Everyone, the Ozark Uncle lives! I haven't corresponded much with you all for the past several months. I spent October and November 2004 completing the Douglas County Historical Journal (Winter 2004) issue, and my wife and I entertained out-of-town relatives through Thanksgiving to the first part of January, 2005. Since then, I've just been trying to recharge my batteries to where I can be of use to the historical and genealogical crowd again. The email sent to this mailing list about the cemetery book (vol. 4) recently sold on eBay reminded me that Pat Carmichael, compiler of the 5-vol cemetery book set, just last month issued the 2004 version of the cemetery books. It will sell for the same price as the previous sets ($20 per volume) but apparently is considerably updated from earlier versions. Here is what she wrote to me about her new books: "Ken these (new) books include all stones that are in the cemetery up until I updated them in 2004. Plus some rocks that researchers have helped me name. So yes there is more information on burials than in the old books." Everyone, in the near future, I'll be updating the Historical Society web page at http://www.rootsweb.com/~modougla/HistSoc/HISTSOC.htm announcing Pat's newest cemetery books. Also, take a look at some to the other new research materials now listed there - for example, Doris Gettys has a reference CD that lists thousands of surnames contained in Ava High School yearbooks, Society files, and other sundry resources. Back to cemetery books -- I intend to get a set of Pat Carmichael's new 2004 cemetery books as soon as I can fit it into my budget. I own the original set (1996-1997), and I just might put them on eBay to help finance the new ones - haven't decided yet. Which brings up a point, be sure you know the dates of any cemetery book version you might buy on eBay. Also, if you have a question about Douglas County items being sold on eBay, some of us who work closely with Douglas County history may be able to help you judge what you might be getting. I just bought a 1929 Douglas County business directory on eBay this evening for $13, and wish me luck - it was kind of an impulse buy. The Ozark Uncle Kenneth Brown (retired educator) Springfield, MO Email: <mailto:ozarkuncle@sbcglobal.net> ozarkuncle@sbcglobal.net Douglas County (MO) Website Coordinator: <http://douglas.mogenweb.org> http://douglas.mogenweb.org Brown Family Website: <http://www.faculty.smsu.edu/k/kwb237f> http://www.faculty.smsu.edu/k/kwb237f My Family Lines: Brown, Hartley, Morris, and Gunnels (SW Missouri) Joy's Family Lines: Neal, Evans, Adams, Blake (SW Arkansas)