Charles Howard Starr? Well that certainly explains a great deal. What a shame that this information was published in a book before it was ever verified. The information that CHS gave was very likely a fairy tale with a few tidbits of fact thrown in just for fun. I did check the book Marriage Records of Clearfield County, PA and found an Amanda F. Elder marrying a J.L. Thompson on November 19, 1881. Without further info, it certainly requires a leap of faith to connect this Amanda F. Elder to the Emma E. Elder that married John Copella. To those of you doing genealogy in the Western PA region--Please-- I beg you-- if it has Charles Howard Starr's name attached to it, please think twice about adding it to your database or spreading it around without verifying it first.The story of Charles Howard Starr's little odyssey around Western PA is a LONG LONG story. If you have ever sat down and talked with him, if he has given you notes, or sent you snail mail, if you have downloaded his info from the LDS website-- PLEASE check out what he has given you and make sure it's right before using it. The man has a maddening habit of knowing just enough about the families that you work on to make you believe he knows what he's talking about, and then he gives you garbage. He's done it to me a couple of times. :-( ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nancy Elder Petersen" <nancyelderpetersen@yahoo.com> To: <genequeen@alltel.net> Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2003 7:09 PM Subject: Amanda Emma ELDER, b 1861, Piney Tp, Clarion Co PA, d. 1936 > Hi Sherry, > I'm not directly researching the JAMES ELDER of Clarion Co PA, > but I did purchase the book titled > "Descendants of JAMES ELDER Sr. of Armstrong and Clarion Counties > Pennsylvania" > compiled by Sharon Robinson Huffman, > Assisted and Edited by Lavon Elder Mundinger and > Ann M. Brooks, c. 1995, > revised edition c. 2000. > > Page 78 has the families you mention: > ..."Amanda Emma ELDER, b 1861, Piney Tp, Clarion Co PA, d. 1936 > She m/1 19 Nov 1881, DuBois, Clearfield Co PA, J.L. THOMPSON; > m/2 M/2 Mohn COPPELLA of Kersey, Elk Co PA" > > A Reference note No. 106 is attached to > "Children of Rufus and Ann E. (Gray) ELDER. > > Note No. 106 is on page 179 of Sources: > "106. Charles H. Starr of Telluride CO, spending winter of > 1999/2000 in Brookville PA. His first contact was with Ann Brooks." > > --Nancy Elder Petersen > >