Now appearing on the Venango County Genealogy Page!!!! The following list is of people collecting Civil War and War of 1812 pensions. If they are a veteran or widow of 1812 it is noted. In some cases there are dates as to when they first received their pension. Also listed is the town in Venango Co. the check was mailed to. Check out our Venango County Gen page to view the above mentioned. http://www.rootsweb.com/~pavenang/ Thanks to Darleen Berens for contributing this information and to Sheila Helser for a superb job of constructing the page. Penny Haylett Kulbacki

Cousins; Part V "The Amazing Dan Rice" Discouraged by the great financial loss he suffered as the result of his unwise partnership with Adam Forepaugh�s "Menageries", Dan decided that perhaps politics was his calling. He had followed politics and current events with great interest as they had been great fodder for his acts in the ring and besides he was friends with most of the folks in power. After making a number of public speeches Dan surprised the everyone by announcing in Pennsylvania his intentions of running for Congress. A Pennsylvania soldier�s delegation nominated Dan as a candidate for Congress and the presidency (this same year P.T.Barnum temporarily left the circus world for politics as well). Once again Horace Greeley and his news associates pounced on the clown with headlines screaming for the Dan to stick to his smoke and mirrors and to not meddle in such noble matters as the presidency, but this only seemed to fuel the passion that Dan had for the White House! Shops began to place signs in their windows which read "Rice for Pudding and President" and it appeared that Dan would be the favorite, but unlike Barnum Rice Rice lost his bid for Congress and the presidency as well. Perhaps some of the voters assumed that it would be improper to elect an actor/performer to the nation�s highest office-the President of the United States of America. Undaunted by his loss at the elections polls, Dan decided to return to the circus life. His long-time friend and foe Dr. Spalding offered to sell the clown his newly built "Paris Pavilion" which was a portable wooden amphitheater that could be set up on land or on a river barge pulled by a tugboat. Elegantly appointed this was a versatile and novel arrangement not previously attempted and Dan was sure that this alone would prove to be a great attraction. Borrowing heavily, Dan purchased the vessel as his took his circus once again to the river towns along the mighty Mississippi. One hot summer day in the year of 1869, the "Dan Rice Great Pavilion" tied up at McGreggor�s landing as the circus was appearing in the small village. Dan needed to have some leather repair work done before he could open the evening show, so he visited August Rungeling�s harness shop. In payment for services rendered, Dan offered Rungeling passes to the show. The leather shop barely produced enough revenue to support his large family, but after his five sons begged him the father reluctantly accepted the tickets in lieu of cash payment. That evening Rungeling took his sons Al, Otto, Alf T., Charles and John to see the "Amazing Dan Rice Circus-the Greatest Show on Earth". The boys were greatly impressed by the show as they dreamed of running away with the circus. From then on most afternoons the boys would stage their own shows in the backyard and it was a big hit among their peers. Thirteen years later, they would change their name to Ringling and would move to in Baraboo, Wisconsin. They would adopt a Barnum trick by billing their first show as "Fourth Season, 1882 RINGLING BROS. CLASSIC AND COMIC CONCERT CO." Meanwhile in the summer months, Dan was taking his "Paris Pavilion" to the river towns along the Mississippi and during the winter he appeared in "Rice�s Amphitheater" which was located on Charles Street in New Orleans and had been built for him by his friends and admirers, but his audiences seemed to be dwindling. The clown was bewildered as he could not understand his loss of fans as he had made his circus bigger and better, but he failed to see that with the completion of the Great Railroad in 1872 transportation was greatly improved and that this would result in many new circuses starting up. They would have new acts and would steal many of Dan�s fans. Eventually Dan would not be able to make the hefty payments for his beloved pavilion and it was repossessed resulting in turning this once vigorous and gentle man into an irritable and irresponsible person. He turned to drink and would frequent taverns reciting his sorrows to anyone would buy him a drink. Potential partners disappeared and the clown was now nothing but a bum. Eventually, with great personal courage, the broken clown overcame alcoholism and became a Temperance lecturer, giving speeches in the some of the same churches who had earlier preached damnation of his circus. Dan sought to reenter the circus industry but the once "Greatest Clown on Earth" could not secure financing for his circus venture. The town he had donated $35, 000. to erect the Civil War monument refused to even meet with him much less loan him a dime! Dan Rice, the premier clown of the "Golden Age of Circus", officially retired in 1887. This extremely talented, humane and often pompous man lived a life filled with more victories and defeats than most will ever experience as he had made and lost three fortunes. He had gained fame through his gift to entertain and his colorful lifestyle. Dan Rice would go to the "Big Top in the Sky" at the age of seventy three on February 22, 1900 as the result of Bright�s Disease. The "New York Times" who once gave the thousand-dollar- per-week-earning clown entire pages now featured only a paltry two paragraph obituary located in the back of their publication! NOTE: The popular Rice name continued on however, and it appeared on unauthorized shows for 50 more years with the last being as late as 1954 and 1955. Sources: 1)"Two Hundred Years of the American Circus, from Aba-Daba to the Zavatta Troupe" by Tom Ogden, Facts on File Publishing, New York USA 2)"Circus Heroes and Heroines" by Rhina Kirk, 1972, Hammond Inc., New York USA 3) The Circus is Coming" by John Stewart, 1920, Westminister Press, Philadelphia USA

Hello, everyone I have constructed an alphabetized index to the complete Mercer Co. 1850 Census. Before sending requests, read on first. By way of example, here are all the Hofxxx entries (Surname, given name, township, schedule, line, dwelling, family): Hoffered Burwell Sandy Creek 35 8 669 678 Hoffered Emily Sandy Creek 35 7 669 678 Hoffered J. M. Sandy Creek 35 5 669 678 Hoffered John Sandy Creek 35 9 669 678 Hoffered Mary Sandy Creek 35 6 669 678 Hoffices Martha Ann Hickory 32 29 221 225 Hoffins Emeline Hickory 37 37 256 261 Hoffins Fletcher Hickory 37 32 256 261 Hoffins George Hickory 35 33 244 249 Hoffins James Hickory 37 30 256 261 Hoffins James Hickory 37 38 256 261 Hoffins Jane Hickory 35 31 244 249 Hoffins Jemma Hickory 37 33 256 261 Hoffins Jonathan Hickory 35 32 244 249 Hoffins Margaret Hickory 37 34 256 261 Hoffins Mary Hickory 37 36 256 261 Hoffins Nancy Hickory 37 39 256 261 Hoffins Sarah Hickory 37 35 256 261 Hoffins Sucratius Hickory 35 34 244 249 Hoffins Theodore Hickory 37 31 256 261 Hoffins Wm. Hickory 35 35 244 249 Hoffman Ann Lackawannock 1 25 6 6 Hoffman David Wilmington 4 25 27 27 Hoffman Henry G. Lackawannock 1 24 6 6 Hoffman James Lackawannock 1 27 6 6 Hoffman Jerimiah Lackawannock 1 26 6 6 Hoffman Mary Lackawannock 1 29 6 6 Hoffman Sarah Ann Lackawannock 1 28 6 6 Hofins Charles Hickory 8 5 51 51 Hofins G. Columbus Hickory 8 6 51 51 Hofins Henry Hickory 8 2 51 51 Hofins Jane Hickory 8 4 51 51 Hofins Mary Hickory 8 3 51 51 Hofins Morgan B. Hickory 8 7 51 51 Hofis Eliza J. Hickory 16 38 109 109 Hofis George Hickory 16 40 109 109 Hofis George Hickory 16 41 110 110 Hofis John Hickory 16 39 109 109 Hofis Mary J. Hickory 16 42 110 110 Hofis Matilda Hickory 17 1 110 110 Hofius Clarissa Hickory 16 36 109 109 Hofius John Hickory 16 33 109 109 Hofius Maria Hickory 16 34 109 109 Hofius Mary Hickory 16 35 109 109 Hofius Thomas Hickory 16 37 109 109 Hofses George Pymatuning 18 29 135 136 Hofses John Pymatuning 18 31 135 136 Hofses Rosanna Pymatuning 18 30 135 136 I was planning to do this later, but I see many people are struggling to search the census files. I would like to put out a CD-ROM disc with the full 1850 Mercer Co. census *and* alphabetized index, both in text and database (Excel) format. I don't have a ROM burner yet though- they cost about $500, then there's the cost of discs, shipping, my time, etc.. So I would need, for example, about 30 orders at $20 ea. to make it worthwhile. I AM NOT TAKING ORDERS AT THIS TIME, merely trying to find out if there is interest. If you would like to see such a CD ROM, please send a *Brief* e-mail to me at Richard_Winder@bc.sympatico.ca stating preferred file format, and cost, and I will let everyone know if it looks like it will happen. Please be patient, I will be away from my computer for most of August. Many people have contacted me regarding the census, and I am pleased that so many have found it to be useful. I hope to continue efforts to make Mercer Co. info. available, but I hope you all will forgive me if I give my eyeballs a rest for now, and, well, at least try to get myself a CD burner out of the deal! Sincerely, Richard S. Winder (Richard_Winder@bc.sympatico.ca) Bob Bowers wrote: At 7:39 PM -0400 7/27/98, Coleen Florke wrote: >Looking for information on Martha Hoffius born 21 Oct 1847 in Sharpsville, >Mercer, PA. Don't know her parents names. She did marry Archibald Thompsom. > >Thank you >Coleen Hi Coleen...... The Mercer County GenWb page has all of the 1850 Census pages for Mercer County. Look for a 3 year old Martha Hoffius and you may find her parents. *********************** Bob Bowers Lexington, MA boblex@ma.ultranet.com Seniors and Computers - an unbeatable combination!!!!!

At 7:39 PM -0400 7/27/98, Coleen Florke wrote: >Looking for information on Martha Hoffius born 21 Oct 1847 in Sharpsville, >Mercer, PA. Don't know her parents names. She did marry Archibald Thompsom. > >Thank you >Coleen Hi Coleen...... The Mercer County GenWb page has all of the 1850 Census pages for Mercer County. Look for a 3 year old Martha Hoffius and you may find her parents. *********************** Bob Bowers Lexington, MA boblex@ma.ultranet.com Seniors and Computers - an unbeatable combination!!!!! ***********************

Looking for information on Martha Hoffius born 21 Oct 1847 in Sharpsville, Mercer, PA. Don't know her parents names. She did marry Archibald Thompsom. Thank you Coleen cflorke@computer-depot.com

PAMERCER-D-request@rootsweb.com wrote: > > PAMERCER-D Digest Volume 98 : Issue 89 > > Today's Topics: > #1 [PAMERCER-L] Re: PAMERCER-D Digest [AmyHutton@aol.com] > #2 [PAMERCER-L] Part III "The Amazing [FlamnPie@aol.com] > > Administrivia: > To unsubscribe from PAMERCER-D, send a message to > > PAMERCER-D-request@rootsweb.com > > that contains in the body of the message the command > > unsubscribe > > and no other text. No subject line is necessary, but if your software > requires one, just use unsubscribe in the subject, too. > > ______________________________ > > --------------------------------------------------------------- > > Subject: [PAMERCER-L] Re: PAMERCER-D Digest V98 #88 > Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1998 10:39:45 EDT > From: AmyHutton@aol.com > To: PAMERCER-L@rootsweb.com > > Looking for names MCWHIRTER, KYLE, CLARK (e), CLAWGES > Hi Amy Hutton,I have Clarks from Mercer Co. Pa. from 1833 to present day. Email me at emamcd@erols.com Thanks Esther Clark McDermott >

Hi Cousins; Part IV Dan Rice�s Circus was better than ever and the show was sold out to packed audiences along the river every evening. Since the show played Hannibal, MO., it is generally presumed that Samuel "Mark Twain" Clemens used it as a model when describing the circus in �Adventures of Huckleberry Finn�: "All the time that clown carried on it most killed the people. The ringmaster couldn�t ever say a word to him but he was back at him quick as a wink with the funniest things a body ever said: and how he ever COULD think of so many of them, and so sudden and so pat, was what I couldn�t no way understand. Why I couldn�t �a� thought of them in a year." Even though Dan was fiercely loved by his many fans his enemies hated him with as equally a passion. Performances were interrupted by hecklers who didn�t agree with his Republican views as they hurled garbage and insults at him. The clown became even more outspoken and this along with the threat of war caused the attendance to wane forcing Dan to play in buildings only in the largest cities. Audiences had more on their minds than the circus as the North and South were becoming more divided. Dan�s friendship in the South with Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee was causing his Northern audiences to accuse him of siding with the Confederacy, resulting in near riots during 1861 and 1862 but despite the controversy Dan�s good friend Abe Lincoln managed to find time to come to the show when it was appeared in a Washington, D.C. theater and visited with the jester afterward. But in spite of this demonstration of diplomacy and vote of confidence, Dan�s circus was not attracting the packed audiences it once did. There were rumors that the North had seized a steamship from one of Rice�s competitors and was using it as a floating hospital. Where was this country headed? Where were Dan�s fans and what happened to all his famous friends that were always there in the past toasting his success? Rice was soon bankrupt and subsequently his wife left the broken clown. After the war, the clown seemed to be regenerated and he quickly formed a new circus packing the stands once again. During a visit to his new wife�s hometown Dan paid $35,000. to have a monument built to honor the fallen war heroes. Dan�s popularity had returned and he seemed to be able to do no wrong, but our clown made a very poor business move and entered a disastrous circus association with Adam Forepaugh his friend and Girard neighbor. Dan was once again financially ruined! To be continued Will Dan�s seesaw luck tip up again? Where is a talking pig when you need him? Stay tuned�� Sources: 1)"Two Hundred Years of the American Circus, from Aba-Daba to the Zavatta Troupe" by Tom Ogden, Facts on File Publishing, New York USA 2) "Circus Heroes and Heroines" by Rhina Kirk, 1972, Hammond Inc., New York, New York USA

Hi all, Anyone out there researching Grahams in the Mercer area? I have lots to list...but too long to mention if no one is interested. Karen (Graham) Foss -----Original Message----- From: PAMERCER-D-request@rootsweb.com <PAMERCER-D-request@rootsweb.com> To: PAMERCER-D@rootsweb.com <PAMERCER-D@rootsweb.com> Date: Sunday, July 26, 1998 4:49 AM Subject: PAMERCER-D Digest V98 #89

Hi Cousins; Part III of "The Amazing Dan Rice" Business was very good for Dan Rice and his circus. Among his friends and admirers in those pre-Civil War days were Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee. So many of his political associates came to his benefit performance in Washington, D.C. in 1850 that Congress adjourned for the day! Later this year Dan�s good luck took a change for the bad and he developed yellow fever thus forcing him to cancel the circus boat tour for the remainder of the year but while recovering in a New Orleans hospital, he met presidential hopeful Zachary Taylor who was visiting a friend that was a patient. This marked the beginning of a long and faithful friendship between the two and this alliance proved to be beneficial for both in their future aspirations. After Dan recovered and returned to his circus, he became an active supporter of Taylor beginning each performance with a campaign speech. It is widely believed that this active campaigning from the circus ring was most instrumental in Zachary Taylor�s election to office. President Taylor named the clown an aide with the title of Colonel and this resulted in Dan�s career flourishing more than ever, but Colonel Dan Rice was beginning to become egotistical and temperamental. Dan began to feud with Dr, Spalding who had owned the Nichols Circus that had been the jester�s first circus job and he would especially bad mouth Spalding anytime that their circuses appeared near each other. Spalding won a slander suit against Rice and the clown was imprisoned but the ambitious Colonel Dan Rice used this time to work on his act and he composed a song titled "Blue Eagle Jail which presented Dan as a martyr that was wrongful jailed. Once released from his cell, he was given a hero�s welcome and this was his most popular request in the circus ring. In 1853 Dan purchased property in Girard, Erie Co., PA and in 1856 he added to his Girard real estate holdings resulting in him owning a whole city block in this township. Rice would winter his shows for the next twenty years here attracting many other circus folks and in course of time it became known far and wide as a "show town." Included in the list of well known show people who relocated to Girard were Dr. James L. Thayer, who got his start as an employee of Rice's; Charles W. Noyes, one of his pupils; Abe Henderson, Agrippa Martin and Seymour Pease, all at one period of town owners or part owners of extensive circuses. Besides Dan Rice�s Circus there were at least four others organized in the small township of Girard being Thayer & Noyes' Circus , Rice & Forepaugh's Circus, Anderson & Co.'s Circus and G. R. Spalding & Co.'s Circus. (Note: I believe this circus atmosphere may the impetus that influenced so many of my WALDO family members in their joining the circus industry!) Despite his continued success with packed audiences, it was about this time that Dan�s list of critics was beginning to grow. Newspaper men (especially Horace Greeley) considered the clown "unlearned" and a "language destroyer" as they did not like his slang and his making parodies of the high respected Shakespeare�s works and they verbally flamed him in their publications. In reality it could have been professional jealousy, but whatever the reason it was nevertheless painful for the clown to hear. When Dan became charitable and gave special performances for orphanages (something unheard of at this time) he was branded as egomaniacal maestro. Dan fought back against their hurtful remarks by being even more outspoken in the circus ring. He decided to make his act even better by adding more dancers, singers, and other performers- making his show the best with the most acts ever seen in an American 1 ring circus! To be continued�. How will the Amercian Civil War effect Dan? How will he deal with his friends (of opposing sides) Yank Abe Lincoln and, Southern Sons Robert E. Lee and Jefferson ? Can he be all to everyone? Enjoy�Patti Sources: 1)"Circus Days Under the Big Top" by Richard Glendinning, 1969, Garrard Publishing Co., Champaign, IL USA 2)"Circus Heroes and Heroines" by Rhina Kirk, 1972, Hammond Inc., New York, New York USA 3)"The Book of Clowns" by Spearight, 1980, MacMillan Publishing, Los Angeles USA 4) "Two Hundred Years of the American Circus, from Aba-Daba to the Zavatta Troupe" by Tom Ogden, Facts on File Publishing, New York USA

Looking for names MCWHIRTER, KYLE, CLARK (e), CLAWGES AmyHutton

Greetings All, I just signed onto your list, and this is my first post. I am researching the surnames WAUGH & BOYD of Mercer county. Any information on these 2 surnames would be very welcome. I am looking forward to hearing from some of you. Thank you, Chuck in IOWA

Cousins; Thanks for not pointing out all the typos in Part I as I was in a hurry when typing it. PART II The "Amazing Dan Rice" Despite the negative attention, Dan Rice was becoming enormously popular and while traveling on a boat he intertaineded the passengers by dancing a jig and clowning around while singing a song titled "Hard Times". One of the spectators aboard the boat just happened to be the renowned Senator Henry Clay who warmly applauded the dancing jester naming him "Yankee Dan". With encouragement like that there was no way that Dan was going to be dampened by his pious enemies. In 1848 Dan decided that he would strike out on his own and formed the "Dan Rice Great Circus". In those days of the one-ring circus the clown was the dominant feature so Dan became the main act dancing and lampooning current events and people. He was billed as the "America�s Favorite Clown". The crowds loved his parodies and satirical slant on politics. The popular clown composed a tune titled "Root Hog or Die" of which his fans demanded encore after encore. Another ditty was "Red, White and Blue" in which he dressed in an eccentric manner, a stars-and-stripes costume, with blue leotards and red-and- white trunks, a top hat perched jauntily upon his head and the ever-present gray chin beard. This became Dan�s trademark and it became immortalized when Thomas Nast caricatured it for "Harper�s Weekly" as "Uncle Sam". Not forgetting that the pig Lord Bryon was also instrumental in his rising fame and perhaps to thumb his nose at his hell and brimstone preaching foes, Dan gave the animal due attention with an additional skit in which he would ask the animal to pick out the biggest rascal present. It would sniff and mill around the audience and, then would come back rubbing its snout against Rice�s patriotic blue leotards. An additional animal act was added that being a rope-walking elephant named Lalla Rookh after the heroine of a Persian poem. This proved to be a favorite as well. Dan Rice was not the traditional clown that we are familiar with these days as he did not wear the white face makeup. He was an all around talent as demonstrated in his dancing, his funny song writing, animal training and his ability to lift heavy weights. He often played the Strong Man and could toss cannon balls long distance. But his greatest talent was his ability to banter in an impromptu manner with the ringmaster, audience or the other performers. He would later be known as the "modern Shakespeare jester" and would answers questions with quotes from various Shakespeare plays. The jester would retell "Romeo and Juliet in a backwards fashion starting at the end and continuing to the beginning which brought the house down in laughter. Dan became one of the top acts in the American Circus and it is rumored that the celebrity was earning the enormous salary of $1000.a week which was more than the President of the United States was paid! Later that year, Dan decided to abandon the wagon Mud Shows in favor of a steamboat, "The Allegheny Mail". Animals and equipment were loaded onto the riverboat and as it paddle wheels churned, it journeyed down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, stopping at river towns along the way to put on shows. Once arriving at the Mississippi Delta the paddle boat reversed his course and headed back north to St. Paul Minn. This proved to be a much more efficient means of tranportation and other circuses began to follow suit, but the down side was that small communities located away from the river was now denied the most exciting event often experienced in these hamlets and it appeared that the era of the mud shows had came to an end. Willl Dan's fantastic luck continue? To be continued if you all want me to (?). 1)"Circus Days Under the Big Top" by Richard Glendinning, 1969, Garrard Publishing Co. 2)"Circus Heroes and Heroines" by Rhina Kirk, 1972, Hammond Inc. 3)"The Book of Clowns" by Spearight, 1980, MacMillan Publishing :) Patti

I forgot to say but the sources for the Part I of Dan Rice is; 1)"Circus Days Uner the Big Top" by Richard Glendinning, 1969, Garrard Publishing Co. 2)"Circus Heroes and Heroines" by Rhina Kirk, 1972, Hammond Inc.

Hi Cousins; Here is the 1st installement of Dan Rice: Daniel McLaren, Jr. was born in NYC on 1/23/1823. His mother was the daughter of a Methothist minister; his father a law student who later became a groceryman. During the boy's early years his mother remarried, this time to a dairyman who was greatly interested in horses and collected them which led to 10 year old Daniel becoming a jockey. His maternal grandfather suggested that Daniel acquire the new stage name as "Dan Rice". When Dan reaced the age of 17 (1840) he came too heavy for the saddle so he took a job as a general laborer in a livery stable located in Pittsburg where he made friends with several performers/workers with the Nichols Circus , one of the early traveling circuses. Making many friends there Dan learned to do a strong man act, dance jigs and do a comedy skits and after acquiring these new talents he began the circus jester. One of his most popular acts starred Lord Bryon and educated pig who respond to questions asked of him by scratching his foot on the ground for the correct answer. This trick was based on Dan Rice's observation that pigs had an extremely keen ability to hear so by clicking his fingernails, Dan was able to get the pig to paw the ground for the appropriate number of times. He also trained the Lord Byron to do a routine which consisted of Dan offering the animal a box of various flags but the pig would select an American flag and wave it grandly to patriotic music. Everybody loved it! His funnist act was billed as "Jenkins from Mud Corners" (circuses that traveled by horse drawn wagons were called Mud Shows") which began when the ring master annouced sadly that the great bareback-riding star was sick and could not perform. Then Dan stumbled down from the stands pretending to be drunken bum. He bragged that he could take the place of that star which would send the audiene roaring in hysterics as he looked so funny dressed old baggy clothes. Dan would rush at the horse snatching his tail. He would slide around the horse's back and fall off clumsily resulting in the spectators laughing louder than ever. But then Dan would begin to shed his old clothes and underneath his was dressed in only spangled tights. He would then ride like an expert performing many tricks. These comical acts rapidly propelled Dan to instant national fame but Dan was was picking up some enemies along the way. Some of the townspeople could not accept this mysterious pig act believing it to be witchcraft and this along with Dan being a "drunkerd" fueled the churches' long burning fires of oposition to these transient people and their circuses of evil magic.Their sermons preached of its "fire and damnation"! To be cont. Part II "What will Dan do now?" Hope you all enjoyed Part I! May all your days be Circus Days! Patti ;)

Does anyone know if GROVE CITY VIEW COMPANY, ca 1900, still exists under that name or another name? Thanks for any information. Penny

>Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 19:43:59 +0000 >To: PAALLEGH-L@rootsweb.com >From: Ellie Large <ellie@pacific.net> >Subject: Hill Church,PA > >Hi >On my grandmothers marriage license from 1914 it reads she was born in HILL CHURCH,PA. Is this a town? Can anyone give me any information on how to get information from this place? And also if it is a town, what county is it in? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated Thank you...Ellie >ellie@pacific.net

Hi all, This is a request for help. RootsWeb is holding a drive to raise money. You may or may not be aware that it cost a tremendous amount of money to keep the free list running. 1.Each list owner pays $24.00 a year to own a two list. 2.You can pay $12.00 and be member and keep this project by going go to http://www.rootsweb.com and see what all they provide. To send checks or money orders mail to this address. Please include e-mail address. RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative P.O. Box 6798 Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798 To use credit card this is a secure site https://www.rootsweb.com/memberform.html Depending on the size of donation web space is available for your genealogy pages. Please help if you can. Barbara -- Atlas Shrugged

Hi cousins; I got this off the Ancestry Newletter for today (in hopes it may help someone): ======================================================= DATABASE OF THE DAY (Free for 10 Days!) Pennsylvania Volunteers in the War of 1812 Compiled from the Pennsylvania Archives collection, this database is a listing of soldiers who volunteered to fight the British during the War of 1812. Each volunteer is listed with the county from which he came and the year in which he enlisted. In addition to this information, the list is organized by rank and position. To the researcher of Pennsylvania ancestry, this can be a valuable database. Bibliography: Pennsylvania Archives. Muster Rolls of the Pennsylvania Volunteers in the War of 1812-1814. Orem, UT: Ancestry, Inc., 1998. To search this database, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/ancestry/search/3325.htm ************************************************************* PENNSYLVANIA LINKS & RESOURCES State Department of Health Division of Vital Statistics 101 S. Mercer Street P.O. Box 1528 New Castle, PA 16103 Tel: 724-656-3100 Birth and Death 1906-present http://www.health.state.pa.us/HPA/apply_bd.htm Pennsylvania State Archives Third and Forster Streets P.O. Box 1026 Harrisburg, PA 17108-1026 Tel: 717-783-3281 http://www.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Historical_Museum/DAM/psa.htm State Library of Pennsylvania Main Reading Room Forum Building, Room 102 Walnut Street and Commonwealth Avenue P.O. Box 1601 Harrisburg, PA 17105 Tel: 717-787-4440 717-783-5950 (Reference) Fax: 717-783-2070 TTY: 717-772-2863 http://www.cas.psu.edu/docs/pde/LIBINFO.HTML Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, 1305 Locust Street, 3rd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19107-5405 Tel: 215-545-0391 Fax: 215-545-0936 E-mail: gspa@libertynet.org http://www.libertynet.org/gspa/ Genealogical Computing Association of Pennsylvania (GENCAP) c/o M.A. Miller, Treas. 51 Hillcrest Road Barto, PA 19504 BBS: 215-438-2858 E-mail: gencap@libertynet.org http://libertynet.org/~gencap/index.html Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Library & Museum 1300 Locust Street Philadelphia, PA 19107 Tel: 215-732-6201 Fax: 215-732-2680 E-mail: hsppr@aol.com http://www.libertynet.org/~pahist/ Free Library of Philadelphia Central Library Social Science and History Department 1901 Vine Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 Tel: 215-686-5322 http://www.library.phila.gov/central/ssh/cssh.htm Brenda's PA Genealogy Links http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/8021/palinks.htm Pennsylvania USGenWeb Project http://www.libertynet.org/gencap/pacounties.html

Hi. I'm new to the list today. My name is Ellie Large and I live in Northern CA. The names I'm working on are: JOSEPH and LAVINIA WHITE-VAUGHN. Joseph was killed in the civil war leaving his wife and 4 children,EZRA, MARY, SARAH and SAMUAL. MARY was b.June 18, 1856. She married THOMAS LAWRENCE COOK.bMarch 26,1859 (son of GEORGE AND REBECCA KERR(CARR) COOK. Thomas and Mary had four children. Two of them were JOHN and ELLANOR(ELLA) MAY COOK. They lived in Mercer and then moved to Washington, PA. Ella was b. May 10, 1892. She m. HENRY KARNS or JAMES EDWARD KARNEY in 1914. They had 5 children two were named NORA and JOHN. He died in 1921. Ella m. a second time to GROVER BERTON CRAIG @ 1925. They had one child IRENE MARIE CRAIG b. Jan 12, 1926. I would like any information at all on any of these people. Thank you very much.......Ellie ellie@pacific.net

Hi Researchers.....I believe finally found my great grandfather's parents in the Findley 1850 census of Mercer County. If anyone has the 1860 census would you please see if a John Wal Valentine WINGARD was born in 1855 to either John (m to Sarah) WINGARD or Henry (m to Eliza) WINGARD. I would be most grateful - Also - if any of you have missing PA family that moved to Ohio after 1810 like mine & so many did...I just found a book on the Trinity Luthern Church in Canton, Stark Co., OH; founded 1838, that has references to over 150 members, many of whom are early PA settlers who moved to Ohio. I will be happy to check out your surnames and send the stories that go with them - just ask...and thank you for your time. Monette