Dear List Thank you all for your positive comments on my SPOOKY story. I was tempted to keep the tablecloth but figured that it had not been intended for me, but for the next generation descendant. The pleasure for me was in finding it. From the correspondence I read, as well as numerous personal experiences of serendipity, I am sure a more imaginitive person would claim we are being guided!! I think Hank Jones has written a book about it - it appears to be so common amongst genealogists. Shannah - I'll report on the outcome! cshmgt - The Johan Adam I refer to is LEGEAR (it was a common name!) Susan, please feel free to share it with whoever you like. I hope I didn't offend anyone with my tongue in cheek reference to the "colonies"!! I did think it would elicit a "bite". Did you know, however, how close the United States came to having its Independence revoked recently? It's true that Lord Cornwallis lost the military campaign but that wasn't the end of the story. America was still a Crown Colony. America's independence was negotiated after the colonists were able to satisfy the British Government that they were able to sustain a free and democratic governement after which a Royal Charter was drawn up granting the independence. However, it was conditional that such a democratic form of governement be maintained. This has worked well for a long time, however, your recent debacle in Florida with regard to the selection of President brought the entire matter under scrutiny by the Crown again. In fact, your Charter of Independence was very close to being revoked and government passed back to the Crown. A Governor-General in waiting was actually ready to be appointed. The actor Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean!) was considered as being the most likely acceptable figure to the American people to take on the job. However, the whole thing was fortunately averted, serendipitiously, by some British tourists who had got lost on their way to Disneyworld depositing their ride tickets in the wrong box. Chris _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

><<Thank you all for your positive comments on my SPOOKY story. I was >tempted to keep the tablecloth but figured that it had not been intended >for me, but for the next generation descendant. The pleasure for me was >in finding it.>> We thank you for sharing it... it was not at all off-topic, and others are invited to share their serendipitious stories. Remember the old saying, "Coincidence is the word God uses when She doesn't want to sign Her name". ??? <lol> There was serendipity (or whatever each of us chooses to call it) at work when I began work on the EMPEY line, too. Just enough to suck me in completely, you see... Since then it's been one royal brick wall! ><<From the correspondence I read, as well as numerous personal experiences >of serendipity, I am sure a more imaginitive person would claim we are >being guided!! I think Hank Jones has written a book about it >> Yes, he did.... two of them, in fact. ><<Susan, please feel free to share it with whoever you like. >> Thanks very much, Chris! ><<I hope I didn't offend anyone with my tongue in cheek reference to the >"colonies"!! I did think it would elicit a "bite".>> Can't speak for anyone else, but it didn't offend me a bit.. provided a much appreciated chuckle, as a matter of fact. Sounds as if "Yank Liz" <g> got a chuckle out of it, too. ><< Did you know, however, how close the United States came to having its >Independence revoked recently?>> <<In fact, your Charter of Independence was very close to being revoked and government passed back to the Crown. A Governor-General in waiting was actually ready to be appointed. The actor Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean!) was considered as being the most likely acceptable figure to the American people to take on the job. >However, the whole thing was fortunately averted, serendipitiously, by >some British tourists who had got lost on their way to Disneyworld >depositing their ride tickets in the wrong box.>> See? Serendipity works in all venues, not just genealogy!!! Hehehehe... Susan, another Yank, even a Yankee, temporarily in exile on the AZ frontier!