What a wonderful writer you are -- I loved your story!! Thanks so much. Nancee(McMurtrey)Seifert at iggy29@scican.net (An Iowa native living in Martinsville, IN) Larry M. Weatherly wrote: > > Evening, > > Just spent a half hour or so perusing a stack of unread email on this list. > *grin* happens all the time in the summer. A few thoughts - and my > apologies to the originator - > > I will always be intrigued by migratory nature of my Weatherly ancestry. > According to family legend the line was brought to the colonies by my 5th > great grandfather Abner (of Wales), a casualty of the Battle of Guilford > Court House. From his day until my fathers generation - none in my line > died in the state in which they were born. From NC, VA, TN IN IA MN each > generation faced a new frontier. While my immediate line turned north from > IA - other descendants of my 3g-grandfather went south from IA to MO and on > to TX. Others bypassed MN for ND then west to OR and WA. > > Over time I have become even more fascinated with the similiar paths > followed by so many of our ancestors. If we stop to consider a moment we > should not find that so unusual. Many of these families had sojourned > together in the past. That knowledge and association had to prove important > when the time came to move on. I believe that a strong motivator for the > movement from NC - VA to IN was the slave movement. My line moved on to IA > when my 3g-grandfather died at age 52 in Owen County. Was this in reaction > to the illness that claimed him - or that the eldest son had already > migrated to IA - providing home and shelter for Mother and younger siblings? > > I am always thrilled when I see a surname that I grew up with in > southwestern Minnesota appear in North Carolina. I found a reference to my > 4g-grandfather in the ancestry of a family who appeared in MN who became > friends with my father and uncle - completely unaware that there was a > common ancestor a few generations back. I think that we no longer > appreciate the continuity of community that brought our ancestors onto this > continent and fostered the exploration and settlement of it over the past > 300 hundred years. > > Someone mentioned Land Office records. Thanks for the reminder - I > had laid that aside a while back. The jog in memory triggered a thought > that I had not entertained in the past. As a result I found a land grant to > what almost certainly is my paternal grandmothers great grandfather. At the > moment it is primarily conjecture - the given name is the middle name of > her grandfather - - - And I know that her grandmother was visiting > relatives in the given county when her grandfather died. Thanks for the > little clues - > > Oh yes - there were "computers" back in 1982. Actually there were computers > long before that. While not revealing more than I care to - I will tell you > that the first computer that I "programmed" - I did it by moving wires from > one point to another. By the time we got to 1982 the IBM PC was either on > the market - or a poorly kept secret. As some one else observed - they will > crash - you will lose data - you will not have the backup you wish you had > when the inevitable occurs. It was no easier to back up 200k of data on a > 400k total data capacity system than it is today to back up 40gig of data. > There has never been an easy way to do so - - - in fact I could write a new > "law." The more important the data is to you the more difficult it will be > to back up - - - and the more likely it will be lost in a crash of some sort. > > So -- just a point of curiosity. Has anyone on this list ever heard of the > Hillsville, VA Gun Show - or attended it ?? I ask because my father-in-law > is one of the individuals in Hillsville who becomes a minor slum landlord > for the few days it is on. This small town of 5 - 6 thousand grows to more > than 50 thousand while it happens. - - - and I am damned fool enough to > have assured the in-laws that we would be there this year for the GS. Maybe > it is because I am looking for company in my misery! > > Night all! > @W@ > > ==== INOWEN Mailing List ====