Hi all, While digging through my files looking for something else, I found this letter that Bernice SCONCE FOULKES [b. 1908] wrote to a JUSTICE cousin in 1988.. Bernice lived in Alton, and was quite the genealogy nut before it was popular....It is a lengthy letter, but there are some local families that are mentioned, and you can also get a hint of the life in the era that she mentions.. I will just type what will be of interest to you researchers, and will put the surnames in CAPS [they will be spelled exactly as she has them..].. This was so much fun to read!! Hope you enjoy it too. Because of it's length, I will send in more than one email Lanita Nov. 14, 1988 Dear Ted, I was so excited and pleased to have your letter, and to be allowed to preview the material for your next books.......... Beginning back in Buncombe Co., NC, the names of HUDDELSTON, MURRAY, GRIER AND KYKENDALL were and are common names in Oregon County. It seems likely that some of these families migrated from that area to the Ozarks - as did old Amos [Amos J. JUSTICE]. So interesting, the lengthy closing of the John D. JUSTICE estate, by William NETTLES. Creditors just seemed to come from all over with claims. I was glad to read that Amos Jefferson got the pocket book for 38 cents, and Mary JUSTICE got the books. Not many families back in the Ozark hills possessed "one lot of books" at that time. Purchasers at the sale often had very familiar names: W.L. [Billie] LOONEY, John O'NEAL, and Rueben BARTLEY. They were the ancestors of children I grew up with and even friends I have now. Mose STUBBLEFIELD was the grandfather of Mittie TAYLOR. She was the daughter of Pop and Tommy TAYLOR, a double cousin of my mother, Missouri, and a first cousin to William Patrick. I was taught to call them Aunt Mitt and Uncle Johnny. Their grandson, Johnny COX, is now President of West Plains Bar. Just across the Arkansas line from Myrtle, were two TAYLOR farms. Tommy and Pop [Mary] lived on one hill and Jesse and Betsy lived on the next hill. A creek and spring separated the two farms. Each had large families who grew up closer than most cousins. In the summer, the big black wash kettles were set by the spring where the girls from these two families would meet to do the weekly laundry. For many years, this spring provided drinking water for both families - rain barrels and later cisterns provided water for scrubbing and animals. My mother told me that her mother, Betsy, [Betsy JUSTICE TAYLOR] was living with her sister, Pop [Mary "Pop" JUSTICE TAYLOR, wife of Tommy TAYLOR], when she married Tommy's brother, Jesse. Jesse was first married to Nancy BEESON. They had a baby girl, Sarah Francis, born in 1851. After her death [Nancy's], Jesse married Betsy in 1853. So, at the age of 16, Betsy became a wife and stepmother..... Sarah Francis [called 'Sis" by her many younger brothers and sisters- all nine, who grew up with her.. For years, I didn't know she was their half sister!].. She married Taylor Preston SHIELDS [Preston Taylor SHIELDS] and was my much loved "Aunt Sis"....one of the cleanest housekeepers I ever knew. She used a cornshuck broom and sandstone for scrubbing. She died in 1928 and is buried at Myrtle. Their grandson, Everett CALDWELL, from Colorado, probably has written to you.