Dennis, Thanks for your brief discussion of the Akeley family. What brought it on? Yours-truly traces back directly through Levi Akeley; the curve in Akeley was named "Akeley Corner," or some such thing. The primary ancestor, Francis Akeley, died at the Battle of Bunker Hill and is believed to have been a "Mohawk" Indian during the Destruction of the Tea (now known as the Boston Tea Party). By the way, the Akeley-Briggs family reunion is set for the 1st Sunday of June 2000. We're presently searching for the names and addresses of more Akeley descendents. Doug http://www.LastWatchWarriors.com At 10:11 AM 12/7/99 EST, you wrote: >Akeley - A village in Pine Grove township. Tradition says the crossroads at >Akeley got its name from Levi Akeley, Jr., who settled here after his father >and mother came from Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1828. The family originally >settled on the east side of Conewango Creek, opposite Russell, which land was >owned by Levi's older brother, Joseph, who arrived in 1815 and purchased six >hundred acres of land. While Joseph Akeley spelled his name as Akeley, the >form now in use, there was a period of years during which some of the family >spelled it Ackley. The post office was Ackley Station from 1878 to 1904 but >during that year the name changed to Akeley. The Grange, however, still >clings to Ackley. The first bridge across Conewango Creek at this point was >built prior to 1846 and three bridges have stood here, one having been built >as a covered bridge. The present steel bridge was built about 1900 and was >heavy enough to carry the track of the Warren and Jamestown Street Railway >Company from 1905 to 1929. > >Alcuin - A small and brief utopian settlement on the Homer Preston farm, near >Lander, Farmington township. Named for Alcuin, the English scholar who aided >Charlemagne in the revival of learning at the Court of Franks, 735-804. On a >farm of thirty-six acres that had been given to the Order of St. Benedictine, >Inc. St. John's Abbey, of Collegeville, Minnesota, a small band of devoted >Roman Catholics, chiefly from the New York City area, established a >craft-agrarian community in February 1940. The group learned farming methods >from Rod Carlson, a farmer who had been living on the farm. Although they >worked hard and long, the advent of World War II doomed the society; some of >the members were drafted, others became discouraged and left to take good >paying jobs in industry, and new recruits could not be obtained. Following >the end of World War II, the farm was sold to Robert Sukoski, one of the >original members of the community, and he operated it until 1953 when he sold >it to Calvin Penly, a farmer from Ohio. > >Althom Station - A small settlement in Deerfield township. Named by the >railroad, this was a shipping point for lumber and silica sand. The AL part >of the name came from the Allegheny River and THOM came from Robert Thompson, >hence AL-THOM. Thompson, an early settler engaged in the lumber trade, was a >river pilot, and owned large tracts of land. > >Dennis R. Davis >R8459@aol.com