In a message dated 6/8/2005 9:03:26 AM Eastern Standard Time, NYNIAGAR-FOLKS-D-request@rootsweb.com writes: I thought this might be interesting to some of you. CBS -------- 60 minutes A segment on Genetic Studies in the Amish will air on Wednesday night June 8. You will need to look up the time for your on area ***** This was a very good segment. It is ashamed that this is happening to the children. The worse part was the men who said: if they had to do it over again, they WOULD NOT have done genic testing. What a closed mind! Their strong religious belief was their reasoning. What a shame that the whole Amish Community don't want to help themselves, by taking advantage of the 'Outsiders world of knowledge'. I know the Amish don't go beyond 8th grade in education. If they did, I think they would learn that other people's education could help them. People and religions, I think, do have to change. Generally people today are more educated than in biblical time. More educated than when the Amish came to the US, Who helped them get more educated. I believe it is the people's religious beliefs and the people were open to new ideas. They lived "in the world" not apart from the world. If I had lived apart from the world, I would not have met so many different nice people in following my genealogy. I learned what other people did and evaluated to use or not to use in my life. I wish the Amish general population would do the same. Susanne Michigan

Vee, please let us know how this goes, okay. Know we'd do the same thing for a best friend like your Jamie. We must encourage children to enjoy history. Evelyn

Dear Folks, Over the years I've been in email contact with Don Whittaker who was born and raised in the Town of Porter. Not only that but he also retired from the Navy--as a Lieutenant Commander. He's a few years older than I and we've shared memories of our individual Navy careers, not always agreeing on our individual points of view. Over the years of corresponding, Don has reminisced about the good old days of growing up around here. He has lived in Virginia for a number of years and one of the things he misses the most is roast beef on a Kimmelweck roll. It's a special delicious sandwich on a unique roll that isn't found anywhere outside of Western New York. He recently planned a trip up here and the other day we finalized our plans to get together over a couple of beef on 'wecks and a couple of beers. We've agreed that he would order take-out sandwiches from Ray's Rendezvous bar and grill which has been here forever on Lake Road. In addition, he would bring a cold six pack of beer to make the dinner complete. He'll bring our dinner over to my house and we'll sit at my kitchen table. We'll talk our heads off about the Navy and we'll talk about his reminiscences about Youngstown. Not only that but if he brings up the subject of his Whittaker ancesters around here, he knows that I've researched the family to the nth degree. I know the history of his family better than he does. If he has any questions, he knows that I might be able to answer them. In the meantime, we'll be sitting at my kitchen table and enjoying a beef on 'weck with a bottle of beer at hand. If nothing else, that in itself brings back sweet memories of the past to both of us around here. We're both looking forward to our special dinner together. vee

Dear Folks, This evening when my neighbor Dawn came over to take my trash out to the curb, she asked me if I'd be up in our historical society museum tomorrow. No I won't and why do you ask? Dawn told me that her son Jamie will be up there with the rest of the fourth-graders who will be taking a tour of the museum as well as the village of Youngstown. Well, let me tell you that almost brought tears to my eyes, Every year we always give a tour to the local fourth-graders and it's always been a joy for us volunteers who tell them all sorts of stories about the history of the village and stories about the museum artifacts we have to show them. However, during the past few years my physical problems have been such that I can no longer be one of the volunteers up at the museum. Nonetheless, I knew that I would hate myself it I weren't there when Jamie showed up tomorrow. As a result, I called Pat Lloyd who has taken over my job of showing the kids the delights of our old school room with the old desks in it. I asked her what the time schedule is for the museum tour, she told me and after much thought I caved in and asked her if she would give me a wake-up call at 9:00 tomorrow morning. No problem. So here I am, knowing full well that I really won't like getting up at the early hour of 9:00 but still determined that I will come hell or high water. I know that when I get dressed in the best that I have, I'll still look like a frazzled old lady with frazzled hair and having to walk with a cane. Nonetheless, I don't believe that the kids will take close notice. Certainly Jamie won't. He'll just be glad to see me. What I'm really looking forward to is seeing once again the children's faces as they walk around our museum. Watching them as they stand in front of our wind-up Victorola listening to the old record of "When the Roses Bloom Again" and giggling over the corny sound of the WWI song. It always amazed me that the young kids soaked up everything we pointed out to them. Therefore, I want to experience it all again. Especially since Jamie will be there. vee

Dear Folks, I'm still working diligently on putting together my book and today I rediscovered one of the stories I'll be including. The author of the story is my friend Fred who had virtually no interest in genealogy. However, for years Fred put up with the genealogy passion that my sister Norma and I had. I was amazed that he finally understood that we were beyond help. We were "infected" with the genealogy bug and there's no cure for it. This is what "A. Nonnie Mousse" had to say about the subject back in 1999. vee Perspectives on Genealogy by 1.. Nonnie Mousse [AKA my friend Fred-Gottfried Heinz Walker-in Switzerland) February 22, 1999 "Only in America." A phrase often heard, less understood. Take as an example the latest American passion for genealogy. Nowhere else does one find such an interest in one's roots, be they of European descent or from one of the other continents. Did it get its impetus from the Mormon endeavor to get their (European, primarily) ancestry under one roof? The Alex Hailey novel, "Roots?" Or an unconscious yearning to just know more about who and what we are and were? We non-native Americans seem to have an overwhelming desire to learn from whence we stem. On the other hand, those who live in a land inhabited for centuries by their forebears have less curiosity in amassing information. The Swiss, for example, have records dating back for several hundreds of years, yet few make the effort to compile evidence of their lineage. Cantonal archives are overflowing with baptismal, marriage, testamentary records, but few families have used this harvest of data. They know from whence they came; they have no need to seek further. Swiss land is at a premium; therefore, gravesites are regularly re-used after about twenty-five years; the remains of the prior deceased are either taken by a descendant or taken care of in another manner. Used gravestones are often resold to a stonemason who will re-cut and resell that stone, perhaps more than once should he live so long. What else does one expect one to do with a stone that's no longer on a family member's grave because that grave no longer exists as such? Not everyone exposed to genealogy is smitten with the disease. Many are completely immune, others develop a mild fever that cools down over a few years, but an unfortunate number succumb to the virus. Those who fall under its spell entirely are easily recognizable. They always carry volumes of documentary evidence with them wherever they go; there is a glassy gleam in their eyes; their voices rise at least a full octave above normal whenever discussing their favorite subject; and, last but not least, they can't pass anything that appears to be a document older than last week's newspaper without snuffling through it. For these lost souls there is no cure. Treat them kindly.

I thought this might be interesting to some of you. CBS -------- 60 minutes A segment on Genetic Studies in the Amish will air on Wednesday night June 8. You will need to look up the time for your on area. Joan

Dear Folks, This afternoon when Valerie and her family were here in my house, one of them spotted the pictures I have on my wall of my ancestors. They were fascinated how I had them arranged. I marched them through the generations starting with my Housman/Bryan grandparents. When I pointed out the picture of my great-great grandmother Anna Fishel (1840-1919), I noticed how I had labeled her picture. It said that her name was Anna Frances Fishel who married Samuel Schroll. My sister Norma and I had always referred to her as Anna Frances but one day I checked my family group sheets and nowhere could I find any source notes that told me how we came to the conclusion that her middle name was Frances. I called it to Norma's attention and she didn't know how we came to that conclusion either. As a result, we got down to the basics and decided that the next time we visited her grave we would check to see what the inscription read. The first opportunity we got, we visited her grave and what we read on her tombstone was "Anna F. Schroll." Right then and there we figured out that we had assumed was that the "F" was her middle name, whereas the "F" stood for Fishel. We were so embarrassed that we had jumped to conclusions without recording our source. During our many years of genealogy research, we always copied down the inscriptions of tombstones and recorded the information in our records. But there came a time when one of us asked the other how we came to the conclusion regarding the date of birth. We studied our notes and finally came to the conclusion that we had figured out that the date of birth came from a simple math formula from the tombstone. Such as someone died in 1814, for instance, and the inscription read that he was 64 yr 10 mo 5 da. That comes out to his birth year of ca 1750. When we realized that, we made certain that our conclusion was based only upon the tombstone inscription. In other words, we couldn't carve it in stone, as it were. As Valerie studied my Clapsaddle family group sheets (in primitive form) today she noticed how I had color coded the information I had on the family. Regarding the information of the parents and children, I inserted their approximate date of birth according to the census records I have. With that piece of information, I made a colored dot alongside and at the bottom right side of the sheet, I put the same colored dot which indicated the date of the census. And every other piece of information I dug up on the family I did the same thing. Colored dots on the family's name, date of birth, date of death and where I got the information from. I invented the system by myself and it's held me in good stead ever since. The bottom line is this. If you record any bit of information about an ancestor or a family and don't know where you found the information, you're left with only some sort of myth. But hey, if you got the information from Aunt Mathilda, record the source and from there you can consider whether you should take it with a grain of salt. vee

Dear Folks, Peggy and I had decided that the best time for her to bring Valerie over to my house to meet me would be 2:30 this afternoon. Sure enough there was Peggy and Valerie and also Valerie's mother and her brother Steve. We settled right down to my kitchen table and questions and answers tripped over each other regarding their Clapsaddle and Quade families. I had my records on the table and Valerie had hers. I gave my copy machine a good workout and Valerie was thrilled to death to get such information. I even dug out the transcription I had made (and indexed) regarding the school records of Zittle's Corner School (School District 3) that showed the attendance of many of the children of both the Clapsaddle and Quade families from 1842 to 1861. You might say that it blew her mind! In fact she was amazed regarding Christopher Clapsaddle's attendance record. He started school in 1842 and he was still a student in 1859--17 years! But that's the way it went with farm kids who couldn't spend much time in book learning during the year when they had more important farm chores to do. BTW, that also included the farm girls. There were just as many laughs around the table as there were serious genealogy discussions. The three of them have such a great sense of humor. The subject of my retiring from the Navy after 30 years came up and Valerie told me that she had retired from the Air Force after 20 years. I seem to recall that she joined the Air Force in 1979 and when I asked her what she retired at she said she was a Master Sergeant, pay grade E-7. I then told her that I had retired as Chief Petty Officer, also pay grade E-7. Valerie and I really wanted to compare notes on our military careers but both of us knew that we better stick to the subject of genealogy. After two hours of fun and frolic and genealogy, they needed to leave so that Peggy could take them around to the cemeteries where their ancestors are buried. But before they left, Valerie make out checks to the Town of Porter Historical Society and to the Ransomville History Museum. I was amazed that she wrote out both checks in the amount of $45.00 each! That was so generous. After they left at 4:30 Peggy took them to the Tower Cemetery, Oakland Rural (Hosmer) Cemetery and North Ridge Cemetery to find the tomb stones of ancestors and family members. Peggy said that nothing could stop them in spite of the near 90 degree heat and humidity. Peggy said when she left them around 7:00, they were utterly amazed and thrilled with what they learned and saw about their ancestors in the Town of Porter. Both Peggy and I felt good about what we had managed to put together for them this weekend. Not only that but it turned out to be a lot of fun. vee

Kathy said, > They are almost through with the worst part of a puppy... mine is a > year > old, and there are days now, where I don't sit and shake my head, asking > myself, "Am I nuts, or what? Getting this dog..." I'm told they are > still > puppies until they are around 2 years old. > She does act like a dog sometimes, now, instead of a wolf puppy that > got > into my house somehow. We got her at 2 months old last year, and she made > "most improved" at obedience school in January. (that tells you just how > bad > she was.. she had already had a 10 weeks of puppy classes before that..) > But - I wouldn't live without a dog. Then Leslie said, >I really miss having a dog. We now have only our 19 year old cat and a 3 year old cat. One of our dogs was about half Golden Retriever. We found him when he was about a year and a half old. He was wonderful!!! (And, to think that some idiot had dumped him!) We named him Shandy. (Our then-young identical twins were trying to say Sandy. We liked the way they said it, so the name stuck.) He had to be put down 8 years ago this coming August. Goldens are purely neat dogs. Our son & his wife & thier daughter now have one named Shandy Junior. He is a honey! Vee, I can certainly see why you want Micky as your dog friend! You'll have such a great time watching him and getting doggie kisses. Dear Kathy and Leslie, I can tell that the two of you are really dog people like I am. But there's one thing I found strange about Micky. He was so happy for me to pet him and was all waggly tailed but when I put my face down toward him, I didn't get one doggie kiss. It made me feel that I had bad breath or something! Now that could hurt a dog person's feelings! :-) vee

Many, many thanks to: Judy, Karen, Patty, Kathy, Bert, Bob, Linda and Louise for their offers to do the 1930 census lookup. Certainly is nice to know so many of my "fellow folks" are right there to help out. This list is more than a genealogy group - this is family !! Evelyn in sunny Old Orchard Beach, Maine yet feeling warmed by family thoughtfulness.

Kathy, Vee, and All, I really miss having a dog. We now have only our 19 year old cat and a 3 year old cat. One of our dogs was about half Golden Retriever. We found him when he was about a year and a half old. He was wonderful!!! (And, to think that some idiot had dumped him!) We named him Shandy. (Our then-young identical twins were trying to say Sandy. We liked the way they said it, so the name stuck.) He had to be put down 8 years ago this coming August. Goldens are purely neat dogs. Our son & his wife & thier daughter now have one named Shandy Junior. He is a honey! Vee, I can certainly see why you want Micky as your dog friend! You'll have such a great time watching him and getting doggie kisses. ~Leslie~

Hi Vee - They are almost through with the worst part of a puppy... mine is a year old, and there are days now, where I don't sit and shake my head, asking myself, "Am I nuts, or what? Getting this dog..." I'm told they are still puppies until they are around 2 years old. She does act like a dog sometimes, now, instead of a wolf puppy that got into my house somehow. We got her at 2 months old last year, and she made "most improved" at obedience school in January. (that tells you just how bad she was.. she had already had a 10 weeks of puppy classes before that..) But - I wouldn't live without a dog. Kathy

Dear Folks, This afternoon when my neighbor Ken picked up my newspaper and mail for me, I waved him inside. We exchanged our usual pleasantries and then he asked a favor of me. He and his fiancée Michelle apparently have joint custody of Michelle's dog Micky. Ken asked me if he could mow a circular path in my grown up field between our two houses so that Micky would a place where he could run to his heart's content. Of course I said yes. Ken was thrilled and then ran back to his car and brought Micky to my door. Oh what a beautiful huge huggy dog he is! I believe that Ken told me he's a golden retriever and is only 1-1/2 years old. Heaven help the two of them when he finally grows up! He's such a dear friendly dog and he was tugging on Ken to enter my house. Frankly I wouldn't have minded except I didn't know whether he'd act like a bull in a china shop. But not to worry, Ken kept a tight hold on his collar. I'd like to get to know Micky and see him racing through my field, happy as he can be. He's such a big huggy dog. I'd like him to be my dog friend. vee

Leslie said, > Evelyn, I quite agree. Below is the message I sent to Vee early this > morning. ~Leslie Kohler~ > ````````````````````` > Hi Vee, > > I hope you were able to get back to sleep. But, if not, please know > that I'm wide awake too. Oops. Now that I look at the clock, you may > already be awake for the new day. While it is only 3:45 am here in > Phoenix, it is 6:45 am in NY state. > > Your 'alarm' system obviously works very well, and the police office is > right. It is good to know that it works. But, gees, what a frustrating way > to be awakened. :-) > > BTW, I actually live in Glendale, Arizona, not Phoenix. But, most people > don't know Glendale, so its easier to just say, "Phoenix". Glendale is its > own city of about 250,000 people. It butts right up against Phoenix. > > Leslie Kohler > Glendale, AZ -- Home for the 2008 Super Bowl Game! > > ----- >> Although you may feel somewhat embarassed, it must be very comforting to >> know your Life-Alert Button works. >> >> All of us are very very thankful it was not an emergency. >> >> Evelyn Dear Leslie and Evelyn, Yes, everything turned out all right. It might have been embarrassing to me but I believe that everyone involved was glad I was OK. But gee, if they only would have given me a heads up, I could have put on a robe and brushed my hair! But there's more to the story. It was probably around 3:00 by the time I got back to sleep and I slept soundly. However at around 9:00 a.m. I heard a man call my name from afar, "Vee, Vee." I had been sound asleep but it soon dawned on me who it was. It was Ken my nice next door neighbor. I let him know I was in the bedroom and he was so glad to see that I was OK. He told me that last night he had forgotten to take his cell phone out of his jacket and didn't hear it ring. When he got up this morning he realized that I had called late last night (via my Life-Alert button) and he hurried over here to see if I was all right. I had shown him where I had hid the spare key to the side door and he used it to get into the house. Both of us were relieved that the system worked even though he was a few hours late. Hopefully, that will be the only time anyone will be summoned by the press of my button. Note: I figured out what to do with my button that I had hanging around my neck last night. Before I go to bed I'll take it off and place it on my walker shelf. In the middle of the night I always use my walker to get to the bathroom and back again and if I should fall, the button will be in easy reach of me. Just another little adventure of mine! :-) vee

Hi Vee Although you may feel somewhat embarassed, it must be very comforting to know your Life-Alert Button works. All of us are very very thankful it was not an emergency. Evelyn

Evelyn, I quite agree. Below is the message I sent to Vee early this morning. ~Leslie Kohler~ ````````````````````` Hi Vee, I hope you were able to get back to sleep. But, if not, please know that I'm wide awake too. Oops. Now that I look at the clock, you may already be awake for the new day. While it is only 3:45 am here in Phoenix, it is 6:45 am in NY state. Your 'alarm' system obviously works very well, and the police office is right. It is good to know that it works. But, gees, what a frustrating way to be awakened. :-) BTW, I actually live in Glendale, Arizona, not Phoenix. But, most people don't know Glendale, so its easier to just say, "Phoenix". Glendale is its own city of about 250,000 people. It butts right up against Phoenix. Leslie Kohler Glendale, AZ -- Home for the 2008 Super Bowl Game! ----- > Although you may feel somewhat embarassed, it must be very comforting to > know your Life-Alert Button works. > > All of us are very very thankful it was not an emergency. > > Evelyn

Dear Folks, It's now 2:10 a.m. and I'm wide awake. A few minutes ago the phone rang (at 1:51) and of course I didn't jump up out of a deep sleep and answer it. I let it ring but no one left a message on my answer machine so I rolled over to go back to sleep. The next thing I knew I heard a knocking on my side door. Uh oh, something's going on. I thought I better get up and see who was at the door. Me and my walker wobbled in the dark from my bedroom to my kitchen, I turned on the kitchen light and outside my door I could see a white light flashing. I staggered down the steps to my door and outside I could see someone coming toward the door with a flashlight. When he saw me at the door he shone/shined(?) the flashlight on himself and I could see that he was in uniform--a policeman. I opened the door and he asked me if I was all right. I told him that since I had answered the door, I guess I was. At that moment the phone rang again and I excused myself to answer it. It was my grand-niece Amanda. She said that her mother (niece Deb) had been called and that I had an emergency. I explained that apparently I had rolled over in my sleep and had pressed my Life-Alert button. I assured her I was OK and thanked her for calling to check on me. While I was still talking to her, I could see someone else pulling into my driveway and I told Amanda I had to hang up because I had a bunch of people at my door. When I went back to the door there was an emergency EMT truck with three or four guys milling around. I swear I had enough people outside to constitute a party. The only problem was that I was in my ratty nightgown and of course my hair was a mess. They were all very nice to me when I explained that I had apparently accidentally set off the alarm button while I was asleep. The policeman was nice enough to assure me that at least I knew that the button worked. It sure did. Everyone is now gone but what do I do now? The alert button has always been clunky around my neck and I know that frequently I roll over on it in bed which annoys me. Of course I could take it off when I go to bed but if I fall down on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I'd be pretty much helpless. However, I also have a wrist strap that I could attach the button to but it still would be clunky and heavy. Considering the late hour right now, I think I'll just remove the button around my neck and figure it all out tomorrow. But the policeman was right. At least I know that the button works. Wide awake vee

Evelyn I have access to the 1930 census, perhaps I can help Louise

Dear Vee, You do the nicest things! Leslie Kohler ----- Original Message ----- > Dear Folks, > > Several weeks ago Valerie from Oklahoma sent me a message that she would > be here this coming weekend with hopes that I or someone else could give > her a guided tour around the Town of Porter and point out some of the > landmarks of her Clapsaddle/Quade families. That was a tough request to > fill. In the first place I'm not physically capable of giving her the > grand tour but more than that, there is very little to show her of her > early families. > > My last resort was to ask Peggy (Tower) Shear to do the honors. She > agreed but admitted she knew very little about those families and she > would need my help to put something together that would at least show > Valerie the area and the land that the families owned. We talked again > over the phone and by then we had some sort of clue what was here that > Valerie would appreciate. > > Peggy came over to my house at 7:30 this evening and brought with her some > of the information she had dug up. I, in the meantime, went through my > files and cemetery records and when we sat down to my kitchen table we > were off and running. > > We first went through the Title Search of the property Peggy and her > husband bought on Brailey Rd. It started off when Wilhelm Willink (and > others) granted the deed to the land to William Clapsaddle around 1837. > Peggy always wondered who Wilhelm Willink was and I gave her a brief > history lesson. Willink was an agent for the Holland Land Company who > first sold off lots of land to settlers. When they granted William the > deed to the land, it meant that he had finally paid off the mortgage. He > had probably contracted with the Holland Land Co. in the very early 1800s > to buy the property. > > Going through the Title Search was a history lesson of its own. When > William died it was noted who his wife and children were and as the land > passed from one to the other, we were able to identify who they were. > When it came to modern times, Peggy told me some very interesting stories > about the later purchasers of the land, especially the man they bought it > from. > > I then ran Peggy through how William Clapsaddle was related to Valerie. > Her ancestor was George Clapsaddle and I was able to identify their > family. William was George's brother and with their brother John built the > first grist mill in 1817 on what is now almost on the corner of Bailey Rd. > and Porter Center Rd. > > I had gone through my cemetery records and found where the three brothers' > parents were buried--the Tower Cemetery. Note: their parents were born in > the 1700s and their headstones are still there with other Clapsaddle > family members. I photocopied the names of those who were buried there > and Peggy knew that she could find their graves inasmuch as she was a > Tower and was very familiar with the small cemetery. > > Years ago when I did thorough Clapsaddle research from the local records > at hand, I had a copy of an 1870 map of Town of Porter and had circled all > of the many Clapsaddle families who were named on it. I made a copy for > Peggy and she studied it very carefully. The map showed all of the major > roads at the time and even now it looks like a modern map. The roads are > still here. She knows that at least she could point out where all of the > family were living in 1870. > > I ran off copies of cemetery records and maps and other pertinent stuff > and when Peggy left here around 10:30 she pretty much had planned just > what sort of a tour she could give Valerie that would give her an exciting > day in the land of her ancestors--complete with a knowledgable tour guide. > What more could anyone want? > vee

Dear Folks, Several weeks ago Valerie from Oklahoma sent me a message that she would be here this coming weekend with hopes that I or someone else could give her a guided tour around the Town of Porter and point out some of the landmarks of her Clapsaddle/Quade families. That was a tough request to fill. In the first place I'm not physically capable of giving her the grand tour but more than that, there is very little to show her of her early families. My last resort was to ask Peggy (Tower) Shear to do the honors. She agreed but admitted she knew very little about those families and she would need my help to put something together that would at least show Valerie the area and the land that the families owned. We talked again over the phone and by then we had some sort of clue what was here that Valerie would appreciate. Peggy came over to my house at 7:30 this evening and brought with her some of the information she had dug up. I, in the meantime, went through my files and cemetery records and when we sat down to my kitchen table we were off and running. We first went through the Title Search of the property Peggy and her husband bought on Brailey Rd. It started off when Wilhelm Willink (and others) granted the deed to the land to William Clapsaddle around 1837. Peggy always wondered who Wilhelm Willink was and I gave her a brief history lesson. Willink was an agent for the Holland Land Company who first sold off lots of land to settlers. When they granted William the deed to the land, it meant that he had finally paid off the mortgage. He had probably contracted with the Holland Land Co. in the very early 1800s to buy the property. Going through the Title Search was a history lesson of its own. When William died it was noted who his wife and children were and as the land passed from one to the other, we were able to identify who they were. When it came to modern times, Peggy told me some very interesting stories about the later purchasers of the land, especially the man they bought it from. I then ran Peggy through how William Clapsaddle was related to Valerie. Her ancestor was George Clapsaddle and I was able to identify their family. William was George's brother and with their brother John built the first grist mill in 1817 on what is now almost on the corner of Bailey Rd. and Porter Center Rd. I had gone through my cemetery records and found where the three brothers' parents were buried--the Tower Cemetery. Note: their parents were born in the 1700s and their headstones are still there with other Clapsaddle family members. I photocopied the names of those who were buried there and Peggy knew that she could find their graves inasmuch as she was a Tower and was very familiar with the small cemetery. Years ago when I did thorough Clapsaddle research from the local records at hand, I had a copy of an 1870 map of Town of Porter and had circled all of the many Clapsaddle families who were named on it. I made a copy for Peggy and she studied it very carefully. The map showed all of the major roads at the time and even now it looks like a modern map. The roads are still here. She knows that at least she could point out where all of the family were living in 1870. I ran off copies of cemetery records and maps and other pertinent stuff and when Peggy left here around 10:30 she pretty much had planned just what sort of a tour she could give Valerie that would give her an exciting day in the land of her ancestors--complete with a knowledgable tour guide. What more could anyone want? vee