My friends - I had planned for us to move on to McCracken County for our data post today, but, in continuing to unpack from the 122 boxes which contain genealogy materials from our former residence, I was reacquainted with Professor Gordon Wilson's fascinating 1946 book entitled,"Fidelity Folks - A Visit to a Self-Sufficient Kentucky Village". Professor Wilson was born in Calloway County in the little community of Fidelity, in the late 1870's time frame. He was, for many years, an instructor at WKU. He wrote several interesting books, among which is the one which is the subject of this posting. In this particular book, Professor Gordon has a number of delightful sketches of people who lived in or around Fidelity. In some cases, he gives their names, while, in others, he does not. In this post, I am going to list some of the names I have found in the book, as I know that some of our subscribers are descended from, or related to, these people. I cannot post the sketches themselves(which would be far too long for our limited space, in any event), due to copyright considerations, but if you see one of your ancestors in this list, and you would like the full text of the sketch itself, send a message to me by private e-mail, and I will send image files of the pages from the book itself. The book, of course, has been out of print since about 1947, and Professor Gordon died many years ago. Here are some of the names found in his work: Joseph & Mary Maddox (came from NC in a covered wagon - sketch is about Mary) Jesse Maddox ( son of Joseph & Mary above) "Bud" Smith (Blacksmith) John Hawkins Bill Warren "Mill Jimmy" (no surname given, but this man was well know by this name, as he was associated with a mill at Devil's Point on the Blood River - some of our subscribers may know who this man is, and can advise me) Peter Rowlett (this sketch is primarily about the African-Americans associated with the Rowlett family, and there is an entire chapter on the African Americans in and around Fidelity, although few names are shown, and never any surnames) Sulphur Springs Church - this is a chapter on this Church and its influence on Professor Wilson. ~~~~~~~ There may be a few requests that some of you have pending with me that may carry over to tomorrow, as there was a large response(as is always the case with Graves County posts)to last night's message. Those requests will be completed before the end of the day tomorrow. -B ============================================================================