Center; quilts from forty- nine of the USA's "top" quilters depicting themes from patriotic to spiritual. "A quilt lives in the maker", Grandma would say. I suppose that she meant that you could tell a lot about the maker by the design and stitching of a quilt. It is too bad, that often, you cannot identify the maker with a name and maybe a biography. According to Grandma, folks would gather pieces for the top of a quilt and then would invite their neighbors and friends for a "qultin'" or quilting bee. The quilt could be for the person who invited them, or for a community event such as a baptism or a wedding. Of course, the person who did the inviting would be sure to furnish the "dinner", even if there were twenty women there. If it was a community project, then all would share in bringing the food ... like a ‘pot-luck' dinner. Grandma always said that many times they could do a quilt in a day, or even, two a day if they "got out" at breakfast. I would guess that they rather determined for themselves how much they wanted to do at a "sitting" ... after all it was also a social event. Grandma would, as I said, inspect every quilt between her fingers. Even with severe arthritis, she could judge the stitches. I once heard her say something to the effect that the stitches on one quilt were so "long" you'd catch your toes in them. Today, if you need something done, you do it yourself or hire it done. In Grandma's day folks helped each other with things. Quilts were just one of those "neighborly" things folks did with each other. There was canning, or barn raising, or cabin raising, or butchering, or corn husking, or pea "thrashing", or any number of "excuses" to make a social event. Remember in gone-by days, folks lived far apart and human company was rare outside the nuclear family. It probably would be a great idea to be historically accurate and thus dispell the myth portion of the above social and community activities, especially as it applies to quilting. Readers of these articles are familiar with stories, traditions as far back as, say, 150 years ago. This is due to many of us remembering the stories of our grand and great grandparents. Thus, we must remember that our colonial grandmothers spent their days spinning, weaving and sewing to keep their families in clothing. They didn't have the imported fabrics with which to make quilts. It wasn't until the 1840s when textiles became available and affordable to our ancestors. e-la-di-e-das-di ha-wi nv-wa-do-hi-ya nv-wa-to-hi-ya-da. (May you walk in peace and harmony) Wado, Bill -=- Other sites worth visiting: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/SOIL http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/ILMASSAC http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/state/BillsArticles/LittleEgypt/intro.html

Help! I'm having a "bugger" of a time finding my gggrandad Leander Conaway and wife Sarah with daughter Manerva in the 1870 census. They were married in Murhysboro in Dec 1868. I believe they may have settled near or with her folks in Makanda. Her father was Thomas Downs, and her grandfather was William Elmore. All these folks show in Makanda, Union Co. in the 1850 census. What county is Makanda in in 1870? Richard..

Little Egypt Heritage Articles Stories of Southern Illinois (c) Bill Oliver 6 July 2003 Vol 2 Issue: #25 ISBN: pending Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen of Little Egypt, The favorite reading material for me is pre-Revolution or War of 1812, when it took much individual ingenuity and fortitude to grow and expand. The second favorite material is the period between the War of 1812 and World War I. The third favorite material with which to feast my eyes is that period between the World Wars. Anything newer I have lived through. There is a vast expanse of this country from Pennsylvania to Wyoming and from Minnesota to Louisiana which affects our population. That is the territories that cover all the waterways that flow out the Louisiana delta into the Gulf of Mexico. Catching up with my reading of things that happened while we were R & Rin' along the Ohio River in southern Illinois and northern Kentucky, I noted that Paulding county in northwestern Ohio was once again under water. A picture in the newspaper featured two teens walking their bicycles across a street. One had to take the word of the photographer that there were bicycles present for the tall lads were in water over their hips. Then, early this week in the newspaper we had pictures and story about Tropical Storm Bill in the Gulf states. Back in 1927, the last year of my Father's high schooling, the Mississippi River between Illinois and Missouri covered the land with over thirty feet of water. This precipitated many changes in our country, from extremely comprehensive legislation, to winning the nomination for a president and laying the foundation for the New Deal of another President. It effected the political shift of a group of people from Republican to the Democratic Party. So, the "rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, ..." quoted my Grandmother from Matthew. [For those who wish to read a wonderfully comprehensive narrative of this flood should obtain a copy of John M Barry's "Rising Tide". It is a vivid picture of a great natural disaster.] >From March 7th through Good Friday, April 15th, 1927 it had rained and on the 15th it had intensified. That day the heavens poured forth from 6 to 15 inches of rain over many hundreds of square miles from Missouri and Illinois to Texas and Alabama. Cairo, Illinois measured over 10 inches. New Orleans, the heaviest amount at 14.96 or more than 15 inches in nearby areas. This in one day was a quarter of the yearly average rainfall for the Port City. Floods have taken towns and moved towns. Shawneetown in Gallatin county is but an example. Water on the move is powerful. Out on such a river as the Mississippi whole trees would be sucked under by the current only to reappear a hundred or two yards down river, like a missile launched by a submarine. Roofs of houses and sometimes whole houses would float [rush] by. The carcases of live stock also would rush past. Alluded to above, these waters came from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado in the far west, from the Allegheny Mountains of New York and Pennsylvania, as well as from Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada. Also, from Montana, Minnesota and the Great Smokies of Tennessee. The Mississippi River acted as a funnel for all the water that wasn't evaporated or soaked into the ground. One has to imagine millions of cubic feet of water rushing by each and every second to comprehend this flood of 1927. The natural disaster pitted man against nature ... was man controlling nature with all the dykes along the waterways? Imbedded into this natural disaster also were challenges of man with other men where wealth and poverty collided, regional and national power structures collided, and ethnic cultures collided to shade all of [US] America. One of the lessons learned from the flood was learned before the flood did its worst. They blew up the levee at New Orleans, thus learning that levees alone would never control the "Ole Man River" — the Mississippi. As a result, the Corp of Army Engineers was given the responsibility of creating "floodplain management". Six inches of fast moving water can knock one off their feet, and a depth of 2 feet will float a car. One can appreciate this when attempting to cross a shallow river at a point of rapids, such as at Grand Rapids on the Maumee River in northwestern Ohio, where the water constantly flows over a man-made dam that stretches across the river. On the 31st of May 1889 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the dam there broke letting loose a wall of water more than 35 feet, and creating at that time the worst flood in United States History. In Shadyville, Ohio on 14 June 1990, just four inches of rain in two hours produced a 30 foot high wall of water. Rainfall intensity and duration are factors which contribute to flash flooding. Topography, ground cover and other conditions are factors not to be forgotten. Flash floods occur very shortly following excessive rainfall. Of course, the failure of a dam or levee, creating a sudden release of water also causes flash floods. Flash floods move buildings, roll boulders, up-root trees and even change the course of rivers. Saturated soil can trigger mud slides. Thus, the 2400 mile Mississippi River with it tributaries traveling across 31 states was/is one of the world's very fertile valleys. After the 1927 flood, the Army Corps of Engineers built 29 dams and locks, with hundreds of runoff canals, and miles upon miles of concrete levees. This system works fairly well, but "ole man river" showed who was really master in the flood of 1993. Due to heavy farming and industry along the waterways, the wetlands were not there to soak up any excess water. Today farmers are encouraged to use soil absorption properties, even to allow some acreage to return to wetland status to soak up excess moisture. Some time in the future the river will again exert itself to illustrate that nothing is going to eliminate flooding. Out in prairie land, eleven creeks converge with Salt Creek near Lincoln. Combined they drain more than 1000 square miles of land. Hundreds of floods have occurred to damage Lincoln due to this amount of land draining into one locale. During stormy times Salt Creek has been known to discharge between 12 and 13 million gallons of water per minute [more than 25,000 cubic feet per second] through Lincoln. Normal spring discharge is but 140 cfs, or thereabouts. Further west, in fact, much further west is the Republican River, a wild and wooly river on occasion. Such occasions are 1826, 1885, 1903 &5, 1915, 1935 and 1947. Picture, though, during the Great Depression, the dry spring of 1935. Dust storms swept across the flat landscape to such an intense degree that it blocked out the sun. In May of that year the skies in southwestern Nebraska opened up for the parched land to soak some moisture. The rain continued for a few days and farmers were thinking there would be a bumper crop. Meanwhile out in Colorado at the convergence of the Arickaree and Republican Rivers, 20 inches of rain fell to end May and begin June. Twenty four inches fell in 24 hours along the South Fork of the Republican River. Now the average yearly rainfall had been nine inches. The storm followed the drainage basin and the Frenchman, Red Willow, Medicine, Deer, Muddy and Turkey creeks all reached flood stage at the same time as the Republican River. It is said that the roar of water could be heard five miles away. Reports said, during one period, that water raised a foot a minute at McCook. Water rose as much as 20 feet, discharging over a quarter of a million cubic feet/second or 320 times normal. Residents reported flooding from "bluff to bluff", as wide as two miles, and families were riding the roofs of their homes as they were swept along with the water. Along 341 miles of highway, 307 bridges were destroyed. There has not been a damaging flood on the Republican River since 1960 due mainly to two factors; one several dams creating reservoirs, and two, the modern use of irrigation of crops. Thus, the water flow in the Republican River is much less than it used to be. A first hand account of this flood can be read at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~nefrankl/flood.html To borrow from Sidney Harris: Things I wouldn't know if I didn't open my mail. [Thank you, Deb.] e-la-di-e-das-di ha-wi nv-wa-do-hi-ya nv-wa-to-hi-ya-da. (May you walk in peace and harmony) Wado, Bill -=- Other sites worth visiting: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/SOIL http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/ILMASSAC http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/state/BillsArticles/LittleEgypt/intro.html

Happy Independence Day everyone! I hope someone can help me. I just was told my grgrandmother died in Makanda, IL. Her name was Elizabeth Nall Gibbs. I am looking for a death date. I believe she died between 1895-1899 and left 6 children, the youngest having been born in 1893. She married William John Gibbs, September 1873, in Williamson Co. Wmson Co. has no record of her death. I would appreciate any help that can be given. TIA Joyce McDaniel Hennessy

Little Egypt Heritage Articles Stories of Southern Illinois (c) Bill Oliver 29 June 2003 Vol 2 Issue: #25 ISBN: pending Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen of Little Egypt, Storytelling usually begins with "Once upon a time ..." or "A long time ago ..." These traditional openings signals a suspension of "time and space". However, these openings or beginnings bring to mind "fairy tales". The storytellers of history, of families, of peoples are a bit different. The stories that they tell may be folktales; debatable as literary; yet they are openings through which we have new ways to perceive our world and theirs. One age of ancestral kin aids another age of ancestral kin. An example; the barbed wire used to fence property in the Great Plains of Nebraska was invented in the state of Illinois. Two different ancestral kin from two eras were involved. One in creating and the other is utilizing. Any writer appreciates feedback — letters from readers. They tell us things; they give us ideas. This week a couple of comments from readers centered once again on story-telling ... one of my favorite topics! We are the storytellers ... we are the chosen!! We are the ones in a family -- and there is always one -- who breath life into what has gone on before us. We are the ones who flesh out the bones!! Those bones that are bones of our bones. We are the storytellers of the clan or tribe ... the family. Last week I had the great pleasure of interviewing Paul Fellows, a local historian in Massac [Mass-sack] County, Illinois. The object was to become familiar — get a feeling — of Massac County where an ancestor had property. When material is written for this ancestral family it must evoke a picture to bring them alive again and keep them alive every time words about them are read. Those words must somehow say that those ancestors know and approve of what is said about them. As the storytellers, when we find these ancestors, we find ourselves. We can stand at their graves and we can feel how they have contributed to what we are now ... today. What they accomplished ... how they helped make and keep us a Nation. With great loving care we scratch their existence into the fabric of history ... because, they are us and we are them. Part of my ancestry is Celtic, and one of my family surnames is Son of Mahan [McMahan] or, also known as, Malachi. Well, Malachi had a brother, Brian or Briain, who was the twelfth son of Kennedy of Thomond. The brothers were great heros of their people against the Danes. Malachi was the more gentle and noble of the two; Briain the more athletic and forceful. When Malachi was killed by treachery, which oft happens to the less energetic, Briain became king. My Grandfather, was sensitive and gentle. So gentle, that my Dad and his brother, would oft tell that Grandpa would cry harder then they did when Grandma would force him to take them to the "woodshed". However, Briain has his greatness. He is credited with having originated surnames. He brought the clans together, under one king, for the only time in Irish history. He lost his life against the Norsemen at the Battle of Clontarf, though his warriors won the day. He was eighty-nine. Quite an energetic person. In lore, it is said that "Briain was the last man of Erin who was the match of a hundred men." That story has an implied fact in it which leads to mythology. Due to the variation of Malachi being a form of Mahan/Mahon, the implication was made that Malachi was one of my ancestors. Genealogy is said to be proven family history, while mythology is not. Well, the mythology in family history often turns out to be as factual as the written documents we use. Take for example the information in census reports, or the dates on tombstones. Haven't we all copied down a death date from a tombstone and used it as absolute? Careful investigations will sometimes show that just because it is written in stone doesn't make it so. Another myth or story that has been passed down through several generations is that x-great grandpa married a HARPER who was [part] Cherokee. To reinforce the story as proof it is said that "she knocked the red hair our of us Irish for three generations. Dad and one of his sisters were Irish "reds". There is lots of evidence that there were marriages within the family that involved members of the "five nations", but so far the proof of my line eludes. There is a statement on many of my websites: "Undocumented Genealogy equals Mythology". As true as this is, one must remember that mythology was made from fact. Mythology serves me good purpose in that it has always led me to find genealogy. Thus, do not disregard mythology as worthless ... it isn't ... but, it does tend to open my "inquiring eyes" in hopes of finding real proof. Wado, Bill -=- Other sites worth visiting: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/SOIL http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/ILMASSAC http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/state/BillsArticles/LittleEgypt/intro.html

That could be Makanda. It was a little railroad town then. Juli ----- Original Message ----- From: "nutcase" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2003 3:18 AM Subject: [ILJACKSON] Makanda > My grandfather's name is Arthur William Henson. He married a Dell? about 1902. Dell had a relative or good friend that wrote to her named Stella. Postcard is postmarked Makanda, July 14, 1915. On it, it says Avon, or Aron, 7 months old. It is a picture of a baby on the lap of a boy of about 11 yrs. old. Arthur William Henson belonged to the Christian Church at Makanda according to his obituary. I have more pictures of unknown people. In a few there is a white picket fence either in front of a main road or railroad track. Could this be Makanda? Arthur worked on the railroads, so he moved around a lot. In 1910 Arthur and Dell were in Chaffee, Missouri. Dell was 29 years old and they had been married 8 years. As far as I know, they had no children. Dell received a bible from a church in Chaffee for helping with Sunday school. Arthur William Henson showed he was born in Kentucky in all of his records after 1902. In reality he was born in Ohio, Feb. 17, 1875. His r! > eal name was Albert Evans. He got in trouble with the law in 1897 and fled. He died Arthur William Henson, March 20, 1954 in Randolph county Illinois. He married Florence Brown in 1917, so I don't know if he and Dell divorced, or if she died. He told my father that she had died. Could someone please give me some help on this one. I'd like to know who Dell is and identify some of the people in the pictures. Thanks, Lynn Gardner > > > ==== ILJACKSO Mailing List ==== > HAVE YOU INVESTIGATED THE LIST ARCHIVES YET??http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?list=ILJACKSO-L > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/ILJACKSO-L/ > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >

My grandfather's name is Arthur William Henson. He married a Dell? about 1902. Dell had a relative or good friend that wrote to her named Stella. Postcard is postmarked Makanda, July 14, 1915. On it, it says Avon, or Aron, 7 months old. It is a picture of a baby on the lap of a boy of about 11 yrs. old. Arthur William Henson belonged to the Christian Church at Makanda according to his obituary. I have more pictures of unknown people. In a few there is a white picket fence either in front of a main road or railroad track. Could this be Makanda? Arthur worked on the railroads, so he moved around a lot. In 1910 Arthur and Dell were in Chaffee, Missouri. Dell was 29 years old and they had been married 8 years. As far as I know, they had no children. Dell received a bible from a church in Chaffee for helping with Sunday school. Arthur William Henson showed he was born in Kentucky in all of his records after 1902. In reality he was born in Ohio, Feb. 17, 1875. His r! eal name was Albert Evans. He got in trouble with the law in 1897 and fled. He died Arthur William Henson, March 20, 1954 in Randolph county Illinois. He married Florence Brown in 1917, so I don't know if he and Dell divorced, or if she died. He told my father that she had died. Could someone please give me some help on this one. I'd like to know who Dell is and identify some of the people in the pictures. Thanks, Lynn Gardner

No Pearce in the 1878 History of Jackson Co., IL or the 1907 Atlas, nor the 1920 Jackson Co. Farm Families. Juli ----- Original Message ----- From: "Velda Moore" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, June 23, 2003 6:58 AM Subject: RE: [ILJACKSON] Fw: Henry Earl & Sadie Bixler Pearce > Pearce none > Bixler none > Shay none > William/Williams 11, 13, 34, 35, 41, 58, 62, 65, 125, 127, 128, 130, > 139, 144, 170, 171, 187, > These listings are in the book: Obituaries from the Rockwood area. > > Velda Wittenbrink Moore > Randolph County Genealogical Society > visit: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilrcgs/ > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Quest [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2003 11:25 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [ILJACKSON] Fw: Henry Earl & Sadie Bixler Pearce > > > This was posted on the Message Board. I have closed the gateway to > avoid Spam, etc., and will forward appropriate messages to the list. > > However, if you wish to respond, please click on the following URL which > will take you to the message where it is posted on the board: > > http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Gg.2ADI/236 > > > Thank you, > > Karima > List Administrator > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2003 7:27 PM > Subject: Henry Earl & Sadie Bixler Pearce > > > > This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. > > > > Surnames: Pearce, Bixler, Shay, Williams > > Classification: Query > > > > Message Board URL: > > > > http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Gg.2ADI/236 > > > > Message Board Post: > > > > Looking for information on Charles Everett & Edith Estell Shay Bixler. > They were married in Allegan County, Michigan on March 19, 1892. His > parents were Charles M. & Sarah Thompson Bixler. Her parents were David > L. & Sarah Williams Shay. > > Charles & Edith had 2 daughters- > > Sadie Evelyn born 1896 in Kansas. > > Lila Gertrude born 1896 in Kansas. > > Sadie married Henry Earl Pearce on August 23, 1911 in Halstead, Harvey > County, Kansas. Henry was born on March 20, 1883 in Murphysboro, Jackson > County, Illinois. > > Charles & Edith lived, at one time in Randall Twp., Thomas County, > > Kansas. > > Thanks: > > Jan & John Keith > > Plainwell, MI > > > > > > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.491 / Virus Database: 290 - Release Date: 6/18/2003 > > > ==== ILJACKSO Mailing List ==== > How long has it been since you posted to the list? A "quiet" list will > never help anyone! > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy > records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > > > > > ==== ILJACKSO Mailing List ==== > List Administrator mailto:[email protected] > List Guidelines: http://www.rootsweb.com/~illinois/JacksonCoWelcome.html > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >

Pearce none Bixler none Shay none William/Williams 11, 13, 34, 35, 41, 58, 62, 65, 125, 127, 128, 130, 139, 144, 170, 171, 187, These listings are in the book: Obituaries from the Rockwood area. Velda Wittenbrink Moore Randolph County Genealogical Society visit: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilrcgs/ -----Original Message----- From: Quest [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2003 11:25 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [ILJACKSON] Fw: Henry Earl & Sadie Bixler Pearce This was posted on the Message Board. I have closed the gateway to avoid Spam, etc., and will forward appropriate messages to the list. However, if you wish to respond, please click on the following URL which will take you to the message where it is posted on the board: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Gg.2ADI/236 Thank you, Karima List Administrator ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2003 7:27 PM Subject: Henry Earl & Sadie Bixler Pearce > This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. > > Surnames: Pearce, Bixler, Shay, Williams > Classification: Query > > Message Board URL: > > http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Gg.2ADI/236 > > Message Board Post: > > Looking for information on Charles Everett & Edith Estell Shay Bixler. They were married in Allegan County, Michigan on March 19, 1892. His parents were Charles M. & Sarah Thompson Bixler. Her parents were David L. & Sarah Williams Shay. > Charles & Edith had 2 daughters- > Sadie Evelyn born 1896 in Kansas. > Lila Gertrude born 1896 in Kansas. > Sadie married Henry Earl Pearce on August 23, 1911 in Halstead, Harvey County, Kansas. Henry was born on March 20, 1883 in Murphysboro, Jackson County, Illinois. > Charles & Edith lived, at one time in Randall Twp., Thomas County, > Kansas. > Thanks: > Jan & John Keith > Plainwell, MI > > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.491 / Virus Database: 290 - Release Date: 6/18/2003 ==== ILJACKSO Mailing List ==== How long has it been since you posted to the list? A "quiet" list will never help anyone! ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237

This was posted on the Message Board. I have closed the gateway to avoid Spam, etc., and will forward appropriate messages to the list. However, if you wish to respond, please click on the following URL which will take you to the message where it is posted on the board: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Gg.2ADI/236 Thank you, Karima List Administrator ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2003 7:27 PM Subject: Henry Earl & Sadie Bixler Pearce > This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. > > Surnames: Pearce, Bixler, Shay, Williams > Classification: Query > > Message Board URL: > > http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Gg.2ADI/236 > > Message Board Post: > > Looking for information on Charles Everett & Edith Estell Shay Bixler. They were married in Allegan County, Michigan on March 19, 1892. His parents were Charles M. & Sarah Thompson Bixler. Her parents were David L. & Sarah Williams Shay. > Charles & Edith had 2 daughters- > Sadie Evelyn born 1896 in Kansas. > Lila Gertrude born 1896 in Kansas. > Sadie married Henry Earl Pearce on August 23, 1911 in Halstead, Harvey County, Kansas. Henry was born on March 20, 1883 in Murphysboro, Jackson County, Illinois. > Charles & Edith lived, at one time in Randall Twp., Thomas County, Kansas. > Thanks: > Jan & John Keith > Plainwell, MI > > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.491 / Virus Database: 290 - Release Date: 6/18/2003

Little Egypt Heritage Articles Stories of Southern Illinois (c) Bill Oliver 22 June 2003 Vol 2 Issue: #24 ISBN: pending Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen of Little Egypt, In order to do some R & R [roaming and researching, that is] there was no article last week. This week there will be an abbreviated one, because Barb and I just returned home. We also did some "typical tourist" wandering, looking at architecture and other "old" sites. We were looking for a particular place mentioned on a brochure in a small town, and a "native" asked us if he could help alleviate the puzzled look on our faces. When he gave us very good directions, he asked us if we were "really tourists in this little town". We assured him that we really were "tourists". The researching was fine. Like a couple of years ago in Nebraska, we wandered around back and forth and up and down to many places. This year we crossed back and forth on the River to River Trail in Illinois, as well as up, down and both sides of I-24 from Marion, IL to Paducah, KY. Besides just enjoying the beautiful scenery and some tourist type sight-seeing we visited sites of the property of several ancestors. When I was in Nebraska, the original land on which my ancestor settled and farmed was located, as well as several places owned by the children of these 2nd great grandparents, very easily. That was because everything was mapped and marked in square miles or sections and the roads were straight -- north and south, east and west. We walked the lands there in Nebraska and took pictures of where the original dugout was located and the frame house that they built later. What a thrill!! That developed a close feeling for those ancestors. This has stimulated me to find as many sites as possible owned by my ancestors. They are being plotted and visited if at all possible. Those areas laying in the old Northwest Territory and out in Nebraska are fairly easy to visit if one finds the records. Most of them are identified by township and range. One of the pieces of land one great grandfather farmed is not very far from where I presently live in the Black Swamp of northwest Ohio and I remember it as it was when I was a boy. Today there is a big chain store where the livestock was corralled. A community of double houses has been built in the old orchard. The other day I looked but there was not a single fruit tree left. With the knowledge of land records I travel Ohio and southern Michigan to view the farms of my kin. But, this past week I was in the Little Egypt section of southern Illinois, the roots of my father and his parents. Though the same system of squares was used to identify land, the hills and hollows of southern Illinois prevents the roads from being straight, as they are in northwest Ohio and Nebraska. Before the Revolution the property of my ancestors was listed much differently. An ancestor had property at the head of Benson's Run on the Cowpasture, while either his father or his brother had property on the Bullpasture. Wow!! Yeah!! Everyone knows exactly where that is. The history books make it even easier because they identify the property by who owns it "today"; when the book was written. However, that book was written a long time ago and one has to be familiar with the area of a hundred or more years ago. Well, lots of research shows me that there is a Bullpasture Mountain in Virginia and it is between the Bullpasture and the Cowpasture Rivers where Benson's Run empties into the Cowpasture River. And, someday we will visit that land and walk it. As mentioned, this week we visited land an ancestor bought in the "wilds" of southeastern Massac county, Illinois in 1857. The land records record his purchase and he's listed in the tax records for 1859. Plus, in this area, the square township method was used to identify land. A resident of the area, that we met, took us out to the property. As we drove, Mr Davis told us of all the folks who lived around the area, and how they were related. The property was listed in the sale of "swamp" lands. But, most of the countryside has now been drained and only pieces of swamp remain. Still, the surface ground retains water after heavy rains and the tractor paths aren't passable without good boots. There is a possibility that my ancestor was buried on his property, back by a creek that bears his surname. We attempted to get back there but recent rains filled the little used road with water. Like any swamp this created mud which made traversing difficult and we were ill equipped to trudge along without boots. At least part of the land was "walked". In other areas of this country no road is straight. Grandma always said that my 2nd great grandfather's brother, James Monroe Benson, lived under the "bluff" in Tunnel Hill. We've been to Tunnel Hill several times and no one there today could tell me anything about the Bensons or where they lived. This trip, armed with the land records, we set out to locate the properties owned by my ancestor and his brother We traveled along the top of turned out to be the bluff and then on a whim turned off and the road "switched" back and took us back and down below the road we had been on. The property there turned out to be part of the property we were looking for and it was certainly under a "bluff". With the knowledge of where all of the land holdings are, it was discovered that a few years ago when asking around about the Bensons, we had stopped at a house on the corner of a crossroads not far from the community of Tunnel Hill. The person I talked to then lived on part of Uncle Monroe's farm. Yes, I feel much closer to these ancestors for the visiting of their lands. Their farm homes haven't survived but they have through my eyes looking out over what was theirs and the stories I listened to as told by a grandparent, an aunt, an uncle or a stranger who was pleased to show us. Wado, Bill -=- Other sites worth visiting: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/SOIL http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/ILMASSAC http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/state/BillsArticles/LittleEgypt/intro.html