Hi Guys: I figured as much as this website had been being worked on I would have gotten some more responses from the members. <G> This is your website and it can only be as good as our members want it. A lot of hours go into doing this type of project and your help is needed! Thanks Cindy

Dear Members: As everyone should know by now, we have launched our new web site. www.rootsweb.com/~lalgs/ I need your help to add valuable content to the site, so I will be asking for help from our members time to time. At this time I would like to know the names of any repositories you use in Louisiana. This included public libraries, University Libraries and their special collections, Archives, etc. In addition, if you know of someone in Louisiana that has collections in their homes this would also be valuable. Please provide me with anything you know. This is your site so lets help it grow! Thank you! Cindy Hofmeister hofsearch@aol.com

I take back what I said the email's are working on AOL Cindy

Hello Everyone, Wanted to let the members know, I launched the website about 2 weeks ago. In the process I sent the webpages into cyber space <G> Anyway, they were located and I saw that there were some problems with them. So only a few people knew about the site. I then decided I didn't like the way the buttons looked so I changed the whole thing. I chose to use text as links instead of buttons with text. The website is still under construction and things will be added all the time so please check back often as this will be your website. The address for the site is www.rootsweb.com/~lalgs/ I hope you like what you see so far. And if you have any ideas or suggestions please contact me. Oh there are a few things I will need to change. The number one thing at this point is that All AOL users will have to type someone's email in as AOL does not support the email. And Earl I'm sorry but I had the wrong email for you I forgot part of your email it has been fixed on my computer and when I do the new upload it will be fixed. Which will be in the next couple of Days. I also want to thank Docq for helping me today. Because of him this is coming to you guys sooner <G> Thanks Docq Cindy Hofsearch@aol.com

The Family History Center will be closed beginning Saturday December 18th until Tuesday Jan 4th. We will reopen on the 4th. We are still open Sat., Tue, and Wed until the 15th. If you have any films that will need to be renewed or returned in Dec., please try to come by and take care of that between the 11th and 15th. If we don't hear from you, we will assume you want us to return them. If you have any questions you can call the FHC at 984-7182 during our hours of operation before we close for the holidays. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year. We hope to see many more of you after the holidays. From the Family History Staff.

I wanted to remind everyone that our Christmas Banquette is this coming Thursday, December 2nd. At 6:30 PM at the Oil Center hope to see everyone there. Cindy

Dear List: This information was sent to me through Eastman's Online Genealogical Newsletter. This is a newsletter I subscribe to which helps to keep me updated on some of the lates genealogical news. If you would also like to join this Newsletter you can go to the web address at the bottom of this email. I have included this in a letter to our members as I'm sure many of us don't understand how these Viruses and Worms get passed along. Cindy The following is a "special edition" of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter. I decided to send this note to Plus Edition subscribers because of a very real problem that happened this past weekend. Thousands of Windows computers were infected by a worm (similar to a virus although different in details). Similar problems have happened time and time again in the last few years. This one, however, is particularly bad as unwary web surfers can became infected by web sites that they don't even know they are visiting. However, the problem is easy to cure. ============================ - Stop Using Internet Explorer! I have written several times about the high risks of using Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser. The security problems just keep coming and coming. If you were surfing the web last Friday night or Saturday morning and you were using Internet Explorer, there is a chance that your Windows computer became infected with an Internet "worm." This happened even if you did not directly visit an infected site. It seems a hacker managed to load malicious code onto a web server that delivers advertising directly to users who visit other web sites. If you browsed with Internet Explorer to an infected site, the code then placed a worm inside your copy of Internet Explorer. The worm allows hackers to take control of the infected PC and steal personal data from your system. While the site you knowingly visited may not have been infected directly, that site may have delivered advertisements to you from a third-party server. The infected server passed on the infection to your copy of Internet Explorer, even though you never saw its URL in your web browser's address bar. The recommendation is that everyone update their virus definitions from the software vendor's web site and then scan for viruses immediately. In addition, Windows XP users should install Windows XP Service Pack 2, if possible. Anyone running Windows 98, ME, or 2000 has no recourse for closing the known computer security holes; Microsoft has not issued a fix for those systems. Before those of us with Windows XP get over-confident, we need to remember that Microsoft Service Packs are designed to fix specific, known problems. However, they do not address the underlying security weaknesses that continue to let hackers find other ways into home computers. And the primary avenue for these hackers is Microsoft Internet Explorer. I have a better idea: dump Internet Explorer. It is weak, slow, and riddled with security problems. Every few weeks a new exploit appears that takes advantage of Internet Explorer's weaknesses. This past weekend's exploit was Internet Explorer-specific: it did not infect other web browsers. There are better, faster, and more secure web browsers available. Some good ones are even free of charge. My favorite is Firefox, available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. It is fast, it is secure, and it is free of charge. It also has many more features than Internet Explorer. You can obtain Firefox at no charge at http://www.mozilla.org. Another good one for Windows is Opera, available at http://www.opera.com. You do not need to uninstall Internet Explorer; simply stop using it.  As some of you may know, downloading updates from Microsoft's web site - including Windows XP Service Pack 2 - requires Internet Explorer. This would appear to be a "Catch-22." However, if you stick to the one task of downloading needed Microsoft updates and do not leave the Microsoft web site, you should be able to complete the necessary download with minimal security risk. For everything else, use a better tool instead. You can read my earlier review of Firefox at http://eogn.typepad.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2004/11/a_better_web_br.html. Note that a number of readers of this newsletter posted their comments at the end of the article, describing their experiences with Firefox. You can read more about this past weekend's problems with Internet Explorer at the highly-acclaimed Information Week magazine site at http://informationweek.securitypipeline.com/news/53701328, on eWeek's site at http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1730877,00.asp, on ZDNet's site at http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5462862.html, on PC World's site at http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,118687,00.aspand and probably hundreds of other sites if you look at Google at http://www.google.com/search?hl=en& q=Hacked+European+Ad+Server+Infects+IE+Users&btnG=Google+Search. Which web browser would you prefer to use? NOTE: This newsletter's web site at www.eogn.com does not serve ads from any third-party server and therefore would not cause the specific problem that affected other servers this past weekend.

I figured this might be of interest to some of our members. Remember some of your family didn't just show up in Louisiana they were in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and many went to the New England states. So try out this site and see if you find any family. In addition this site is great if you have any connection to Irish family. Have fun! Cindy The following is an announcement from the New England Historic Genealogical Society:      NEHGS is pleased to offer free access to its New England      Historical and Genealogical Register database on      NewEnglandAncestors.org over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend!      Normally only available to NEHGS members, the Register database      will be accessible to everyone from Thursday, November 25 through      Sunday, November 28, 2004. We encourage all NEHGS members to      spread the word about this offering, and we hope that those of      you who are not members find a veritable feast of ancestors in      the Register database!      Published quarterly since 1847, The New England Historical and      Genealogical Register is the flagship journal of American      genealogy and the oldest journal in the field. The online      database includes issues from 1847 to 1994.      The Register has featured articles on a wide variety of topics      since its inception, including vital records, church records, tax      records, land and probate records, cemetery transcriptions,      obituaries, and historical essays. Authoritative compiled      genealogies have been the centerpiece of the Register for more      than 150 years. Thousands of New England families have been      treated in the pages of the journal and many more are referenced      in incidental ways throughout. The articles in the Register range      from short pieces correcting errors in print or solving unusual      problems to larger treatments that reveal family origins or      present multiple generations of a family.       Look for details on how to obtain free access to the Register in      a special eNews bulletin to be sent out Wednesday, November 24. A      link will also be available on that date on the home page of our      website, www.NewEnglandAncestors.org.

Hi Everyone: Just wanted to remind you the Lafayette Genealogical Society Christmas banquette is December 2nd at the Oil Center. We will be meeting at 6:30PM. Our guest for the evening is "Dave Petitjean" a very funny comedian from Louisiana. Tickets are $15 a person. If you have not paid please contact Warren LeBlanc < Wvleblanc@aol.com> Our Yearly publication "Les Memories" will be available at the banquette. We hope to see you all there! Sincerely, 2004 Board members Earl Gates Acting ~ President Belva Gurr Vice ~ President Cindy Hofmeister ~ Secretary Warren LeBlanc ~ Treasurer

Cassandra's presentation Websites: You can use FREE Family Tree Magazine: http://www.familytreemagazine.com/ Interactive charts: http://www.genealogy.about.com/ Vital records: http://oph.dhh.state.la.us/recordsstatistics/vitalrecords/ Family Search: http://familysearch.org/ Rootsweb: http://www.rootsweb.com/ Geneanet: http://www.geneanet.org/ AncestryPlus : http://www.lafayette.lib.la.us/ Go to Databases - Galegroup - AncestryPlus FREE at your local library and the Family History Center Heritage Quest: http://www.heritagequest.com/ Genforum: http://genforum.genealogy.com/ Cyndi's List: http://www.cyndislist.com/ LaGenWeb: http://www.lagenweb.org/ Genealogy.com: http://www.genealogy.com/university.html/ Google: http://www.google.com/ Yahoo: http://yahoo.com/

Ancestral Endeavors A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF LAFAYETTE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY www.nettally.com/lgsla Volume 2004 Issue 10                            October 2004 The Minutes of the October 21, 2004 Meeting Our regular scheduled meeting was held at the Lafayette Public Library and was called to order at 6:35 p.m. By President Earl Gates. The meeting consisted of a general Welcome, Moment of Silence for our military, followed by the Pledge. Our Society members Belva Gurr and Cindy Hofmeister each spoke to our society. Belva, prepared a great lesson on Louisiana and the parish line changes. In addition, she made each of us a handouts of the important changes of Louisiana. Cindy, Helped the society see different avenues to research, With a class participation project. Showing, how we as society members can help individuals with volunteering at the Lafayette Public Library on the first Saturday of the month. New Business: Elections: Elections were held in October for the following positions. President: Earl Gates President Elect: Belva Gurr Vice President: Jean Kielsel Secretary: Brenda Fuselier We would like to thank all the past individuals for all their hard work and countless hours of service to our society during 2004. Warren LeBlanc; Regena English, Charles Patterson; Cindy Hofmeister; Earl Gates; Brenda Fuselier; We are in need of society members to update their email addresses. Old Business: Preserving the Past for the Future was a great success. We hope that if we do this type of project again, that more members will be involved or at least participate. Memberships are Due! Banquet: December 2, 2004 at the Petroleum Club 6:30 open, 7:00 dine We will be having our Lafayette Genealogical Society Christmas Dinner this coming December 2nd , 2004.  Our speaker for the evening will be a wonderful comedian from the area "Dave Petitjean." There have been lots of wonderful comments about Dave. So please mark your calendar . Note: We have been asked to eat have awards, etc. before our meeting in order for Dave Petitjean to give us the best presentation possible. The charge is $15.00 a person and

Ancestral Endeavors A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF LAFAYETTE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY www.nettally.com/lgsla Volume 2004 Issue 10 October 2004 The Minutes of the October 21, 2004 Meeting Our regular scheduled meeting was held at the Lafayette Public Library and was called to order at 6:35 p.m. By President Earl Gates. The meeting consisted of a general Welcome, Moment of Silence for our military, followed by the Pledge. Our Society members Belva Gurr and Cindy Hofmeister each spoke to our society. Belva, prepared a great lesson on Louisiana and the parish line changes. In addition, she made each of us a handouts of the important changes of Louisiana. Cindy, Helped the society see different avenues to research, With a class participation project. Showing, how we as society members can help individuals with volunteering at the Lafayette Public Library on the first Saturday of the month. New Business: Elections: Elections were held in October for the following positions. President: Earl Gates President Elect: Belva Gurr Vice President: Jean Kielsel Secretary: Brenda Fuselier We would like to thank all the past individuals for all their hard work and countless hours of service to our society during 2004. Warren LeBlanc; Regena English, Charles Patterson; Cindy Hofmeister; Earl Gates; Brenda Fuselier; We are in need of society members to update their email addresses. Old Business: Preserving the Past for the Future was a great success. We hope that if we do this type of project again, that more members will be involved or at least participate. Memberships are Due! Banquet: December 2, 2004 at the Petroleum Club 6:30 open, 7:00 dine We will be having our Lafayette Genealogical Society Christmas Dinner this coming December 2nd , 2004. Our speaker for the evening will be a wonderful comedian from the area "Dave Petitjean." There have been lots of wonderful comments about Dave. So please mark your calendar . Note: We have been asked to eat have awards, etc. before our meeting in order for Dave Petitjean to give us the best presentation possible. The charge is $15.00 a person and

Do not reply.

The Victoria Advocate - http://TheVictoriaAdvocate.com Genealogical society's annual conference will be in Victoria Tuesday, November 2nd, 2004 The Texas State Genealogical Society plans a statewide annual conference on Friday and Saturday at the Holiday Inn in Victoria. Friday afternoon speakers include Pat Gordon on "Beyond Obituaries: Newspaper Research," Richard Hooverson on "Stars and Bars: A Quick Look at Texas Confederate Records" and Carolina Crimm, Ph.D., on "Early Hispanic Records for Family History Research." Saturday's speaker, Jerry Drake, director of Texas General Land Office Records and Archives, will offer tips for using Texas land records in genealogical research. The Friday evening Awards Banquet will honor Victoria County Clerk Val Huvar, longest serving county clerk in Texas and his chief deputy, Betty Tovar. State writing awards will be presented to winners from throughout Texas for their achievements in the fields of genealogy and family history research. Hosts for the event include the Victoria County Genealogical Society, Matagorda County Genealogical Society and the Calhoun County Genealogical Society. For more information, contact Patsy Hand at 361-575-0049 or Martha Jones at mjones@ vicad.com. Walk-ins are welcome. Genealogy News: Earl Gates

Genealogy Today: Magazines good alternative to Internet Thursday, November 4, 2004 CONNIE LENZEN for The Columbian Nicky, my 7-year-old granddaughter, and I were working on her homework. Even second-graders have daily homework these days. One assignment was to look up a certain word in the dictionary and use it in three sentences. Nicky couldn't find her dictionary, so we headed for the Internet to use an online dictionary. It seems as if you can find almost everything on the Internet, and we did find the definition of her word. It was in an adult dictionary, and I needed to do a bit of translation to get down to a second-grader's vocabulary level. Later that evening, I tucked Taylor, the 10-year-old, into bed. After prayers and all of those last-minute recollections of things that should be done, she looked over to the corner of the room and said, "There's Nicky's dictionary." Yes, there it was. A large hardbound book with a pink cover. The Internet may have been quicker, but the book feels better in the hands. There is a satisfying heft to it. There is a comforting feeling in holding something in your hands. And, in this case, the book was a better fit to what we were doing. The words were more appropriate for a 7-year-old. Genealogists use the Internet a lot. It's where most people begin their family research journey. However, sometimes the printed word is more appropriate to the assignment. It's hard to curl up with a good Internet site, but a book or a magazine fits nicely into the hand. The magazines that I am currently reading are the National Genealogical Society's Quarterly, and Family Tree Magazine. The December 2004 issue of Family Tree Magazine has an article called "Back Tracking." It is about the country's hottest historic destinations. Fort Vancouver gets a mention. There's an article about how to do research in county courthouses. Other articles are about timelines and heritage foods and free software. The National Genealogical Society's quarterly always contains articles that remind me of ways to research. Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens' "Finding the Irish Origins of Charles Doherty" in the September 2004 issue is a great example. She solved her research problem by tracing her ancestor in the city directory. Well, there was more to it than that, but I'll leave the rest of the story for you to read. Genealogical magazines can be found in major bookstores, in our public libraries, and in our local genealogical libraries. They provide good information, and they feel good in the hands. Connie Lenzen can be reached in care of The Columbian, P.O. Box 180, Vancouver, WA 98666. Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for a personal reply. Or e-mail her at gencolumn@yahoo.com. Genealogy News: Earl Gates

Monday, November 01, 2004 - In leading up to tomorrow's election, it might be apt to bring up an old adage that can be adapted to genealogy as well as balloting: "All politics is local." A recent trip to lecture in Jefferson County reminded me that "all genealogy is local," too. So many of the records that assist genealogists in proving ancestral lines -- things such as estate papers, deeds, tax lists, marriage licenses and loads of lesser-used documents -- are county records. And since counties were subdivided frequently in the 1700s and 1800s, genealogists just starting out don't always realize that an ancestor could live in the same exact spot his whole life and yet have records relating to him in several county courthouses. So, among the basic facts that a genealogist needs to know is when counties were erected and from what "mother" counties they drew their land. Pennsylvania's original counties -- and the only ones erected in the 1600s -- were Philadelphia, Bucks and Chester. Lancaster was next in 1729, and more counties were erected, sometimes extended, and usually subdivided until the state reached its current 67 counties in 1878. And, of course, there are the oddities that really separate the savvy genealogists from the greenhorns. That takes us back to Jefferson County. This county was one of many erected in the early years of the 19th century -- the year 1804, in the case of Jefferson. However, as Jim Sterrett of Brockway pointed out during a meeting of the Jefferson County genealogy group, Jefferson County was without a county seat until 1828, so it was controlled by remote-control from Indiana County. The bottom line for genealogists? Records from that early era of Jefferson County are found in the Indiana courthouse. Another quirk that lies in wait to ensnare genealogists is the fact that there are dozens of 18th-century wills that were probated in Philadelphia County, even though they pertain to individuals from other counties. As with many genealogy detective searches, it's useful in the first instance to figure out where records should be -- and then be prepared to put on the thinking cap some more to decide where they might also be found. Genealogy News: Earl Gates

Local Acadians take trip to Nova Scotia 400th anniversary of Canadian settlement celebrated BY Leslie Ackel COVINGTON - Locals Tommy and Lauran Boudreaux traveled to Nova Scotia, Canada, this summer to attend the Congrs mondial acadien to study their roots as Acadians and celebrate the 400th anniversary of the French people's settlement in Canada. Four centuries after its founding the province of Nova Scotia and the Acadian villages that dot its shores received some 100,000 visitors attracted to the region by a myriad of historical and cultural activities. This international gathering of Acadians in Nova Scotia this year marks the third celebration of its kind. New Brunswick and Louisiana each hosted a similar event in 1994 and 1999, respectively. These world-class meetings reunited and linked Acadians internationally, regardless of distance, time or present-day location. In 1999 the Congress was held in Louisiana between the towns of St. Martinville and New Iberia. The event is held every five years. A group of Acadians started the World Congr/s in 1994 in New Brunswick, Canada, as a pathway to following their ancestry through genealogy study. "They wanted to keep the names of the descendants alive," Boudreaux said. The purpose also is to document the deportation of the people at a time when religious persecution was reason enough to purge a country of citizens with different ideas. To separate those Acadians now living in Louisiana, the Congr/s laws officially title the French descendants as Cajuns to differentiate family locations. Lauran Charbonnet Boudreaux said the Congr/s consists of approximately 100 families who gather every five years to exchange family information. Boudreaux said some families who gathered in Canada from throughout the country this year numbered in the thousands. The Boudreaux family had 1,300 persons in attendance, with 100 of the Boudreaux family members from Louisiana. Four areas of France were represented by Boudreaus. The "x" is omitted from those names. Families of Arceneauxs, Aucoins, Babins, Bourges, Broussards, Comeauxs, Dugas, Dulongs, Heberts, Landrys, LeBlancs, Martins, Prejeans, Richards, Samsons, Savoies and Thibodeaus were just a few of the 150 French families that participated this year in the Congr/s of Acadians. The Congr/s lasted two weeks. The Boudreaux family was reunited on Cape Breton on the Isle of Madame where the first Boudreauxs homesteaded. Grand Prix and Port Royale were popular meeting places for the families. Lauran Boudreaux said she visiting old schools where genealogy accounts of her husband's family covered all four walls of the gymnasium and dated as far back as 1605. Lauran discovered that the original family of Boudreauxs who traveled to the shores of Nova Scotia were Michael and Michelle. They had 11 children and arrived in 1600. "Those Boudreauxs were sea farers," Lauran said. Michael served the little town as a judge. Some of the original Boudreauxs became farmers. Refusing to swear allegiance to England, they left Nova Scotia and arrived in places like Quebec and in Louisiana during the English persecution. Some Boudreauxs were sent back to France. Lauran said during this time the Spanish governor of New Orleans had heard of the people banished from Canada. He sent seven ships to France in order to gather these families. They were brought back to Louisiana, landing in what is now St. Martinville. The next Congr/s mondial acadien is scheduled for 2009. For more information visit cma2004.com. Genealogy News: Earl Gates

Genealogy helps woman journey through the past Joe Scott Of the Suburban Journals updated: 10/26/2004 10:03 AM A few words from a newly discovered cousin convinced Margaret Durham that she should go to Africa. "He said, ‘Come home, sister, and we will walk through the bones of our ancestors,'" recalled Durham, a Florissant resident. Those words also gave her the title of her book, "The Bones of My Ancestors," the story of her genealogical search. It also is a blueprint for how Afric an-Americans can trace their heritage. Durham teaches a genealogical class for African-Americans at St. Louis Community College branches at Florissant Valley and Forest Park. The course will be offered again this spring. She tells her students to start out as any genealogist does, with the oral history of their oldest living relatives. "I started remembering family stories, and I remembered that my grandmother had told me we were Yao — the African tribe Yao," Durham said. Soon she learned her grandmother was born in Africa. "I found out that my great-grandfather, Rev. Landon Cheek, was the first black missionary to be sent from St. Louis to African," she said. When she met some African cousins in St. Louis, they and others living in Africa persuaded Durham to visit her ancestor's native land. Her great-grandfather Cheek served in the same country, then called Nyasaland, as the famed missionary, David Livingston. "I always wondered why he went to Africa," she said. Now she realizes that an African-American in the early 1900s went seeking freedom and opportunity. Of course, when Cheek went to Africa, Nyasaland was a British colony. He found much of the same racism on the part of the British, she said. "He spoke out for civil rights there," she said. In Africa, Cheek met and married Rachel, a daughter of a tribal chief. A relative of Rachel's was the Rev. John Chilembwe. Durham has a photo of her great-grandfather and Chilembwe. Nyasaland now is the nation of Malawi due in part to Chilembwe. He led a rebellion against the British colonialists. However, Chilembwe was captured and killed by the colonists. He is considered a hero in Malawi, where his picture appears on currency. "So I'm related to a national hero," Durham said. "One thing I tell students is that it's not impossible to trace your roots because of slavery," Durham said. "We were considered property — and valuable property. There's names in court records, probate records. "The problem is that most African-Americans don't know about those records," she said. Most African-Americans did not appear in the census until 1870, but that census can be very valuable, she said. She found her ancestors, the Cheek family, in the will of a slave owner whose name was Cheek. "Some slave owners kept plantation books and listed births, deaths and where they got their slaves from," Durham said. "Maybe they said they were from West Africa or were Ashanti." Durham was able to find the slave owner's home in North Carolina, a mansion named Shady Oak. However, the Cheeks moved to Clanton, Miss., with Durham's ancestors as their slaves. She noted there also are Southern Claims Commission records, in which people were reimbursed for food and property seized during Gen. William Sherman's march south. Ellis Island records are a good resource, too, she said. "It's not true that all blacks came to America as slaves," she said. "Some came to America as Free Blacks."

Doctor says Acadians' genealogy aids science William Johnson / Louisiana Gannett News Posted on October 13, 2004 There is an old story about a man who lost his wallet. His friend finds him searching for it one night under a street lamp. "Is this where you lost it?" asks the friend. "I don't know where I lost it, but the light is better here," the man replies. That is the situation in which Dr. John P. Doucet, an expert in DNA research, finds himself. In his case, the missing wallet is the secrets to curing a host of hereditary diseases and the light is the clear genetic heritage of Louisiana's Acadian people. Doucet, with the Center for Acadiana Genetics and Hereditary Health Care, brought the story of the Acadians and their contribution to curing diseases to Saturday's meeting of the Imperial St. Landry Genealogical and Historical Society. Acadians are a unique people in that they can all be traced to a group of 300 people who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1607. Until about World War II they lived in relative isolation, rarely marrying outside their own group. The Acadians have one other important thing going for them. As good Catholics, they have a detailed 400-year history of church records listing every marriage and birth. Doucet said, as a group, Acadians are no more prone to disease than anyone else. What makes them special is their documented genealogy. "Genealogy is crucially important in our work. This allows us to learn more about diseases and their cures by following them in specific families," Doucet said. As an example, he used Usher's Syndrome, which causes profound deafness from birth and blindness by the time the person is in their 20s. "This is the first disease for which we have found the cause," Doucet said. The disease is found in South Africa, Lebenon, France and elsewhere, including Louisiana. All the Louisiana cases can be traced back to Acadian families that settled in either Acadia, Vermilion or Lafayette parishes following their expulsion from Canada in 1775. Using the Acadian's detailed genealogies, Doucet's group has traced the Acadian strain of Usher's Syndrome to a single couple who lived in Nova Scotia in the 1600s. He said his group was able to find the error in a single gene that causes the disease in only five years. Without the strong genealogy of Acadians, it might have taken decades. "Acadians are actually helping science make some great discoveries," Doucet said. He said knowing the source of this one genetic defect is shedding light on other causes of blindness and deafness. He said the recently completed Human Genome Project has shown that all people - black, white, Asian or European - are 99.9 percent genetically similar. Therefore, what affects one of us, affects all of us. "We are not spending federal dollars to help 300 families. We are helping four billion people," Doucet said. "We are all incredibly similar." He said he believes the day is not far away when science will be able, through gene therapy, to begin finding cures for everything from cancer to heart disease. •

Nunn Cemetery: All but forgotten historic cemetery being reborn Mike Turner, a student at the Mingo Job Corps Center, removes chunks of a dead oak tree cut by JCC director Don Riggle during a cleanup project at Nunn Cemetery Tuesday. Two other JCC students, Jason Short and Jonathan Lipsey, dug holes and planted crepe myrtle trees. (DAR/David Silverberg) By DAVID SILVERBERG ~ Staff Writer The historic Nunn Cemetery is on a wooded hilltop near the beautiful Mark Twain National Forest north of Poplar Bluff. Residents of the Agee Community with much assistance from Mingo Job Corps Center supervisors and students are cleaning up the old graveyard. They have removed nine dead oak trees, planted 12 crepe myrtle trees and added dirt fill on sunken burial sites. "The Agee Community Club has been working on this project for the past two years," said Nellie Woods, a cemetery trustee and club member. She expressed her appreciation to the Job Corps for "graciously consenting to help us." Job Corps personnel have made two trips to the small, isolated cemetery to perform a variety of tasks. Eight students and two supervisors, director Don Riggle and vocational manager Buddy Clinton, have worked at the cemetery. "This is our Make A Difference Day project." said Riggle, who used a chain saw to cut up fallen oak trees. Some students helped him move the chunks of wood while others dug holes and planted crepe myrtle trees. "It's a good thing for our community that they are helping to restore our historic cemetery," said Woods, who was working at the cemetery with her husband, Richard, their son, Ron, and Richard's brother, Paul. A 1996 book, "Cemeteries of Northwestern Butler County," prepared by the Genealogical Society of Butler County, indicates the oldest death date on any tombstone in Nunn Cemetery is 1887. The cemetery had been canvassed in 1971. "I walked to it and recanvassed it on April 10, 1996. I found two new burials and a prior omission," wrote Helen Sparkman, who prepared the information on Nunn Cemetery. There are 36 marked graves and 25-30 unmarked ones or marked only with field stones. "No one seems to know why this burial site is known as the Nunn Cemetery. There are no readable markers bearing the name Nunn, but there could be in unmarked graves. Perhaps, the first burial was on Nunn land," Sparkman stated. Helen Birdsong, also a cemetery trustee, her husband, Fred, and their son, David, also were doing volunteer work at the cemetery. David Birdsong used his loader to move dirt. Fred's mother provided the inspiration for the cleanup project. Ruby Birdsong, who died Sept. 28, 2003, was a charter member and former president of the Agee Community Club that recently celebrated its 71st anniversary. "Due to the cemetery being inaccessible, she had not been able to visit her parents' graves for 45 years," Nellie said. Ruby Birdsong's parents are John and Caroline Lewis. She was born in 1878 and died in 1918. He was born in 1870 and died in 1932. They had nine children. Agee Community Club members made the cemetery a club project and contacted the Butler County Commission about making the one-lane, half-mile road to the cemetery accessible again. The hillside lane had washed out and had not been repaired. But the situation changed when the commission was contacted about three years ago. A culvert was installed and the road was repaired. "The commission and the county highway department do all we can to make old cemeteries accessible to the public," Eastern District Commissioner Robbie Myers said. "It is good to see the Agee Community Club has enhanced the cemetery since the road was repaired." The club has constructed a small pavilion near the cemetery entrance in memory of Ruby Birdsong. "We finished building it last month and plan to pour a concrete floor," Nellie said. Her great-grandfather, William Agee, and his sister, Phoeba Spencer, were among the first settlers in the Agee Community. The Agee and Spencer families received land grants and moved from Virginia to southern Missouri in 1857. Phoeba Agee Spencer is buried in Nunn Cemetery. She was born Aug. 5, 1834, and died July 20, 1907. Her husband, William Spencer, was taken out of the field by Union soldiers during the Civil War and was never seen again, according to the Spencer family story in the 1988 Butler County Family History Book. A Spencer daughter, Mary, married David Nunn on March 13, 1873. Orian and Iva Agee, who are the parents of Nellie Woods, also are buried in Nunn Cemetery. He died in 1969 and his wife died in 1973. Agee Community residents thanked the Job Corps workers, Wal-Mart for helping with the trees and Bruce McIver Trucking for donating the dirt. |