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

The link didn't come through right...let's try it again http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv/taney_index/taneytownships/taneytowns hipindex.html Or you can fish from the WRV index page to Taney County and get to it that-a-way. Vonda

Howdy... Wal, since Greg and the Kids were gone today--YeeHAW!--and I didn't know when I'd get around to fixing what needed to be done at the WRV site WITHOUT interruption, I jest went ahead and did it today. So dat Taney Townships link warn't no good after 'bout 3 PM today.... http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv/taney_index/taneytownships/taneytowns hipindex.html You can call me a pain...I had some anyway...LOL Try'er agin. Vonda

Diana, The only thing you might hope to find for 1908 in the way of death records would be probate records or a will. As luck and hillbillies would have it, Taney was one of the last to comply with the state law in 1910--as late as 1914 isn't unheard of for a "missing" death cert. The doctors, unless I miss my guess, simply didn't like doing all that paper work. Plus, folks got buried within hours of their death, many times. If a doctor wasn't around, so be it. Vonda

Okay, After a couple of gray-hair-causing incidents (which included losing the whole website at one point), the WRV site is back up and running. I hope I caught all the broken/re-routed links, but I wouldn't bet money on it at this point. I honestly felt my scalp prickling new gray... You can still use the main link http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv/ but if you have bookmarked pages within the site, e.g. Taney Co. Marriages, you'll need to re-do them. If anyone finds a broken link, Puh-LEEEZE let me know. I hope I can fix it. I even learned a new program today, called CuteFTP, because my stand-alone wasn't going to do what needed to be done. Busy tomorrow--Ideana's here in Branson! Vonda ListMom for MOTANEY and MO-AR-WRV at Rootsweb

Good Morning! The WRV website, thanks to the amateur/newbie webmaster (webignoramus is more like it LOL), is going to need an overhaul in the next month or so--I've got too many pages in the main directory. If you have the main WRV site bookmarked, that won't change. But if you try to access certain pages within the site, you may have trouble finding them if you don't start from the main page. One thing I'm currently have trouble with is that Greg recently updated both my browswers, and neither of them are automatically "Refreshing" or "Reloading" the pages. If you go to a page and I've announced something new that you don't see, click on whichever "refresh" your browser uses, and it should come up. Vonda Wilson Sheets ListMom for MOTANEY and MO-AR-WRV at Rootsweb http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv/

Good Morning! In preparation for the cemetery transcriptions, I've created a Township Index for Taney County, available at the website. It is arranged as easily as I could figure out how to do it. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv/taneytownshipindex.html The towns and cemeteries for each township are listed under that township's numbers according to the system set by the federal government called Rectangular Survey System. I used the same blocking and each township is basically where it would be on a geographical map (although this is much neater than the real thing). Eventually, I will be adding the schools and other entities to the townships, such as Murder Rocks and Dewey Bald and the hollers and so forth. I've had these done for a couple of weeks, but thought to wait to upload them until we had the cemeteries transcribed. Then I realized that uploading it all at once might be a bit overwhelming; I've not seen another county page set up this way, and it might take some getting used to. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's had this idea--but most of you know, there isn't a bunch of territory for me to cover in my own research, since Greg and I both had people in the 1840 Taney Co. Census. I will have the cems alphabetically arranged as well, accessible from the main Taney page. Hopefully, I'll be able to inter-link all the pages, so you'll be able to navigate from the alpha list of cems, to the transcription of a particular cem; then you'll be able to click on the township link and see what other features are in that township or neighborhood. One advantage to doing it this way is that you'll SEE the neighboring townships, and be able to look through them for other cems or towns or "whatever" that our ancestors might have used for a post office, to bury family members, or "whatever" once again. My goal is to make it as easy as possible to learn the basic geography of Taney, and to help you remember to look in bordering areas that might help you find more information. If you are confused by now--I'm not through my coffee pot yet, so bear with me! Let me know what you think! Vonda ListMom for MOTANEY and MO-AR-WRV at Rootsweb http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv/

I have a story (don't groan) that might interest some of y'all. I had an article in the last issue of the White River Valley Historical Quarterly about what I call "hybrid" genealogy, mixing computer genealogy with traditional genealogy. At the end of the article, there was a little paragraph with my full name, and some of what I do in my "spare" (hah!) time. Jean Gleaves, who is the secretary-treasurer of the WRVHS, emailed me last week with a request that had been sent in by a lady named Ruth Hadlock in Klamath Falls, OR; Ruth asked that I contact her, so I dropped a little note in snail mail to her on Friday. Now, I have kin on both my Macomb and my Wilson (Daddy's maternal and paternal lines) who went to WA and OR and CA at various times in the early 1900s, and then later in the 1920s and 1930s. I joke about Butte Co. CA being populated by nearly all of Stone Co. and some of Taney, for if you can't find your people in MO or OK (another popular destination in the early 1900s), chances are, if you go the excellent CA Death Index at Rootsweb, you might find them there. So I thought this lady might be one of those long-lost lines I've not been in contact with yet... Nope. That's what I get fer thinkin'. She noted my married name as being Sheets and asked if my husband (pore ol' abused Greg) was kin to any of the Sheets in Taney County. Greg's dad was born in NE MO (Tarkio), and his grandfather, Cecil Earl Sheets, had lived all his life--as far we knew until last May--in northern MO and in NE. We found out in May that Earl, as he was called (I never had the pleasure of meeting him, unfortunately), was born in Agnes, MO, which was located in Laclede County. I met many of Greg's distant cousins from Laclede County at Earl's funeral in May, and got some info, enough to do some digging of my own. But that's another story, and not in the WRV region. I've not made any connection with Greg's Sheets line to the Taney Co. Sheets. Ruth was born about 1922 in Kirbyville; her maiden name is Gulls, her mother was a Morris--somehow, I neglected to get her parents' first names. I don't have her Gulls line, but her grandparents were Nannie Snapp and Alfred Morris. Alfred's parents were a Hiram Morris and an Emma Hailey, who were originally from Charleston, WV. Emma's second husband was the Hilsabeck who owned the motel in Forsyth. Nannie Snapp and Alfred were married 12 Jul 1897 in Taney County. (this from the WRV site of Taney). Nannie and Al were later divorced, and she married a George Wheeler. (this 2nd marriage must have happened after 1913, for I can't find it in my indexes, and I believe she said it was George Wheeler who took Nannie out West). Nannie's father was Samuel Snapp, her mother his first wife, Sarah Sims. Ruth has been doing genealogy for over 40 years, and said she has much of the Sims/Snapp info. What she doesn't have is where Susan Haggard, Samuel's 2nd wife, is buried. She would like to know. If someone has that information, email me and I'll send you Ruth's address (she isn't online). Samuel was shot and killed by Wash Middleton in the middle of the Bald Knobber regime; it was allegedly under orders by Nat Kinney. (Oh yeah, I'm owing more Bald Knobber stories, aren't I? oops) He was a witness to Andrew Coggburn's death at the hands of Kinney, and the Bald Knobbers allegedly thought he knew too much to live. But I digress. Ruth asked if I was familiar with Sheets Holler in Taney County. She said it was some 2 1/2 miles south and east of Forsyth. Now, I have quite a few maps of Taney, and I've never seen it. Don't have a clue where it is. I know Jo Stacey Albers went to school in Branson with a James Sheets during the 1940s; he was apparently Indian, and no one knows what happened to him. But I don't know if there's any connection between James and Sheets Holler. A family named Sheets lived in Sheets Holler (it doesn't always work that way), in a log cabin on a bench (mountain shoulder). Ruth said her mama always told her, "Stay Away From Sheets Holler", using the excuse there were too many snakes for the kids to play there. The Sheets family was apparently good-sized. One night--Ruth said she wasn't very old, it must've been around 1926 or 1927--the baby cried in the night, but no one checked on it, and it was soon silent. The next morning, Ruth said a big rattlesnake was found curled up in the cradle, and the baby had died from snakebite. Awful story. Ruth said another sad incident happened, she thought, not long after that, and the family just moved away without selling the place. Eventually the land came up for sale due to back taxes, and one of her father's neighbors told him he ought to buy it; the land was next to land that Ruth's grandfather Morris had bought. Her father did buy the land, and it is still owned by the family today--some 200-300 acres, she said. If I hadn't lost my Taney County plat book somewhere, I might be able to find Sheets Holler. Ruth's first husband was a Ryser--she married him out west in CA, I guess. Here is an article about the Bald Knobbers here (Taney And Beyond site) that isn't about Sam Snapp (I'm looking for that one...) The picture of Bald Knobbers there is not of the Taney county BK--the Christian Co. BK were the ones who wore the fancy black masks. http://library.thinkquest.org/50083/baldkexp.html Another article at Taney and Beyond (still not what I'm looking for, picture is the same Christian Co. BK) http://library.thinkquest.org/50083/baldknob.html Ruth has contributed several articles to early issues of the WRVHQ. Here's the one I'm looking for about Sam Snapp. You can go the WRVHQ site (linked off the WRV homepage), do a keyword search for "Snapp", and come up with 52 hits! http://198.209.8.166/wrvq/v6/n2/w77b.htm Vonda Wilson Sheets ListMom for MOTANEY and MO-AR-WRV at Rootsweb http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv/

When the Corps of Engineers decided to build Bull Shoals Dam down there in AR in the early 1950s, they had to move the city of Forsyth from its location of more than 120 years at the mouth of Swan Creek and the White River. This is the reason Taney County doesn't have the traditional "courthouse" square that the majority of counties in the White River Valley have...we lost our courthouse square to Bull Shoals Lake and construction of present-day Hwy 160. This land today is called Shadow Rock Park. In flood years, I have seen the entire park under water; Hwy 160 bisects the park, with the Fairgrounds on what the lake/river side, and the parkgrounds between the Hwy and Swan Creek. Compared to many fairgrounds and accompanying parks, it is a small area. You can view this by going to http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.asp?S=10&T=1&X=2454&Y=20299&Z=15&W=2 That is Shadow Rock Park. The bridge carrying what we call Hwy 76 East (cuz it's east of Branson, rather big-headed, ain't it?) crosses Bull Shoals Lake/White River. When this picture was taken in 1996, it wasn't near as dry as it is now. Turn left at the intersection, and the big steel bridge will carry you up to the townsite of Forsyth, although the city limits now include Shadow Rock. The old cement bridge below it still carries traffic across, and I believe that is the site of the old ford that folks coming from Walnut Shade took to get to the town. Swan Creek is below the latter 2 bridges. The Osage used to camp here in the early 1800s. The Fairgrounds are on the bottom part of the picture, on the south. (I used to think I got all turned around here--this proves that I really wasn't, for I knew 160 went north through this area of Taney county. Now I got to get turned back around...for here it's going east-west.) The big steel bridge crossing Swan Creek doesn't come anywhere near the crest of the Shadow Rock Bluff. It is a good 200 feet at least above the creek, and yes, there are houses built right on the edge...I would be too nervous to live there, but looking up at it, you can see the Osage scouts, watching for game, for the view must be spectacular. Turn right at the bridge crossing Bull Shoals, and then immediately turn back north, into the entrance of the park. Shadow Rock Lodge is the big building setting back off 160 a little distance. The Old Jail is the building with the black roof, directly behind the Lodge, and next to the Forsyth-Taneyville Road, heading NE. This jail was built in 1913, at a cost of about $4,200. Jo Stacey Albers, the president of the Historical Society, has told me the exact figures and who built it, but I've forgotten. It is all cement--floors, walls, and ceilings/roof. The first floor was the actual jail, with the second floor being the sheriff's quarters. 'Tisn't a very big building at all--basically the size of a 2 car garage, maybe a bit smaller, in circumference (is that the correct thing to call a square shape? LOL) The Corps of Engineers owns the building, but leased it to the city of Forsyth on a 99-year lease. After some neglect and vandalism over the years, the city donated the use of it to the White River Valley Historical Society in 1995. Bob Miley, who I've mentioned before as needing to have a bronze statue cast of him for all he's done for Taney County history, not just for the Society, and Jerry Gideon, a former elected Taney Co. official several times, spent a great deal of time on the building in the first 2 years. There were once apartments in it, and sheet rock had been put over the concrete walls. Bob, after doing some research/careful inspection, discovered the jail walls (first floor) were covered with graffitti from former prisoners. You'll find about any Taney County name there, if they were in the county after 1913; I'm not kidding. It's great, and I'd like to make a book out of some of that stuff. Bob's carefully torn off the sheetrock, exposing most of the graffitti (whoever thought it'd be historical, I wonder?) The walkway around the south and east sides of the building is below ground level with retaining walls that are crumbling. Bob and Jerry spent days literally shoveling out the garbage/refuse that had accumulated. Inside, the Society has replaced 4 of the windows on the top floor, which has restrooms and a kitchenette. The rest of the windows also need to be replaced, but they have to be custom-built by someone who knows what they are doing. The Society has been rather undecided in the years since over what use to make of the building. The back issues of the quarterlies, and the archives, are stored in the top floor, on tables and in boxes. The Board does meet monthly in the building, but other than Law Day, there's no other time it has been opened. We are going to change that. While there is a need for a historical museum, the jail isn't really suitable for storing artifacts on a permanent basis. Too much moisture. I would like to see the Society get a good research and archives location going, and being right there in the Taney County seat makes the jail almost ideal for that. The old steps leading to the 2nd floor from the right (east) side of the building are cement, narrow and unsafe. We may take them out entirely, installing a ramp and safer stairs to make the building much easier for folks who need wheelchair and walker access. The City of Forsyth takes care of the water and light bills; we pay the propane. These are from Jo's notes concerning the jail. Restoration: replace remaining windows; repair upper porch, replace if necessary; stucco repair and paint; entrance ramp; retaining wall and sidewalk; landscaping. Upstairs: blinds, bookcases, display cases, file cabinets Downstairs: retain original (graffitti) walls; acquire any fixtures which will "restore" original purpose of building (at least in one room) [vks note--there are 3 rooms downstairs, the upstairs is open]; provide storage To Do: Finish demolition; Get quotes on major repairs; arrange upstairs as 1) meeting place for Society 2) revolving display of historical items 3) research facilities; prepare downstairs for tours and possible storage Quite a project. There's a little more, but it'll keep. I've managed to arrange a meeting at the Jail on Wed with a fellow from the local cement company for a bid and overall estimate of the concrete work needing to be done. Also to be present is another fellow I've mentioned before, Barry Johnson, the bronze sculptor who seems to be able to anything he sets his mind to (I've seen his remodeling/construction work, but he says he's not an expert on actual concrete work); plus, Barry is really excited about working on the Jail, and excitement is what we need right now. Jo and Jerry Gideon will also be there, and anyone else I can rustle up on short notice. The rush is rather necessary, for as my friend at the cement company told me today, the weather has to be just right for it to set, and we need it done by the end of March. Bob and Jerry have done so much, and gotten so little appreciation except by mentions; they are getting physically unable to do much more of the heavy stuff, so we've accepted that what we can't get by donations of materials and labor, we'll have to pay for. And I'm going to see about a bronze plaque or two, if I can't get a statue. So I'm out lighting fires, so to speak. BTW, forgot to mention--they named me Event Co-ordinator for Law Day 2001: Outlaw Roundup. That's what I get for being the squeaky wheel, so to speak. <VBG> I'm honored; better yet, maybe it'll get me a job doing this kind of stuff (wouldn't that be great? lol) All because there aren't enough events for me to wear my tear dress to. There's much more to come in the following months. If y'all have been involved in this kind of project, I could use some advice, either with Law Day or the Jail. It's late--I've gotta get some sleep. Any questions, you can e me direct, or to the list--I'd like to see some discussion of this... Vonda ListMom for MOTANEY and MO-AR-WRV at Rootsweb http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv mailto:[email protected]

Hello! Well, I made it through the trip to KC and the wedding and the accompanying stuff (I need to find another word to use...junk?) associated with 2 motels rooms, bored kids, a big fancy detailed wedding, and a 3 1/2 to 4 hours drive one way...let's say it was a pretty good weekend, all things considered. Even got to visit the 1859 Jail in Independence, MO and ride in a "prairie schooner", a wagon pulled by a Belgian draft mare and driven by a Ralph Goldsmith, whose mother still lives in Galena, Stone Co. MO (he graduated from Reeds Spring HS). The redhead bought himself a coonskin cap at the Jail's giftshop, and proceeded to wear it almost all weekend, except for the wedding and reception. Of all our kids, Brett is the one most likely to follow in his mother's footsteps on matters of history and genealogy. <BG> The trees are a-changin' and this part of fall makes the Ozarks the prettiest spot on earth. They said there wasn't going to be much color this year, due to the lack of rainfall, but the scrub oak in my backyard is bright red in spots for some reason...<BG> might have somethin' to do with the dogs? The trees changed from our trip to KC on Friday to the trip back home yesterday...that's how quick it can happen. I want to thank each of you who have sent me a note telling me you appreciate my litanies and hollerin'. THANKS! Anyone ever notice that there are some real creative folks doing genealogy? Look at the email addys sometime...I like that "Searchin4deadppl" one! Gosh...I didn't see the person's name, but I already like 'em! And to sign up for EVERY MO county...oh, man. That's dedication. Got all kinds of news. Rather scary, when you think about it...but things have been cookin' right along--and y'all thought I've been jest sittin' 'round... The White River Valley Historical Society will be 40 years old in 2001, and we are going to celebrate in a big way! Gotta do some backtracking here... First of all, y'all know you can access the WRVHS website from the WRV home page, right? http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv/wrvhs.html No matter what time of year you join--the end of our membership year currently is 30 June--you'll get all back issues of the Quarterly for the year you join. The Quarterly is chockfull of goodies, stories about various parts of the WRV and the people in it. It is a magazine, not a newsletter, although we are talking about a newsletter (it's in the "someday" file). One of the folks on these lists, Ingrid Albers, is the new Editor, and a good friend to boot...she's been helpful to several 'sides me who are looking for family. The Quarterly alone is worth the $15 Individual membership dues. And most of you know, historical and cultural preservation has been a big issue for me. I've gone from realizing that we in Taney County--and some surrounding counties--don't have a single historical marker, building, museum, or anything, besides the long-established Ralph Foster Museum at College of the Ozarks, and the occasional little cemetery sign sitting down some dirt road miles from pavement, to trying to figure out some way to change that. A group of other folks and I have done some cemetery-hopping, but it's not just cems...it's the cabins and the roads and the creeks and the hills, and so much more...the feuds, the weddings, the bushwhackers, the Bald Knobbers, the people...our people. For several years, membership in the Society dwindled, due to some apathy, and some of the older ones passing away. Young families and people tend not to get involved with these things, because a) they're busy raising families and living life and thinking they'll get involved when they get older and have more time; b) believe it or not, some folks find history boring--how?--and sometimes the presentation of history IS pretty dry and boring...but history itself isn't ever boring to me. Some time periods are more fun to deal with, due to events that directly affected our families or caused our brick walls. Anyhow... I've been having little "events", things that have been culminating into some big "events", and the time has come to share some of this with you. Ingrid and I have been yakkin', doing some brainstorming, and she's great to bounce ideas off of. Ingrid wanted to expand the current Law Day, held every May over at the Old Taney County Jail, home of the WRVHS. Then Kathy Riggan came over one day last month for me to do some copies of her and Bob Miley's Taney County Cemetery work for volunteer transcribers. Kathy and I were doing some thinking out loud--something I'm sure you're aware I do frequently--and we hit upon some ideas, so many so quick I didn't take time to go find a notepad--just started writing on a napkin, since we were at the kitchen table (my fave place to talk). Some of it to do with Law Day, some of it to do with an event later in the year 2001, some of it concerning a Historic Sites tour, some of it concerning the jail's restoration and expanded use. Some of it with a Bald Knobber re-enactment, some with a pow-wow, some with a Civil War re-enactment. Since there was no limits to our imaginations, and no one to say "WHOA", we went wild. Ingrid, once apprised of this, went even further; being more organized than myself, she managed to break it up into workable sections. Only now I got about 6 different projects going, and then Greg decides to start up a computer business...LOL and I still don't have one of them "time-clock punching" jobs. <BG> So...this is the clincher. After several serendipitious meetings with people who also think we need more, encouragement by even more people (Beth!) and a proposal drawn up and presented to the board of the WRVHS on Saturday (I had to go to KC, confound it!), I am pleased to announce (ta da!) Law Day 2001: Outlaw Roundup To be held 19 May, 2001, at the Old Taney County Jail in Shadow Rock Park in Forsyth, MO, from about 8 or 9 AM until about 6 PM (Definite Schedule TBA) These are the planned events-- A 40th Anniversary Quarterly Special Issue will be available to members and for purchase by non-members. It has not been decided if this will be a separate edition from the regular Spring Issue; but we'd like to have it so, then make it available for online and later orders from folks who can't visit on Law Day. We are inviting all historical and genealogical societies in the region covered by the WRVHS (see website) in MO and AR to have a display table for publications and membership applications as well. We are inviting publication vendors, including regional magazines like the Ozarks Mountaineer, to also have exhibits or representatives onhand to visit with folks. IF the Historical Sites Committee can get the sites picked out and a trail worked out, there will be a contest, rather like a scavenger hunt, with prizes. The winner would be the first one to leave and return with a marker from each site on the Trail, or something similar in nature. There will be a costume contest, under the categories of members and guests. Costumes could be from any time period in WRV history, from the 1820s (even earlier) to the 1950s, I guess. Prizes will be awarded in various categories such as Best Native American, best Victorian, best Turn of the 20th Century, Best Ancestor Characterization...some haven't been determined yet. Everybody likes to dress up; not everyone gets a chance. (Besides, I needed something to wear my tear dress to; and I want to live long enough to see "Mountain Man" Greg actually wear one of the men's calico mountain man shirts he rescued from the yard sale pile last month. Realistically, I know that men actually wore calico--I just have an extremely hard time visualizing my mountain man doing so.) There will be story-telling and music. Wanda Pickett Ehlers has already decided to do an impersonation of her great-grandmother, Elizabeth Hutsell Rittenhouse Stewart (she's does a wonderful "I'm going to go drown myself!" with the arm resting on the forehead and the eyes dramatically pathetic. Elizabeth apparently said that when Wanda's grandmother announced her engagement). We are talking with many of the old-time folk and hillbilly music players. There will be a picnic, details still being worked on. There will be Kids' Activities, with scavenger hunts and crafts, obstacle course maybe, and prizes. "Make your very own Bald Knobber Mask" might be a good craft! There will be a Bald Knobber Re-enactment. Major events in the history of the Bald Knobbers will be acted, on the same grounds they happened in the first place, beginning 115 years ago. A playbook, discussing the re-enactors and the events, hopefully, if donations and grants permit, will be sold. There will be Outlaw Exhibits, with pictures and stories about the outlaws (and in some cases, in-laws) of the White River Valley, such as Alf Bolin, Old Lady Melton, Nat Kinney, Jake Fleagle, Quantrill, and we can't forget Jesse James, who apparently never committed any robberies in the WRV (the area was too poor) but hid out here; there's others. Doc Gonce might be a good one...Barb Logan, care to work up some pictures and the story of Doc? I'll glue 'em on the exhibit boards! We hope to have a still--not to worry, won't be producing "shine", but will definitely have a [rubbing] alcohol aroma...if we can figure out how. We are planning to have basic lessons on filling out a 4-gen chart; and maybe see if we can contact someone at Rootsweb and other online genealogical websites/software vendors to have a rep. I am thinking of putting out a guest book that would include family lines folks are researching, as well. We want this particular event to take on a research/document aspect; another event in the works for next fall will be more of a lifestyle event. I will be sending out copies of the proposal to major corporate donors in the area in the next week, with a cover letter explaining what we need. Our main concern is the funds, and the "manpower" behind the committees. What you CAN do, as descendants of people in the White River Valley, is this: join the Society. If you can come to Law Day, COME! If you live here, get involved! If you don't live here, and you can afford it, send a little extra--and you can even designate what you want it to go to, be it the Jail Restoration, a certain event at Law Day, or some other activity. All proceeds from this and other events to be announced will go towards the Society! Ingrid and I are going to be writing grant requests to the MO Humanities Council (yet summat else fer me ta larn!), and going and getting prices, etc. for various things we'll need done. Am I forgetting anything? This has gotten long enough, so I'll post about the Jail in a bit. With Greg, the kids, and the phone, I've gotten derailed enough. Please try to get involved with the White River Valley Historical Society. I live where my ancestors did, and thus am a bit more fortunate than some of you. But maybe there's a society near you, as well, that could use some volunteer work or whatever you can do; what goes around really does come back again. Vonda ListMom for the MOTANEY and MO-AR-WRV at Rootsweb http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv/ mailto:[email protected]

Good Morning! This is my first posting to the site and I am hoping that someone in Missouri will have a connection with my family. I have been researching this line for about 4 years and have hit brick walls. Last night I had it, and subscribed to every single Missouri county, so maybe I will have a breakthrough, or at least help someone else. This may be quite lengthy and if anyone needs clearification if I dont make sense somewhere, please let me know: Calvin Blankenship was born in Tennessee est. 1820-25. I know absolutely nothing about his parents, but in 1850 he was living next door to Wiliam and Pamela Jane Blankenship and their daughter Nancy, who was born in 1850. William was born a year or two after Calvin and he was also born in TN. I have to assume that they are related if not brothers. Calvin first appeared on the Texas County, District # 98 1850 Census with his Wife Delilah who was born in IL, her parents were born in TN, and three children: William P Angeline and James. His son, William was born abt. 1844 in MO so that indicates that they were in Missouri at least by 1844. By 1860, it is now called Boon Township and they have five more children : Nancy, Franklin, John, David, and Martha E. Calvin enlisted into the Confederate Army in 1861 and died in 1864. No military record exsists other than his Muster Roll. Then in 1870 and 1880 Delilah is the head of the household and in 1870 Henry (my gg grandfather) has appeared on the census for the first time. Deliah died between 1880-1883. She and Calvin are buried at Mitchell Cemetery. CALVIN AND DELIAH's CHildren and decendents I have only been about to locate two of Calvin's children on the census other than my gg grandfather: David b. abt 1857 married Margaret Sullins (daughter of Reuben Sullins) on May 6, 1886 in Licking Missouri. They had sic children: Dolts, Mary,Elmer,Alta (married Thomas Richards),Maggie, and lola. Angeline married Logan D. Harper. They had four girls: 1. Nancy Eliza : b. 1866 m. John W. Mitchell on July 23,1883 (Franklin Blankenship consented) in Licking, Missouri. They had 8 kids:William H, Carl L, Winnie M, Alma L, David, Justine, Eddie and Henry. 2. Mary, died young 3. Lucy b. 1870 married a Williams 4. Laura Ellen b. Sept 16, 1873 m. Edward Buckner (son of Thomas and Viney Buckner) had 6 kids: William Franklin b. Feb 10, 1893 m. Bertha Murr Logan James b. April 27, 1895 d. Mar 22, 1988 m. Thimsen Scranko and Mary Cochran Ethel b. July 1897 m. Hebrew Sukkins on Jan 30, 1915 Bryan b. Dec 22, 1899 m. Blanche Hobson Charles Allen b. Dec 22, 1903 m. Nell Hobson, d. April 2,1973 Ava Ruth b. Oct 18, 1905 Henry married Lillie Ellen Smith, daughter of James E. Madison Smith and Margaret Ellen Stricklin. They had 2 sons, Irven who married Rhoda Ormsby and Virgil who married Grace Viola Adkins, daughter of Charles Adkins and Hester Gatewood. I hope I made sense, and more importantly, a connection!

Got this just as I'm getting ready to leave. Welcome, Stephanie! (and thanks for your kind words!) >>I just joined this list on yesterday. After being at a major brick wall for over a year on my surname I need help. The surname is QUIETT, QUIATTE, QUITT, QUITTE or anything that sounds like it. Stephanie [email protected]<< 'Roun' my house, it's pronounced "Kwi-YUT!" Stephanie, what time frame and area are you looking for? I won't be home this weekend--I get to stay in a motel with a 9-year-old, 2 10-year-olds, a 17-year-old, an 18-year-old, and a 19-year-old, and no indoor pool (oh, and let's don't forget Greg <BG>). I've decided it's going to be a GOOD weekend, whether they like it or not. But there's several helpful folks around these lists who'll jump in... Vonda ListMom for MOTANEY and MO-AR-WRV at Rootsweb http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv

The story Bessie and Dessie told Grandma was told to nearly every one of Grandma's cousins, by the parents' generation. I honestly don't know who told the story to start with; it could've been Nathaniel, in an effort to pretty up the real story, and give his half-Indian children some sort of reason for the absence of the grandparents who lived right across the road that crossed Little Indian Creek in Stone County. This road is now called Hwy 86, and south of the bridge is what most folks know as Dogwood Canyon, a division of Bass Pro. The Macomb line here goes Andrew b 1794>Abraham Marion b 1823 Rockbridge Co. VA d 1898 Stone Co. MO>Nathaniel Jefferson b 24 Mar 1853 Knoxville, Marion Co. IA d 18 Feb 1940 Shawnee, OK>Nathan Birdseye b 30 May 1884 d 22 Jun 1936, both in Stone Co. MO>Audie Edith (and she's still alive) This is what is called Infamous Family Knowledge; a story that is believed to be gospel truth, because "Daddy would never lie to me!" from our grandparents. Guess what? Somebody did! Documentation in this case proved it! Vonda Rebuttal/Agreement 7 May 1999 Fact #1--unless Nathaniel visited kin with his family, he was never in Macomb, IL. We don't know if Abraham was before 1848. Because of the marriage I've found for Andrew in Van Buren Co. IA in 1837, I imagine Abraham was in IA. I've not found him for the 1840 census yet. Abraham, according to IFK, was raised by his mother's brother, Nathaniel HILL. There are 3 in IL in 1840. Fact #2--The Phenix family never lived in IA or IL, as far as we know. There is no reason to think Levi didn't come straight to Christian Co. MO from Wood Co. OH sometime before Jan 1877 (when he bought the lot in Billings). What we don't know yet is why, or if Martha Ella and sister Mary came with him from the start, or if he sent for them after he arrived in Christian Co. [land deeds] Fact #3--Levi was a next-door (so to speak) neighbor of George W. Nokes, the Justice of the Peace who performed both Phenix-Macomb marriages in Sep 1879 in Christian Co. MO. This is in the 1880 census. Fact #4--Nathaniel and Martha Ella's first baby was Levi, and he is buried in the Blue Eye Cemetery. Fact #5--Many prejudiced people called dark-skinned people "Black". Yes, there were Cherokee in OH in the late 1700s and early 1800s. But Levi and Martha Ella's parents were both born in PA, according to the 1850, 1860, and 1880 census in Huron and Wood Co.s in OH. There are several reasons to think the Phenix family was French and Indian. (1) Bob Phoenix says his grandfather, Wesley, son of Levi, claimed to be French and Indian. (2) The first mention of the Phenix surname in North America is in the province of Quebec, Canada, and it was the French "Phenis". (3) Levi and Martha Ella's grandfather was born in NY abt 1788-1790, according to the above-mentioned census in OH. Research into that time period in NY reveals the Iroquois Nation--a nation of farmers--lived there; specifically the Oneida. (4) Why would 2 Indian people in SWMO in 1922 name a daughter Ruby Oneida (spelled Onedia on her tombstone), if one parent who never used his middle name, who was the only child in his family with a possible Indian middle name himself, didn't want to leave a clue? (5) The migration pattern of the Iroquois/Oneida fits with what we know of the Phenix family's movement--Canada>>NY>>PA>>OH, where our group stopped. Many went onto Wisconsin, and some back up into Canada, between the Great Lakes region. (6) The Oneida were tobacco farmers. Fact #6--Abraham brought his family to Christian Co. MO from Montgomery Co. KS after 1870, and before the growing season of 1876. They lived near Delaware Town; this is where Hwy 14 in Christian Co. crosses the James River. Fact #7--Abraham did live south of Nathaniel and Martha Ella. Sue Flodberg says Bessie Moore told her that Abraham and Margaret were buried in a cemetery in "Elk" (Oak) Grove, Carroll Co. AR. Abraham outlived Margaret, and was senile in his old age. Sue can't remember who took care of him, but he used to try to stick his fingers in the hot food while meals were being prepared. Once, he actually succeeded, and was badly burned. Fact #8--Nathaniel's mother's maiden name was Cox. Martha Ella's mother's maiden name was Dimond. Both Dimonds and Phenixes were in Luzerne Co. PA in the early 1800s. The Dimonds could also be Iroquois/Oneida. They are not connected with the Diamond Match Company, another family legend; it wasn't named for a family, but for another reason. Fact #9--Nathaniel "proved up" his homestead patent in 1902. Martha Ella died in 1903. Abraham died between 4 May-22 Aug 1898, according to his pension papers; Margaret apparently died 1891-1898, for she is not mentioned as receiving a pension after Abraham's death. Although both Nathan and Nathaniel moved to the Shawnee, OK area after the 1910 Stone Co. MO Census, they were both back in Taney/Stone County by 1920.

Okay, just so y'all don't think I've forgotten the real reason we're here...you post some stuff, and I won't feel compelled to be a commentator on hillbilly idiosyncrasies. Maybe. This is a story related to my grandmother, Audie E. MACOMB WILSON, by her first cousins, Bessie FAIN COFFMAN and Dessie FAIN JOHNSON. (The women are sisters, but not twins) Their mother was Mary Lavina "Viney" MACOMB FAIN, d/o Nathaniel Jefferson MACOMB and Martha Ella PHENIX. Grandma's father was Viney's brother Nathan Birdseye MACOMB. I bet good genealogists such as yourselves ain't confused yet. I left Grandma's spelling like she did it. "Word" hates when you do that. Rebuttal follows. Vonda Bessie and Dessie’s Story Copied from a paper received by Vonda Wilson Sheets from Audie Edith Macomb Wilson, Jan 1991. "October 24 25 1988 This story told to me by Bessie Coffman + Dessie Johnson, as told to them by their mother. Born Nov-24-1893 Mary Lavina Macomb Fain-- (Born Mar 24 1853) Nathaniel Jefferson Macomb + Martha Ella Pheonix ran away from their home's in Iowa + Macomb Illinios to Lampe MO- got married Live on this hight mountain in a Lean to by a Large Cave Must have been about halfway down- Because Grandma said - after 2 o'clock each Day - they could not see the Sun and when the rain and Snow fell it came thru the Place where the cabin join the cave-- The First Baby Boy died at birth-- Aunt Vina thinks it was burried near their cabin - Levi was its name -- The Reason they ran away - Granpa's Dad + Mother Did not agree for him to marry what they call a Black Woman -- A Full Blood Cherokee Indian So they came to Missouri -- how ever they follow them here - and lived on the South Side of Road Way but never came to see thier baby's- 10 of them in all -- Mama said her mother was always pregnant so she never came down the mountain. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- I asked how Did they buy Food + clothing - and mama said--They did not have very much clothing but Grandma sew them all by hand -- And Grandpa kept wild game + in the Summer time there were lots of wild grape's + Berries And Mama Said--She remembers he brought in a wild hog-one time-- page 2 mama Said- Pa was craching around in the Dirt Plowing when a man came and said Nathaniel If you want to see your pa alive you'd better drop your plow lines When he got there he was Dead. he burried him there in the woods-- mama Don't know - but she thinks Great Grandma was allso burried there too--later on Levi or NJ Macomb + Diamond Macomb Great Grandpa + Great Grandma its in the woods Somewhere on Uncle Migs Place it use to be--Great Grandpa Nathaniel Jefferson or Levi whitchever name it was--+ Grandpa Nathaniel J Macomb old Homestead- in 18-7 There was 52 Steps Frank carved out on the mountain we ran up and down playing in Little Indian creek - mama was 11 years old when mama died - and she remembers running along behind the wagon to the graveyard at Blue Eye MO - around 9 miles Frank Atchley -- Grace thinks helped them move from near Uncle Mig's place to Garber MO when Lois was a baby.

If you're a hillbilly, or descended from a hillbilly, it ain't natural if you don't have a collection. You can collect just about anything, but lots of folks collect ROCKS. I personally stick with books and music--I tend not to understand why a person would collect rocks. Arrowheads, okay, and I know they're made out of rock...but just rocks? I've never understood how a person could have a house totally free of clutter, either--that's about as foreign to me as a house that gets dusted more than--well, I plead the Fifth. My bathrooms are clean, though. We went to CO on vacation the summer I was 12. We drove a 1967 Ford Galaxy--it was pretty--and it was pretty loaded with suitcases and us. A week later, it was loaded even heavier with rocks...rocks that Daddy picked up. I don't know if those rocks are any different from Taney County rocks, but I do wonder if some future archeologist/rock-dude geologist will be able to tell a difference, and think there was an Ice Age or something during the 20th Century? I must be a mutant in the family, for my son, my dad, and my Grandma all collect rocks. And I've met all kinds of people, native to Taney and other WRV counties, who collect rocks. And believe it or not, they ain't even close kin, just married in somewhere! And once in a while, there isn't even a marriage in common... There's a guy who lived over by Forsyth who had done all kinds of landscaping with thousands of arrowheads he'd found over the years. As I said, arrowheads, I kinda understand... Daddy can just walk around a place for a couple of minutes, and if there's an arrowhead within 100 feet of him, it'll jump up and lay there, right out in the open, begging for him to pick it up and take it home with him. Over the years, he's gotten so many, he'll look it over good, and if it's a decent one, he'll put it in his pocket. He might toss it in a pile of just-decent ones when he gets home, but again...what are the archeologists going to think? Daddy doesn't carve them, although he knows folks who do, and he's messed around with some flake-chipping. Should I leave a letter in a time capsule to those poor future archeologists? I've mentioned before--this man will go out every so often, dig a hole somewhere on the property, and put a currently-dated item at the bottom, put back some dirt, then drop one of his just-decent arrowheads in between that and the top...and fill it back in till he's done. But it just occurred to me that the rock collecting is another problem. When Greg and I thought we were going to get our house built up north of Bear Creek, my son TJ would jump in front of the backhoe Greg was moving dirt with, to "rescue" a rock. We currently don't know exactly where these rocks are--I'm afraid to ask. I do know they aren't in his bedroom. Greg wondered why TJ was collecting rocks, but then I found a big limestone flake that had broken off the shelf during the hole-digging, and decided it would look good up on the road (200 feet up a very steep hill), with our house number carved on it. It's sitting up there, now, too. Greg only asked "why?" once, and I told him not to claim to be hillbilly if he asked again. Them city folks up in Springfield last spring decided to put a park in the center city area. They're going to "find" Jordan Creek, which was the place the first settlers founded Springfield on, and had been covered with concrete and asphalt over the years since. I got sorta aggravated when the newspaper published that a big debate was going on--should we make Jordan Creek one of those futuristic-looking springs that has fountains and statues? I wanted to go up and knock on someone's forehead to ask if they were home. I wasn't the only one, for a huge turnout at the next planning meeting hollered for a "natural" brook, with "real" rock and moss, ending in a pool. This will re-create Jordan Creek some distance above where the real Jordan Creek presumably still flows. I know where they can get some real rocks, too. Grandma has what appears to be a pile of creek gravel around her front door. The first step going up to the door (which is about 30 inches above the ground), is a nice flat rock, semi-oval, about 24 inches across. The next two steps are concrete block-built, with a base about 4 feet wide. All around this "stoop", she has these rocks--the seemingly-innocent creek gravel, but I know better--she's picked up over the years. I've seen her doing it. She can tell you, of all these thousand rocks, which ones came from where, and why she picked it up...that one is a fossil of some creature, this one looks like MO without the boot heel, that one she got in Washington DC when she visited my aunt. The bigger ones, the ones she brought home from the Gulf of Mexico or Florida and sundry other places, they are all lined up along the house foundation. All the way around the house. This was apparently a Phenix family trait--I don't know where y'all who don't have an ancestor named Phenix got it. But my gg grandmother's brother, Levi Phenix, apparently liked rocks and caves so much, he spent most of his time messing with them. About 20 years ago, the county came through and did some digging for water lines from various county wells, in case residents wanted or needed to tap into them in the future. Dirt in the WRV being a scarce commodity everywhere but down in the valleys, they had to dig up some big rocks in order to bury the lines. Grandma has a rock about the size of a queen-sized bed (and 18 inches tall) up where Wilson Lane meets Bee Creek Road from those crews. She just walked up and told them one day that since they had to take out some trees she'd planted in the 1950s, they could just leave that rock there. And they did. Another one, this one about 3 1/2 feet tall and the width of a breakfast table, sits nearby. That's rock collecting. Scary, ain't it? My family has rocks from places all over the US. You know the really sad part? Greg and I were in WalMart tonight, trying to figure out some kind of wedding gift for his sister. On an endcap, there sat these table-top fountains. They are some kind of cast resin or something, with real rocks to scatter around the "pool" base. The rocks have been so highly polished, you can see your reflection in them. Greg, who can fix or build anything except for a hearing aid (and they're pretty specialized!) kept walking, but I started messing with those rocks on the display model. I mentioned to him when he came back that he could build me one of these fountains (hint, hint), and we could put our own rocks in it. We bought one for his sister. We bought Rocks. That's bad. Vonda

... and Rubber Snakes Will Haunt Him I’ve mentioned before that my dad is a prankster. There are times his life seems to be full of “jocularity”, as Father Mulcahy on M*A*S*H calls it. Those of us in his family know better, of course, but he does seem to feed on his unnatural ability to play pranks on just about anyone. I read in a stand-up comic’s biography recently that a highly developed sense of humor is a sure sign of super intelligence. If that’s the case, Daddy should have been a charter member of Mensa. Grandma is one of his favorite victims. The summer he and Mom decided to make the one long driveway we had into a circle drive, he took his beat-up old Chevy pickup (known to many as “Lonnie Baker”) up to Grandma’s house to take her for a ride down to our place. Told Grandma he had to show her something, and he did. He went barreling down the dirt road, went right past our drive, and just as Grandma said, “Well, Joe, you drove past your drive!” he turned right off into the woods. Just made the trail for the new driveway, with Grandma bouncing around in the cab of the old truck hollering for dear life. When he finally came to a stop several minutes later, Grandma jumped out of that truck and ran into the house. She told Mom that Daddy had lost his mind. Daddy came in, laughing with tears in his eyes, and then took Mom up to show her the path he’d carved out for the new drive. Mom started laughing too, when she realized that Grandma had “helped” pick out the trail. I think squirrels are both Daddy’s least and most favorite animals. I have heard more squirrel stories out of him, anyway. In all the years Daddy’s worked for the electric co-operative, I think more transformers have been blown by squirrels than for any other reason. When there doesn’t seem to be a reason for a transformer to blow, I know he looks around until he finds a squirrel that’s been electrocuted. If he even halfway knows the customers whose house is nearby, they will find that poor squirrel usually sitting in an upright position. On birdfeeders, mailboxes, porch posts, you name it. Sometimes, he finds two dead squirrels, and he has put them somewhere obvious in different positions—fighting, buddy-buddy, sharing a story, whatever comes to his fiendish mind. Sometimes he doesn't have know the customer--just does it anyway. One time recently, he found the squirrel before it had stiffened up, and stuck it in a small tree by the front door of the house the transformer served. Unbeknownst to Daddy, one of the children who lived in the house was home sick from school, and he was watching Daddy walking around in the yard. As Daddy was positioning the squirrel with an arm around a small branch above its head level, the child called his father at work. “Don’t go outside, son,” he was advised. “I know that man, and he’s crazy!” The man happened to be a friend of Daddy’s, and told Daddy sometime later he’d been watched. Daddy still chuckles about it. Daddy’s one problem with the electrocuted squirrels? He hasn’t been able to make one hold a beverage can yet. He keeps one in the truck, just in case it works someday. Years ago, Daddy bought a 1961 Chevy Bel-Aire in mint condition. Such a beautiful car had to have its own shed, so Daddy built a small barn, forever known as “the Chevy Barn”, to park it in. This was the 3rd or 4th storage shed on his place. One spring, a few years later, Daddy found a nest of baby squirrels in his Chevy barn, and proceeded to chase them out with a broom. The little squirrels must have been close to maturity, but one was slower than the rest, and Daddy caught him (or her). He held that squirrel up so he could look it in the eye, and with his forefinger, gently tapped it on one cheek, then the other, all the while roaring, admonishing it to “STAY OUT OF MY CHEVY BARN!” Then he put the squirrel down, and watched it go running after its siblings. “AND TELL YOUR FAMILY! DON’T GO IN MY CHEVY BARN!” For several years after that, every time Daddy went out to the backyard in the spring and early summer, he could hear a squirrel chattering away. Nearly all squirrels look alike, but to this day, Daddy believes it was the one he caught loitering in his Chevy barn. And it was chewing Daddy out, big time. I don’t know how long squirrels live, but that particular one probably taught its children to stay inside while Daddy was around—“I know that man, and he’s crazy!” And their children and so on have all probably learned about Daddy. Not one has dared to try to nest in the Chevy Barn, either. Squirrels have really led him a chase, that’s for sure. Nothing he hasn’t earned. My sister and I grew up with a dog that chased one particular squirrel for years. For all I know, it was the same squirrel Daddy had chewed out. This squirrel would sit at the bottom of the driveway’s slope, chattering away at Patches, until the poor dog could stand it no longer. He’d go barreling up the driveway, barking like mad, and the squirrel would sit there, watching him until Patches got close enough to think “I’ve got him this time!” Then he’d scamper up the big oak nearby. And if squirrels laugh—around our house, we had reason to think they do—that old squirrel would laugh for a very long time. Patches would come back to the house, abashed and dejected, and if Daddy had seen it, Daddy would just pat his head in sympathy. And both of them would shoot looks full of daggers at that squirrel, laughing up in the oak. One of my uncles says Patches was the dumbest dog he ever knew. I grant you, he kept trying to play with skunks for years, until he got too old to go runnin'. He and Daddy got sprayed together one time, walking home in the dark, down the pathway from Grandma's. Patches used to scare the tar out of all of us, out on walks at night, for this black-and-white blur would come running up behind us, pass us, then whirl around to face us. We knew that's not skunk behavior, but you try to keep from jumping when you see a black-and-white blur out in the country at night. There’s not many who have not been a victim of Daddy’s at some point in time, especially the guys he’s worked with, or knows from work. Daddy always laughs and tells stories of some of the things he’s done to some unsuspecting new guy on the job. I think he does it to make them feel welcome, but it seems to have become a rite of passage. If you survive a trick by “that man”, you’ve done your time. And if “that man” doesn’t eventually play a trick on you, most of the guys who work there will figure you’ve got a problem. One new guy was very afraid of snakes (aren’t most people?). He has had to use Daddy’s work truck out on trouble call, and I guess he’s left it in a condition that’s shown it’s been “borrowed”. When Daddy found out about his phobia, he was in for it. Paybacks, y’know. So when Daddy checked the trouble call schedule to see when this particular young man was going to be on call, he had the perfect weapon. And sure enough, the young man pulled down the sun visor to get the clipboard out, and a snake fell into his lap. To hear Daddy tell it, the pore fella nearly died of fright. A couple of months passed, and Daddy had the opportunity again. Sure enough, he got satisfactory results with another rubber snake. Recently, Daddy related the story to a friend in Kansas. Not much later, he received a rubber snake in the mail, all alone in the envelope. He’s had 3 delivered the same way; he’s started thinking he better ask his friend just what is going on, but he’s a little afraid to find out… Before the most recent delivery however, he had the opportunity to use another rubber snake in his truck again. This time, however, he didn’t hear about it—he saw the results. The next time Daddy got into his truck, the head and tail of the snake had been removed. The tail had been stuck in the snakehead’s mouth, and the head was impaled with an ink pen on the dash. I’ m sure Daddy’s respect for the young man was increased with just that. However, the young man in question decided he would get more than a smidgen of respect from Daddy. He took that rubber snake’s body, and he buried it somewhere on the home place—or so Daddy thinks. When Daddy asked as to the whereabouts of the rest of the snake, the young man said, “Y’know, Joe, you are going to walk by that four inches of snake body every day for the rest of your life. You will be within 15 inches of it, every time you step outside your house.” Daddy still can’t find it.

Well, now... I know I don't have to warn anyone to be good this weekend...ain't nobody writin' nuttin' ennyway... Greg's sister is getting married up in Kansas City this weekend, so we're leaving at noon tomorrow. Gonna have all 5 kids plus the 19-yr-old's girlfriend with us by tomorrow evening...Wayne and Jennifer are bringing Guy up later in the afternoon. For some reason, although Guy has driven himself up to KC the last 2 times we've gone, for Greg's bro's wedding and his grandpa's funeral, this time, he doesn't want to. Hmmm. Wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that his recently-acquired 1965 Chevy long-bed pickup only gets about 10 miles per gallon? LOL On a different note, y'all know I've been rather busy working on the historical/cultural preservation stuff lately. Look for an announcement next week concerning more; you might want to schedule some vacation time and plan to come home for a couple of things going on. After all the hollerin' I've been doing about land being sold to developers, etc., I saw a "For Sale" sign on some property across the street from my grandmother's today. While I knew it had been hers a long time ago, I didn't know if it was still. But when I saw the realtor's name, I got a cold chill, for it was a friend of Grandma's. At one time, Bee Creek Road was really out in the country, although it's only about 3 miles from downtown Branson. Within the past 10 years, a lot of subdivisions and housing has gone in on Bee Creek Road, and the city limits have crept farther north and east on Hwy 65, till my grandmother's place and my folks' place is just barely outside. We stopped by my parents' place for a few minutes, and I asked if that was still Grandma's land, and if so, why was she selling it? I KNOW my Dad doesn't want her to, anyway; and he snorted and said, "Ask her." So guess I will. I mean, my dad bought up 3 lots between Grandma's place and the subdivision north of her a number years ago, to prevent houses from being built on the little lane that led down to his and Mom's place. Rather to the aggravation of the neighbors, he didn't brush hog and clear it off--not my daddy. Oh, no, he let the little cedar saplings get nice and tall, and while he keeps it mowed along the ditchline and about 10 feet from the road, the rest of it is as wild as any place you'll find. When a few of the neighbors--this neighborhood is big on manicured, green lawns, with all kinds of doodads in the landscaping--confronted Daddy about the wildness of these lots, he told them flat out the deer in the neighborhood needed a place to sleep and hide. And they use it, too. This piece for sale, if I remember right, is at least 5 acres, and closer to 10. Old Ike Thompson--we've talked about him before, he used to own Branson Floral--would drive out everyday and work the land just up the hill from it--he had gorgeous gardens. Ben and Pauline Layton Barton own it now, and they, too, keep it like Ike did, with lots of gardens and various places for wildlife. The bad part is, she can get a real pretty piece of money for that land. Yes, I could offer to buy it, but that just wasn't part of my grand plan, and I don't have the funds to do so. Twenty years ago, when folks approached her about selling any land, she told them only if they paid $2,000/acre for it. That's real cheap for land in Taney these days...she could get 5-10 times that much now, or more. Simple lots for homes, with no utilities, are going anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000, depending on location and the contractor. And you could say that, while it's not prime Hwy 76 frontage, it's prime for housing. And I didn't win the lottery last night. You know that raspberry noise you make with your mouth when you're aggravated? That's about how I feel right now. I'm going to send y'all some stories... Have a GREAT weekend! Vonda ListMom for MOTANEY and MO-AR-WRV at Rootsweb http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv/

My mistake...there is a Paul Flemming Column online, but it's not the one about his historic house. You can read a column about why people come to the Ozarks here... http://www.springfieldnews-leader.com/opinions/overstreet100800.html by Sarah Overstreet Vonda

Hey-dy, (it's my day to be perusin' the papers...) Springfield News-Leader is posting obituaries online now. There is also an excellent section about "Progress 2000" and "Preservation Springfield", 2 groups working to define Springfield by past and present for the future. (Sound familiar?) Paul Flemming, in today's edition, has a column about the demolition of his former 114 yr old home that brought tears to my eyes...are all genealogists/historians as deeply moved as I am by this stuff? Go here: http://www.springfieldnews-leader.com/ Vonda

I have a request for anyone that can help in Taney County. I have relatives by the name of McPherson. The name I am looking for is Reece Allen McPherson. He lived in Taney County abt 1900- until he died. I had heard that he had died due to a gunshot wound. Can anyone HELP! Thanks Gayle Gayle Murdock [[email protected]]