----- Original Message ----- From: Mary Jacques <mjacques@mcn.net> To: <Repphome@aol.com> Cc: Mary Jacques <mjacques@mcn.net> Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 1999 1:56 PM Subject: NC-PHILLIPS,CHRISCO (1902-1965), HAYWOOD, RUSSELL,COLE Dear Pam, Welcome to NCROOTS. Unless Amanda RUSSELL happens to be in someone in my "brick wall" RUSSELL line, I don't have any specific information on any of your family. Usually I post only one or two connecting surnames in an email's subject line. I'm posting more here, hoping someone will connect with some of your people and look at your Original Message. ----- Original Message ----- > From: <Repphome@aol.com> > To: <NCROOTS-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 1999 11:36 AM > Subject: Re: [NCROOTS] I'M NEW TO LIST AND DESPERATELY NEED HELP. ------------------------------ Pam, like you, I didn't realize how much I knew to link me to my ancestors. You have lots of information to get started on. Don't despair!! You have people, live and kicking, on this list who will help you get past your first two generations. You gave more than enough facts in your email for people to relate to. You may even meet some cousins you never knew you had. I can tell you some things which were helpful to me in my research. One place to start is to download free genealogical forms from the internet. I don't have any of those internet sites on my current computer. I'm sure someone on this list can direct you to them. Once you can organize your present information into family trees you'll see how much information and how many leads are in your information. To focus on your grandfather, you said Loyd CHRISCO (b. 12 April 1902) died March, 1965 and is buried in Greensboro, NC. His death is recent enough so you have great possibilities of finding written documentation. You might locate the cemetery in which he is buried, check their cemetery records, and find out what funeral home was in charge of the burial. Since you don't live close by, search the internet for cemeteries in Greensboro, NC and make some phone calls. The funeral home may even let you copy his records and have a copy of his death certificate. Since you know the month and year in which he died, order a death certificate from the state of NC--if he died in NC. A death certificate may confirm his address, his wife's name, his parents names, and his birth info. I don't know about NC death certificates, maybe someone can help you with NC specifics. In some states, a direct relative can request the listing of cause of death on a death certificate. Also, cause of death becomes public record after a given number of years in some states. I found and was able to copy lots of information from the records of a Florida funeral home. I discovered my South Carolina grandfather's full name on two death certificates (his and my father's certificates). Since my family tended to include ancestors' surnames in the given names of their children, his middle name gave me a possible lead on an ancestor of my grandfather. I have since verified my intuitive hunch: my grandfather's middle name was indeed the maiden name of his grandmother. This tie-in was the missing link which zipped me back to a couple whose lineage I was researching as probable first ancestors in America, naturalized in 1696. When I got serious about my research, I had a pittance of written documentation; an abundance of stories about my family; and, an elderly mother who was 3,000 miles away and now confused on details. Since then I have gone far back in my family lines, thanks to meeting unknown cousins on lists like this one; following leads; digging deep into public documents (death certificates, cemetery records, marriage records, wills, deeds, birth certificates, military records, published family genealogies, etc) and private ones (family Bibles and prayer books, funeral memorial books, baby books, cards and letters, scraps of paper, old personal telephone and address books, etc.); and, using family lines posted on internet sites as resources and not as the final word. Above all, start with what you know and document, document, document what you discover and specifically where you found each detail. You may run into conflicting or differing information; knowing your sources will help you sort through differences in details. Hope some of this email encourages you not to give up. Dig in; enjoy; use your intuitive hunches; document your treasures. Your ancestors want you to find them. You've done an incredible amount of detailed genealogical work already. Welcome to this place of help and hope. Mary Jacques in Montana mjacques@mcn.net Researching VA, NC, SC, GA, FL for: JACQUES/JAQUES; GUERRY-PIERCE-KING; CRUM-HUTTO-FORT-BROWN-BUIE; MOCK-WELLS-TANNER; JONES-HOLLOMAN-RUSSELL;