Traci, I will tell you what this sounds like -- one of Gustaf ANJOU's cooked up genealogies. The time frame is just right. If so, it was probably published in NY. He did these for profit and some of his garbage is still in the LDS library in SLC. John R. Clarke For some of the best from the outdoors visit www.outdoorwriter.com or www.online-outdoors.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Traci Thompson" <tracithompson@hotmail.com> To: <NCEDGECO-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, August 27, 2001 3:17 PM Subject: [NCEDGECO] Re: Edgecombe book > Karmella, > > You are certainly right that oral history is important. The very best > history is found in people's minds! However, as far as I can tell, this book > is not based on oral history. I analyzed the seven pages Ancestry.com sent > me from the book and wrote an article on it for June's issue of the > Edgecombe County Genealogical Society newsletter. Here is the article: > > June 2001 Lines & Pathways of Edgecombe County Volume 5, No.6 > > The Mysterious Edgecombe Book (and why we are wary of it) > by Traci Thompson > > Researchers who use Ancestry .com may have noticed a new Edgecombe County > database that recently appeared on this website. The database title is > Edgecombe County, North Carolina, Vital Records, 1720-1880 and was compiled > by Cynthia Herrin of Rochester, Michigan from a book entitled Early Families > of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, Its Past and Present. The title page of > this book claims it was published in 1881 and "Compiled by the Ladies' > Tarboro, N.C. Genealogy and Library Association for the Preservation, > Dissemination and Exultation of the History of Edgecombe County, N.C." On > the surface, this would appear to be a wonderful resource for genealogists. > ..until one digs deeper and uncovers the problems. This book and the > database created from it is a concern to Edgecombe County historians for the > following reasons: > > 1.) No copy of this book seems to exist. Traci Thompson, Local History > Librarian at Edgecombe County Memorial Library, and others have tried to > locate a copy to no avail. None can be found in Eastern N.C. public > libraries, N.C. university libraries, the State Library of North Carolina, > the State Archives of North Carolina, nor the Library of Congress. Also, the > LDS library database has all known Edgecombe County books on microfilm, and > this one is not listed.One lady has been located who remembers seeing the > book in the 1940s, but does not know where to obtain a copy now. Cynthia > Herrin apparently owned the only copy in existence, but when contacted, said > she threw away the book after compiling the database. So. ..If anyone out > there knows where this book is, we'd love to hear from you! > > 2.) Clubs and organizations that existed in Tarboro in the 1880s are well > documented, and this ladies' association isn't one of them. While there were > several known civic groups in this time period, all that have left records > were male groups such as the Masons, the International Order of Odd Fellows, > and military reunion groups. The earliest known group of ladies > organizations in this area began in the mid-1890s after Sally Cotton > popularized them by helping create the North Carolina Federation of Women's > Clubs. Also, although the "library" part of the organizations' title could > simply be describing the group as literary, it is worth pointing out that > Tarboro did not have a library until the 1920's. > > 3.) ECGS President and native Edgecombite Betty Reason tested the database > against known facts gleaned from original sources, and says, "Most of the > prominent families are not present. A few are represented, but well-known > families instrumental in founding the county do not appear. The research > I've done on my own family doesn't match what is in this database; what is > in there on my family is simply wrong!" > > In order to have the database added to Ancestry.com's website, Ms. Herrin > had to photocopy a few pages from the book and send them to Ancestry .Copies > of those pages have been donated to the Edgecombe County Memorial Library , > and although there are only seven pages, those seven show a wealth of > misinformation. For example: > > 1.) "One of the proprietors [of Tarboro] was from the Potomac, and impressed > by the wealth of natural resources found in Edgecombe's pine forests, > suggested that the new laid-out town should bea! the name of its most > prominent industry, tar and turpentine manufacture." > > This opening description of Tarboro does not mention the most > commonly accepted reason for the name Tar, that it is a corruption of the > word Tau. Tarboro takes its name from the Tar River, which was originally > the Tau River. Accepted explanations for the word Tau are that it was a > Tuscarora Indian word meaning "health" (thus, "the river of health"). > According to Turner and Bridger's History of Edgecombe > County, "About 1855 an old inhabitant of Tarboro believed Tauboro to be the > original name of the town." > > 2.) "Captain Walker's (of Revolutionary fame) house was the first one within > the town plat. ..[Benjamin Butler] established and kept tavern until he > built his log cabin on the corner, which for many years continued the > principal tavern of Tarboro. Butler moved into it in the fall of 17[?]5 and > lived in it until [unreadable] when he built a beautiful brick and stone > house, the first in what would become Edgecombe County. The original tavern > was used as a war office in the recent Rebellion, and under previous > administrations." > > Edgecombe officially became a county in 1741. Tarboro was laid off in 1760. > The Commissioner's Book of 1760 lists the purchasers of the town lots, and > there is not a Butler nor Walker among them. > > 3.) "...he moved to Granite Township, Edgecombe County...located in > Springfield Township...also of Ferrell Township...White Oak > Township...Liberty." > > Townships with these names do not exist, and never have, in Edgecombe > County. Some of the names, such as Springfield and Liberty, are names of > townships in neighboring Nash County, suggesting that someone got the > counties confused, further suggesting the author was not familiar with the > area. The examples that follow are further indication of this. No townships > or districts known to be or that have been in Edgecombe are mentioned in the > seven pages. > > 4.) "Another prominent family, that of Archibald Arrington. .." > > Further text puts Archibald Arrington in Edgecombe County around 1820. > Census records show that the only Arrington here in 1820 was a Lewis > Arrington. There were none in 1830. The Arrington name is also rarely found > in Edgecombe records. However, the name is common in Nash County, and an > Archibald is found there in 1840. > > 5.) ". ..Ezekiel and Rebecca Manning in the tragic loss of their son Stephen > Manning. Son Stephen enlisted. ..in Co. H, 32"d Infantry Regiment N.C." > > A Stephen Manning cannot be found in the series N.C. Troops, 1861-1865: A > Roster, in the 32"d Regiment nor any other. According to the Roster of > Confederate Soldiers CD (by Broadfoot Publishing Co.), the only Stephen > Manning enlisted in Virginia. Also, a search in census indexes does not turn > up an Ezekiel Manning, and although this > Stephen is said in the text to have married an Isabelle Wilder, the marriage > does not show up in Edgecombe marriage books nor in a search of an N.C. > marriage bond database. A newspaper article covering the marriage is given, > but the name of the paper is not, and it did not appear in The Daily > Southerner. > > 6.) "Buchanan Manning, son of Van Buren Manning and his wife, died July 3, > 1863...Private B. Manning was a recruit in Company A, 47th Infantry > Regiment." > > The only Manning in the 47th Regiment, according to N.C. Troops, is a Joseph > Manning from Nash County who survived the war. The closest evidence to a Van > Buren Manning is an 1860 census record, again from Nash County, listing a > Moses V.B. Manning. > However, Moses V.B. Manning was only in his 20's and according to N.C. > Troops served in the war himself, in Co. I, 30th Regiment, dying from wounds > Sept. 28, 1862. > > 7.) "Also of Ferrell Township, was Oscar K. Massey. A brave son of Matthew > Massey and Millie Ferrell. ..Mr. Massey was a member of Company H, 32"d > Infantry Regiment. .." > > This is the soldier entry with the most truth. An O.K. Massey does appear in > the N.C. Troops book, although he was in the 47th Infantry, Co. D. There are > no Masseys at all on the Edgecombe 1860 census, but there is one Massey > family on the Nash 1860 census, which was headed by a Kemp Massey who > appears to be Oscar Kemp. Details from the > book (wife's name, father's name, death date) match the census and troop > information; however, again this deals with a Nash County family, not > Edgecombe. > > 8.) "James Collins...removed from Maryland to Edgecombe Co. N.C. in 1822 and > settled in Springfield Township on a plantation purchased from Figures > Phillips, called Fort Hill." > > Figures Phillips is very easy to find; he appears in many Edgecombe County > records, is listed in the Edgecombe 1830 census, and his death on April 26, > 1833 at the age of "about 45 years" was recorded in the Daily Southerner. > However, there is no James Collins on the 1830 nor 1840 census, and that > surname is rarely found in Edgecombe County records, although it is > plentiful in Nash. > > 9.) "James C. [Collins] ...served three years in the Civil War, 15th N.C. > Cavalry...William H. [Collins] served four years in the 15th N.C. Cavalry , > promoted to captain of his company with the Army of Lee. .." > > A James C. Collins, or any variation on the name, cannot be found in the > N.C. Troops series. The only William H. Collins that appears was a musician > and was from Anson County . > > 10.) "Daniel Campbell came from Perquimans County in 1816, locating in > Springfield Township. He purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land. ..in > a few years he was the wealthiest planter of Old Edgecombe." > > There are no Campbells at all in the 1820 Edgecombe census. The name Daniel > Campbell appears in 1820 in Richmond, Moore, Lincoln, Cumberland, Beaufort, > and Bladen Counties, and the pattern is the same in 1830. There is no > Campbell land transaction recorded in the Nash County deeds, as transcribed > by Joseph Watson. > > Overall, the book appears to have been written by someone who had Edgecombe > and Nash Counties confused, and thus I seriously doubt it was written by > anyone who really lived in this county. There are nuggets of truth in the > book, and those that can be verified as such from other sources are about > Nash County people and events. Some of the information appears to have been > lifted from other published sources, and the rest (in my opinion) appears to > be the product of a vivid imagination. I also think it is extremely strange > that no copy of the book can be found in this area, if it was written by > someone from here. Then again, as obviously bogus as much of the information > is, who around here would want it?? > Hope this clears up why I think this book is garbage, to use a professional > term again. :) I also think it is a bad thing that many people believe such > information is gospel truth because they saw it on the internet, or they > believe websites such as Ancestry.com have good quality control. I continue > to get questions every day from people who have used this database and think > the book is not only reliable but common, and I have to explain all this all > over again. I even had one person from out of state who had based ALL his > research on this one database! Scary! > Incidentally, I had someone ask me a question about a marriage record in the > early 1800s the other day, and then said "but I suppose you won't be able to > find anything since marriage records weren't kept in N.C. before 1868." I > was dumbfounded as to where she could have gotten that information, as > marriage records have been kept here (with gaps here and there, of course) > since colonial times. Then the other day I found it - Ancestry.com states > that in the description of a new database called North Carolina Marriages, > 1850-1868. Which is rather funny, since Ancestry also has a database called > N.C. Marriage Bonds, 1741-1868. Go figure! > Be careful of the info out there! > > Traci the Librarian > _________________________________________________________________ > Hi Traci :) > > I understand that we should be careful about our > sources, but for me, being an afro-american > genealogist, all info is precious. I have the opinion > that even historical "hoaxes" are worth something...if > not accurate details. The fact that these people were > even mentioned in the book gave me something to go > on...at least so it seems. > > The book was allegedly authored by a few senior ladies > of Edgecombe county. What exactly is it about this > book that is a lie? > (1) the author: was it someone claiming to be a group > of elder-women from edgcombe? > (2) the actual info in the text: is it inaccurate? > (3) the source: is it actually stuff extracted from > other already published records? > > If 1 and 3 are the case, then I would definitely say > that the book is junk. But if it was info provided by > local oral history, then I would say that it is not > complete junk. I have some pretty questionable tales > passed down to me from family, but they were very > useful in id-ing names and places. > > Please, explain what you mean by "garbage". I do not > ask that to question your eductaed opinion in any way. > You have been very helpful to me so far. I am just > curious about the nature of this "hoax". > > ---Karmella > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp > >