Barbara, YOUR TRANSCRIPTION OF THE 1850 CENSUS LOOKS FANTASTIC!!!! Thank you for putting it online for all us researchers. Jo -----Original Message----- From: Don & Barbara Logan <[email protected]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Date: Thursday, November 02, 2000 1:29 PM Subject: ONLINE! 1850 Taney Co. Census Hi All, Well I finally got the 1850 Taney Co. MO. Census online!! Please check it out at : http://www.geocities.com/soakbear/taney1850.htm Barbara Logan [email protected] Fairbanks, Alaska ==== MOTANEY Mailing List ==== Visit webpages by other Taney Co. MO researchers to see if they have some of your family information http://www.rootsweb.com/~motaney/taney.htm ============================== Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases http://www.ancestry.com/search Search over 2500 databases with one easy query!

Hi All, Well I finally got the 1850 Taney Co. MO. Census online!! Please check it out at : http://www.geocities.com/soakbear/taney1850.htm Barbara Logan [email protected] Fairbanks, Alaska

In my reading today of the Christian Co. Family Histories, I came across Urma Shipman Boatwright's name. Can anyone tell me the origin of her name, Urma? I ask because of Urmal Roberts; born in Taney Co. in about 1900, to Wm. and Mary Roberts. Also, my grandmother was Urmal Mitchell Reece; daughter of Paley Reece and Martha E. Mitchell, of Dickens and Garrison. I have always wondered where the name Urmal came from; and since the two latter women were cousins, and also related to Urma; wonder if they might all three have been named for the same person? Urma Shipman is the youngest of the three women mentioned. Thanks! Jerry Johnston

Okay; I may be getting a little closer to my Bennett mystery solution; whatever ..... Can anyone tell me the children of Ephraim Bennett, Jr. and his siblings also? His youngest son was Charles Mitchell Bennett, Sr. 1807 - 1882. I wonder if he may have had a daughter or granddaughter named Mary Isabella, who married Wm. C. Mitchell, in Greene Co. They were later of Garrison. Isabella was also later married to Isaac Peacock, and may have been first of all married to a Stinson. I also show, form the CCo. book that there was a John Wesley Bennett; I wonder if anyone knows whom his parents and siblings were??? (1829 to 1900) the right age to be Isabella's brother. Isabella was a midwife; and my great-great-great-grandmother; matriarch to many Mitchell, Roberts, Workman, Shipman, Mapes, and other folks from the area. Let me know if any of you can help! Thanks! Jerry Johnston

I have finally found my Bessie and Fred Caudle; but still need more information. They are in the Taney Co. census for 1910. From the Christian Co. Centennial History, it appears the Caudles went en masse to Fresno. Fred was the son of Shadrack Newton "Newt" Caudle and Lucy Ann Melton. I found this in the Melton section of the book. Fred's siblings were Bedford, Cora, Lola Melton, Joshua B. "Jay", Eartree Melton; and 4 others still living. Shadrack was the son of Joshua Caudle and Lida C. Tillman. I know Shadrack was a common name, but I have a preponderance of occurrences of it in my Mustain families -- I wonder if there is a connection there" I think the Mustains must also have been Melungeon -- therefore another connexion here. Now, I know these folks tie to many other families being researched by many of you. Please let me know if anyone can tell me anything else about them. By the way, Frederic Caudle was born in 1877 and Bessie was born in 1890. Does anyone know why the Caudles all seemed to go to Fresno at the same time? Thanks in advance! Jerry Johnston Scottsdale, AZ

Thank you very much. Tell Birdlady hello for me. Thanks again. That was what I was needing. Josephine or Peter Dunne wrote: > Judy, > > Vonda has done a terrific web page about the tornado. The address is: > > http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv/taney_index/melvatornado.html > > -----Original Message----- > From: J. Good <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] <[email protected]> > Date: Wednesday, October 25, 2000 5:59 PM > Subject: Need Web Site Addy > > > Not too long ago the address of a web site was put on the list > concerning the tornado in Taney Co. Could someone please resend that to > me. I somehow managed to lose it along with 4 or 5 others. Thanks > everyone. > > Judy > > > ==== MOTANEY Mailing List ==== > Don't forget to visit the Taney Co. MO Website at: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~motaney/taney.htm > > > ============================== > Join the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > Linking the world, one GEDCOM at a time. > http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com > > ==== MOTANEY Mailing List ==== > > ============================== > Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases > http://www.ancestry.com/search > Search over 2500 databases with one easy query!

Judy, Vonda has done a terrific web page about the tornado. The address is: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv/taney_index/melvatornado.html -----Original Message----- From: J. Good <[email protected]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Date: Wednesday, October 25, 2000 5:59 PM Subject: Need Web Site Addy Not too long ago the address of a web site was put on the list concerning the tornado in Taney Co. Could someone please resend that to me. I somehow managed to lose it along with 4 or 5 others. Thanks everyone. Judy ==== MOTANEY Mailing List ==== Don't forget to visit the Taney Co. MO Website at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~motaney/taney.htm ============================== Join the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: Linking the world, one GEDCOM at a time. http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com

Not too long ago the address of a web site was put on the list concerning the tornado in Taney Co. Could someone please resend that to me. I somehow managed to lose it along with 4 or 5 others. Thanks everyone. Judy

From Audrey at [email protected] >>Does anyone have an address for the Margaret Casey that wrote "Early History of the Casey Family" that appeared in the White River Valley Historical Quarterly in the spring of 1964. I'm sure that these Caseys are part of our Casey family and I would like to correspond with her. Thanks for any help you can give me. Audrey<< V

Dolores and others, In that map, you'll see over on the left hand side, a road going north that appears to be straight...That's Rustic Acres Road, and it's hilly. The St. James Church is over right, north and a touch east of the intersection of K Hwy (going off down to the southeast) and E Hwy 76, which is coming from the west and turns somewhat north/northeast here. The church is the only building right alongside 76 there, with the parking lot. Sometimes these pictures don't look right, then I realize the hills and dips are missing... Vonda

Dolores, I did some checking yesterday with Bob Miley. I knew there was a St. James Church on E Hwy 76, at the intersection with K Hwy, going down to Bull Shoals. And that is a little bit east, a couple miles, of Kirbyville, which would have been right in the path of the Melva Tornado. Bob said he's not sure they rebuilt the church/school right where it was before the tornado, but the building now called St. James was built around that time, so it could be the one you are thinking of. The Pleasant Hill district, referred to in articles about the tornado, is this region. Looking on a map, you'll see Hwy 76 east of Branson where it intersects with K Hwy. At TerraServer, if you've had problems seeing the maps, you can go up and click on where it says "Small, Medium, Large"--I automatically go to Large (guess I think I'm going to see some people waving or something...) Here's the link at TerraServer for St. James Church-- http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.asp?S=10&T=1&X=2437&Y=20266&Z=15&W=2 Vonda

I am looking for info on a Robert Gardner, who came from Iowa to Taney county sometime after 1886. I believe his wife died before he left Iowa. He would have had several small children and I believe after his oldest daughter married in 1892, he would have probably remarried. I found this in the Taney county Marriages and was wondering if any one out there is related to Mrs. townsend and if they could tell me anything about this Robert T Gardner. I would appreciate any information. Pat Townsend, Mrs. Clara Yes Mincy Gardner Robert T. Yes Mincy 21-Jul-1895 James R. Vanzant, Min. Gos. B 2 p 165 ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.

Jo, Greg is a descendant of John Wayman/Waynon St. Clair and his wife, Mary Jane Craig. Their daughter, Erna Mabel, b 23 Feb 1902 Bluff, Taney Co. MO, was Greg's great-grandmother. She passed away May 1997, not long after Greg and I got together. She used the name Mabel, and is buried next to her husband, Chester Blansit, in Schupbach Cem in Christian Co. Back in the days I had time to do new research, I was researching them...whatcha got? <BG> Vonda

Thanks, Marlene, for your prompt reply & for the additional data. In looking back at the Index to 1900 Taney Co Census, I can see that Sammie Petty 23-MO-Unk-MO is living in same HH with Nathaniel & Almedia St. Clair along with their 4 children: James, Artelle, Reben & Jacob B. I note in the Taney Co Marriage Index that Sarah Pety(sic) married 25 Oct 1901Jacob TODD, both shown as being from Hercules. Looking at the Index to 1900 Taney Co census one can find Jacob TODD 21-MO-IND-TN b.Dec 1878 as s/o Thomas & Sarah E. TODD living in Beaver Twp HH #224. Index to 1910 Taney Co census, this family shows Jacob F. TODD 32-MO-IN-TN with wife Sarah J 29-AR-US-US md 9 years with 2 children both living: Thomas L. 7 and Herman 2. At first I thought this Sarah might possibly be Sammie but age doesn't work out too well in the 1910 census index????? As to Asbury "Buck" PETTIS, I see him b.Mar 1860-MO-TN-MO & wife Malsa b.Feg 1866-MO-KY-NC listed in the Index to 1900 Taney Co census in Jasper Twp HH #152 with M-I-L Sarah E. St Clair b.Nov 1822-NC-SC-TN plus the 4 daughters you listed. I can also see your Isaac PETTY's widow Frances b.Oct 1853 & her 2nd husband Joseph MOELEY(sic) b.May 1848 living in Beaver Twp HH #196 with their 4 children plus the 4 PETTY children from Frances's previous marriage to Isaac. Although I had not previously researched the PETTY family, I try to look at any of the families who lived in the vicinity of those whom I am reasearching, and am so grateful to you for providing that information. I too do not see your Jesse Boone PETTY after the 1800 Taney Co census, but with the additional info that Vonda is making available to us for the surrounding WRV area, perhaps that family will again surface. Thanks again so much as I am mot grateful for the data you gave which probably helps several others besides me on this List. With kindest regards, Don Houk -----Original Message----- From: Marlene Bostrom [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2000 2:01 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Cummings Hi Don, Thanks for the information on the Cummings line. I have a daughter Sammie born to Samuel and Almeda Cummings Petty about 1876 (after Samuel was killed). She is listed on the 1900 Taney Co. Census living with her mother and step-father, Nathaniel St. Clair. I have information from another researcher that she married someone from Gainsville, moved there and had two daughters. I don't have her married name. Asbury "Buck" Petty, Samuel's brother, married Melissa St. Clair 12 Jul 1888 in Taney Co. I don't know if you are researching St. Clairs. I have four daughters for them, Minnie, Estella, Laura and Gladys. I'm descended from their brother, Isaac Petty, who married Tabitha Frances Estep. After Isaac's death she married Joseph Mosley in Taney Co. I have the same children listed for Jacob and Mary Ellen Petty Cummings that you do. I was told that Mary Ellen died in childbirth (I assume when Sarah was born). She died in Taneyville and is supposed to be buried in the Cummings Cemetery. I'm afraid that's all the information I have on these lines. It has been slow gathering facts about them. I just keep trying. I also need information on Jesse Boone Petty who married Catherine Roller if anyone has information on them or the Roller family. I can't find them after 1880 in Taney Co. Marlene ==== MOTANEY Mailing List ====

Is anyone researching this St. Clair family? Thanks, Jo Dunne ================================================================================== Descendants of W. F. St. Clair 1 W. F. St. Clair b: May 19, 1847 d: February 1926 .. +Ailcy Ann Cook b: July 01, 1847 in Missouri d: August 17, 1922 in Missouri m: February 21, 1869 ....... 2 John Waymon St. Clair b: December 26, 1869 in Missouri d: November 18, 1953 ........... +Mary Jane Craig b: December 24, 1871 d: May 17, 1946 m: October 11, 1891 ....... 2 James Alvis St. Clair b: November 30, 1872 in Missouri d: July 05, 1952 ........... +Lillian L. Evans b: September 09, 1881 d: June 25, 1963 m: April 01, 1900 ....... 2 William Asa St. Clair b: December 16, 1875 in Missouri d: January 05, 1950 ........... +Minnie A. Vineyard b: September 1881 in Tennessee m: July 02, 1902 ....... 2 Margaret Evangeline St. Clair b: April 1878 in Missouri d: 1958 ........... +Ed West b: 1876 in Selmore, Missouri ....... 2 Nathaniel Houston St. Clair b: April 08, 1881 in Missouri d: May 13, 1966 ........... +Fanny Browner b: 1888 m: September 01, 1902 ....... 2 Dora St. Clair b: Abt. 1884 ....... 2 Della Mae St. Clair b: July 12, 1887 in Selmore, Missouri d: February 1976 ........... +Thomas Jefferson Handy b: May 1872 d: November 1983

Hi Marlene, Since Georgine Cummings doesn't have e-mail, I'll reply to your questions that YES she is related to Vincent & Henrietta (MOONEY) CUMMINGS through her husband. Georgine Wilma (BOSWELL) CUMMINGS is d/o Ralph and Martha (BULL) BOSWELL. She married Melvin Faris CUMMINGS 28 Dec 1948 in Harrison, BOone Co, AR. Melvin Faris b.13 April 1928 Walnut Shade & d.26 Mar 1988 Springfield,MO he was 1 of 11 children of Philip Franklin Bartholomew CUMMINGS b.25 Feb 1907 d.30 Jan 1995 and his wife Edna Lucille BILYEU who was d/o William Henderson BILYEU and Mary STEWART (not d/o Elzy as was indicated in earlier message if I understood it correctly). Philip CUMMINGS was 1 of 7 children that I know about of Reuben W. P. CUMMINGS b.Dec 1855 and Mrs Martha WARD (widow). Reuben CUMMINGS is 1 of 8 children that I know about of Capt. Vincent CUMMINGS and Henrietta MOONEY. I was not previously aware that Vincent & Henrietta's daughter Almeda had been married to Samuel PETTY prior to her marriage to Nathaniel St. Clair and thank you very much for that info. Do you know if any child from that marriage survived? I'm assuming that Jacob CUMMINGS who married Mary Ellen PETTY (whose name I also did not previously know) was also known as Jack CUMMINGS & that they were parents of Amanda, Margaret, Vincent, Henrietta, Mary, Almeda and Sarah. If I'm in error, I would appreciate your letting me know. Mrs Georgine (BOSWELL) CUMMINGS is my cousin several times removed through marriage as her grandmother Martha COMPTON who married John Royal BOSWELL was a younger sister of my grandfather Samuel William COMPTON. If you have any other information on CUMMINGS or PETTY family which you would like to share, I would welcome seeing it. If there is other information I have that you are interested in, please let me know, although I have not thoroughly followed all lines of the CUMMINGS families. Kindest regards, Don Houk -----Original Message----- From: Marlene Bostrom [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, October 21, 2000 3:56 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Cummings Vonda, Are the Cummings you speak of related to Vincent and Henrietta Mooney Cummings who were in Taney Co. by 1870? I have two Petty ancestors who married children of this couple. Mary Ellen Petty married Jacob Mooney Cummings in 1877 in Taney Co. and Almeda Cummings married Samuel Petty. Samuel was killed before their first child was born and Almeda later married Nathaniel St. Clair. I would like to learn more about these two families if anyone on the list has information. Marlene ==== MOTANEY Mailing List ====

Hi Don, Thanks for the information on the Cummings line. I have a daughter Sammie born to Samuel and Almeda Cummings Petty about 1876 (after Samuel was killed). She is listed on the 1900 Taney Co. Census living with her mother and step-father, Nathaniel St. Clair. I have information from another researcher that she married someone from Gainsville, moved there and had two daughters. I don't have her married name. Asbury "Buck" Petty, Samuel's brother, married Melissa St. Clair 12 Jul 1888 in Taney Co. I don't know if you are researching St. Clairs. I have four daughters for them, Minnie, Estella, Laura and Gladys. I'm descended from their brother, Isaac Petty, who married Tabitha Frances Estep. After Isaac's death she married Joseph Mosley in Taney Co. I have the same children listed for Jacob and Mary Ellen Petty Cummings that you do. I was told that Mary Ellen died in childbirth (I assume when Sarah was born). She died in Taneyville and is supposed to be buried in the Cummings Cemetery. I'm afraid that's all the information I have on these lines. It has been slow gathering facts about them. I just keep trying. I also need information on Jesse Boone Petty who married Catherine Roller if anyone has information on them or the Roller family. I can't find them after 1880 in Taney Co. Marlene

Hi, We have new mystery photos and need your help to identify them. They possibly include members of the Gideon, Tennison and Kelley families. We are grateful to Zelda Gideon Morse for sharing them with us. The direct URL to the mystery photos is: http://www.rootsweb.com/~mostone/mystpics/gideon/gideon.html Jo

Hello List; All my genealogy roads keep leading back to Taney County. My Morris line is found in Taney County, 1850 and Ozark Co. in 1860 then they are found in Webster Co. 1870. Two doors away from the Morris family are the Cannafix family who is my John W. Morris's sister Amanda M. Morris who married Joseph Cannafix in 1868. John married Martha Embry in 1866 both marriages took place in Webster Co. Then after 1870 and before 1873 the Morris family moves back to Taney co. where John was born to Thomas and Sarah/Sally Brown? in 1847.In 1873 their son William Franklin Morris was born. Sometime after the birth of William and maybe another daughter Alice, Martha died. Leaving John W. Morris with Mary Jane, Rebecca, Sarah, William and possibly a daughter Alice, since we don't know for sure there was a daughter Alice and since she never appears on any census record, it's a question mark for sure. John Morris remarried to Caroline Honeycutte possibly in Ozark County, and then he is in Douglas County for the 1880 census he moved to Boone County Arkansas then finally to Sequoyah Co. Ok. Where he died in 1912. Ok, now what I am looking for is his sister's family. Joseph and Amanda Cannafix had one known child, at least, Sarah J. Cannafix who married Enoch Garrison in Taney County in 1887. I am trying to determine what happened to Amanda. There was a family legend, remembrance, memory or something that said John had a sister who died in childbirth in Springfield. Although John had at least three known sisters, P. J. who was born in 1850 and since she does not appear on the 1860 census one can assume she died young, then there is Amanda, and another sister Nancy J. who was born in 1857, which I have not found out if she survived or not. John's mother Sarah/Sally remarried after 1860 and is with his family as Sarah Conner on the 1870 Webster Co. Census but this daughter who would be age 13 is not on the 1870 census unless she is at home, wherever that could be and with who? I also have not found his mother after 1870. So we know Amanda had at least one child and the marriage records for Taney Co said that Sarah Cannafix married Enoch Garrison, consent was given by her father Joseph Cannafix in writing. So if anyone has any knowledge of any GARRISON/CANNAFIX connection I would be extremely interested. Nancy M. Boyd

You know what? If weren't for the fact that Branson lost to Ozark (Branson ranked #7 in class 4A in MO, Ozark #1) in football tonight (24 Ozark, 21 Branson), it would have been darn close to a perfect day. First of all, it's been a right pretty week in Ozark Mountain Country this week. I mentioned earlier that the trees had changed, virtually overnight, last weekend while we were in Kansas City. Early predictions of fall color claimed there wouldn't be much--but someone forgot to tell the trees. The oaks must have heard, for they're all brown and not pretty at all this year, but the rest of them...well, let's just say the Creator has sent his angels out to play with the watercolor brushes. The sugar maples especially--I can just hear the directions now..."Let's mess with their minds--paint that 3rd branch from the bottom on the left with just a hint of red, the 6th from the top of the right full red inside only...and make the middle itself all light pink." There is no rhyme or reason to the maples' coloring...in a whole row, 2 might be pinkish-red, 1 full green, and the rest varying reds and pinks and greens. I kid you not. My aunt, Ethel Wilson McLemore, and a cousin, Georgina Boswell Cummings, came over this morning to do some genealogy chatting. Georgina, although she doesn't look it, is old enough to remember my gg grandmother, Annis Clinkenbeard Bull, who died in 1945 (and was Georgina's grandmother, through her mother Maggie Bull. My g grandmother Sarah Elizabeth Bull was Maggie's oldest sister). So I got to hear a few stories, but we mostly played catch up on the Bulls and Boswells. Georgina's father was Ralph Boswell. Georgina's husband was a Cummings--I don't remember his first name. But his mother was Edna Bilyeu, his father Phillip Cummings. So Georgina and her husband were distant cousins through the Bilyeus. Edna's grandfather was the son of Jacob and Catherine Elizabeth Williams Bilyeu. Jacob was brother to Elizabeth Louisa Bilyeu Clinkenbeard, and she was Annis Clinkenbeard Bull's grandmother. That's how to get what I call "Clinkenbeard Confused" or "Bilyeu Boggled". <BG> And don't forget, in Taney and surrounding counties, we say "Blue". Bill-you marks you as an outlander, immediately, about like saying "Kissie" for "KUH-zee." The former is as bad is "Bill You". Ideana Lain Hinkle and her mother arrived in Branson early yesterday, and spent time with cousins in the Cupp family. Ideana has been searching for collateral Cupp lines, and visited Cupp/Nash Cemetery with her cousin. The confusion behind the name of the cemetery is this--Sarah Ellen Nash b 1874 Taney Co. MO married William W. Cupp b 1872 IA sometime 1904-1910, but not in Taney county. She was married first to a Warren, and had a son with him in 1904, but by 1910, she's listed in the Taney Census as being William's wife. The cem was land owned by Jeff and Rachel Wilson Nash, Sarah Ellen being their daughter and the first person buried in it. That's how Pama and I are semi-related to Ideana. Anyway, Ideana called me this morning, and we met for lunch. I'm not sure what she thought when she walked into the place--she beat Aunt Ethel, Georgine, and me there--and she probably didn't know what she was getting into, going clean out in the boonies with a van load of women. I'd called Pama to invite her, but she had a family emergency and had to cancel, unfortunately (everything's okay now.) After lunch, we picked up Ingrid Albers, and went up north to Goodnight Holler & Meadows Cemetery. I got kinda tickled, for the roads "Goodnight Hollow Road" and "Round Mountain Drive" meet up near Hwy 176; we'd been chatting by 2-way radio, since Ideana and her mother were following in their car. I'd handed the radio to Ingrid, and after a couple of waves to get it back--she was in the middle seat of the van talking to Ideana--I simply pulled over and got out. Although I knew she was anxious to explore Goodnight Holler, and that was the road to do it on, I wanted to take Round Mountain down Cummings Ridge and into the holler. (The roads meet up again down in the holler, just as you cross Bull Creek on a cement low-water bridge.) I had to get back to town to beat the school bus, but I knew Ideana would be able to explore the other road to her heart's content on the way back. So we took Round Mountain Drive. And a drive it is...I can't tell you how many miles you can see, but that mountain (hill to some of you folks) is one of the highest around, and you can see for many miles from Cummings Ridge. It is soul-comforting at any time, but to see it today, while the trees were at their peak with the famous blue haze hanging over the WRV--well, I'd told Ideana I'd be watching her in my mirror if she wanted to take some pictures. We went less than 500 feet before she stopped and got out...<VBG> and you should have heard her gushing! She lives out in the state of Nevada now, and from what Ingrid tells me and I've read, there ain't a lot in common between the WRV and Nevada. Ideana had told me about crossing Bear Creek yesterday on a couple of concrete slabs--"Just a slab of concrete, no rails or anything!", but I didn't tell her I've seen those slabs under several feet of water before...some folks you have to kinda ease 'em gently into things (I'm teasing). So it was with a bit of trepidation that I approached the cement bridge over Bull Creek. Of course, I had to stop right in the middle--this bridge is more than a slab, but still a low-water bridge with no rails--because the trees downstream were reflecting in the creek waters something beautiful. I took a picture of that, and so did she. She then snapped off a shot of me with upstream in the background, but you know what? I totally forgot, despite telling myself I would do so at the cemetery, to get a picture of her. That's aggravating. I was on the radio, explaining that the dirt road we were on was an old road--"Can you hear the wagons creaking down here?"--as we drove north towards the cemetery. Ideana wanted some pictures of some old cabins and outbuildings, and we passed a good one just down the bench from Meadows Schoolhouse and the Cemetery. When we got to the cem, all 6 of us--me armed with one of the kids' socks left in the van filled with cornstarch "borrowed" from the cafe we ate lunch at (I knew the owners, always helps)--got out and walked around. At this point, Bull Creek Valley is about a 1/2 mile, more or less, wide. The cem sits on a bench of some mountain, about 1/3 of the way up maybe (I'm terrible with distance), on the east side. The floor below is pasture and creek bottoms, and several "hollers" join in the valley just north of Bluff--you can see the "town" from the cem, if you know where to look. There's not much left, but it was right on Bull Creek, I believe, and despite its name, didn't sit on a bluff, but was protected by one outstanding one. The west side of the valley is covered in trees, and the sky is big here. Ideana had mentioned a relatively new grave in Cupp Cemetery yesterday, and asked why someone would want to be buried in such an old, neglected cem. I told her because it was away from "civilization" and traffic, but Hwy 65 is a 4 lane running just feet from it. And Cupp is in much better shape than many cems in the White River Valley. I like Cupp. There is one big active cemetery in Taney County, and there are some 4,000 graves in it. While it is a beautiful place, I don't want to be buried there, and neither does any of my immediate family. Might be a morbid subject, but I like peace and quiet and trees, and the thought that someone might find some of that in a place when they come to see whatever represents me is restful in itself. My family has a bunch of plots down in a corner of Old Branson Cemetery, but I don't even want to be there; that's right on an intersection that is pretty busy, across from a cement plant. Cupp and Meadows both have big old trees which are a rarity in Taney and much of the WRV, due to tie-hacking, pencil factories, and logging in general. Many cems were paced off and had cedars or an evergreen-type of tree planted in the corners to mark them. Most were fenced as well, but fences have a way of coming down over time. That's one way we find old cems around here--the trees. I don't know that I can adequately explain the feeling that we get in these old cems. While at Meadows, we looked for the Cupp and related tombstones, but I noted Ingrid resting in the view of the hills and the simple peace of the place. We were about 10 miles upstream from Walnut Shade, the closest town of any distinction left in the area. It's a feeling similar to what you will get when you come back to visit the White River Valley, or "come home," as I like to say. To know that feeling must be something like what you'll feel when St. Peter opens the gates, or Allah lets you into Paradise, or however you picture heaven to be. To buried in a place that gave you that feeling while you were alive--well, I can only imagine it, but I'd want nothing else. It's almost a longing, that feeling of coming home, and no matter what the afterlife is like, your spirit would have to rest knowing the trees are watching over you. Sure, some say "you won't know, so why should you care?" I don't know, but I do. Ideana's Cupp line never lived in the WRV region--this was a collateral Cupp line. But I'd be willing to bet she was able to answer her own question by the time she left Meadows Cemetery. She took off back up Goodnight Holler Road, and since I didn't get a "Help! I'm lost!" call, I presume she's made it back to her motel for the night. She and her mother, Margie, are leaving tomorrow. I dropped Georgine off at her house--lucky woman, she lives on Cummings Ridge...although I could hear Greg remarking that if he lived there, he'd be chopping down a few trees that had the temerity to grow in place of the view. (And he wasn't even anywhere near us lol) Aunt Ethel, Ingrid and I came on back 19 miles from Meadows Cemetery to my house, and yakked. Aunt Ethel left, and Ingrid and I got to sit and yak some more. After my boys left with their father for the weekend, Greg wasn't home from his job yet, so she and I went up to that big cemetery, which is noted far and wide for its beautiful trees in the fall. After walking for a while, I took her home, and came home again. We took Victoria up to Greg's mom's in Nixa, listening to the football game on the radio; and I even got Chinese for supper. I hope Ideana understands why her Cupps are buried in such a place, now. I hope she gets an understanding of why it's home, even with all the traffic and tourists and noise and construction. Because all that is taking place, mostly, on the west side of the county, around Branson, and much of the rest of the county is remote, with curving roads meandering down ridges and up benches and concrete slabs crossing the creeks that only threaten during high-rain times. Shoot, most of the White River Valley, with the exceptions of areas like Branson, does not require much of an effort to travel in time, seeing what your people saw and how they lived. If it's remote and difficult now, it was much more so then. Ideana was a good example of how different the outside world is; she was also a good example of someone wanting to understand. I learned from my time in Kansas City over the years that it's nothing unusual for folks to drive 30 or more miles--one way--to work, and they drive the freeways and easy roads at high speed. Here, it's nothing unusual for folks to drive the same distance, only down dirt roads and curvy roads, up and down steep hills that wear out a transmission and brakes faster than stop-and-go rush hours. I drove those miles in the city a lot, seeing few trees and hills, looking at buildings and houses and other people and finding no quiet place for the spirit. Some folks thrive on that kind of thing--but some folks don't, and like I did after 8 1/2 years, and like my people did when they left for a while--I came home. Ideana, it was a wonderful day! Vonda Wilson Sheets ListMom for MOTANEY and MO-AR-WRV http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv/