In a message dated 9/5/2002 11:00:08 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: > At any point feel free to stop reading and delete. Kelly as I said I was just curious, I picked up on your e-mail address when the thread was going on the Harrison Mayes Family, I knew the family for many years in fact I still keep in some what of a contact with them. 2 of his daughters married 2 of my cousins. Don't know it may have been before your time but I help him hang that big heart sign over the valley on 25E We live in Tampa, been here 34 years was assigned here from Bermuda in 1966 ( now Bermuda was a tough 3 year assignment but some one had to take it and we survived LOL.) I am a native of Bell County born in Kettle Island, and with the exception of a year after WWII I haven't lived there for 62 years. Visit very often. Although my wife was born in South Dakota, she grew up in Middlesboro, and that is where we were married in 1944. I still have 2 sisters who live In Middlesboro and 1 living in Cumberland Gap. My family moved to Pike county when I was about a year old, moved to Claiborn County when I was almost 12, my father died just weeks after we got back to Claiborne County. I lived with one of my mothers sister's and finished the 7th and 8th grades at Edgewood School. in 1938 at age 15 I went to work in the coal mines at Fork Ridge TN. When I reached 18, I decided there were better things than Coal Minning, so I entered the Military Service, got out after WWII but there still wasn't anything in that area but Coal Mining, so I reentered the service. Retired here at MacDill AFB in 1968, went to work for the local School Borad in their Data Processing division. Retired from there Jan 1983 and haven't hit a lick of work since. I really enjoy the Bell County Page, "you all' have done a wonderful job on it. but I haven't contributed much to it. Most of my ancesters were from Anderson, Campbell, Claiborne Morgan and Scott County TN. I have bent your ear long enough . Take care and lots of luck in your husbands new assignment. Neal B. Byrge ===================================================== "Genealogy is like playing hide and seek: they hide...I seek!!!" www.byrge.com/genealogy/ Searching: BYRGE, BUNCH, DAUGHERTY, DUNCAN, KENNEDY, PATTERSON, PHILLIPS, SEIBER, TACKETT, WARD. =====================================================