A couple of book announcements that pertain to the two States where Rainwater had its beginnings. Bob Schimmel NORTH CAROLINA Western North Carolina: A History, 1730-1913 - John Preston Arthur. This account of the creation of the state includes sections on Robert Love, founder of Waynesboro, and John Sevier, the first governor of Tennessee. Public lands, Indian lands, land speculation and land grants are discussed. A section devoted to county histories includes brief sketches of prominent inhabitants, locations, significant buildings and a listing of principal office holders in the county. The chronicle of pioneer preachers includes excerpts from the 1800-1813 journal of Bishop Francis Asbury. A section on the Civil War includes prominent individuals, incidents, and touches on the Underground Railroad. Significant roads; manners and customs; the 1868 Asheville riot and "The Lineage of Lincoln's Real Mother"; judicial development, members, cases and rulings; education, newspapers, railroads, resorts, natural resources, geographic peculiarities, mines, the Cherokees, and political evolution are among the subjects addressed. (1914) reprint, 710 pp., illus., bibl., append., original fullname plus subject index, paper, $48.00 #A673 Pre-Publication price until 31 August 1999--$43.00 VIRGINIA Virginia Counties: Those Resulting from Virginia Legislation - Morgan P. Robinson. Virginia legislation created a total of 172 counties, but only 100 of them exist today. What is a genealogist to do? More than a valuable resource, this work explains the fascinating evolution of today's Virginia counties from the first plantations and "hundreds" which developed around the original Jamestown settlement. This handy reference volume gives reliable data in concise form concerning the dates of formation, the territory from which formed, and the origin of the names of the counties which have resulted from Virginia legislation--with references to the sources upon which these data are based and an enormous bibliography (more than 60 pages long!). The geographical section groups the counties into four divisions: Tidewater, Piedmont, Valley and Trans-Allegheny. The rather whimsically titled "genealogical" section shows how the counties all "descended" from the eight original "parent" shires and the "original county" of Northumberland. (1916) reprint, 284 pp., maps, original subject index, bibli., paper, $24.50 #R511 Pre-Publication price until 31 August 1999--$22.00 ---- Heritage Books, Inc. 1540-E Pointer Ridge Place, Bowie, MD 20716 phone: 1-800-398-7709 fax: 1-800-276-1760 email: heritagebooks@pipeline.com Visit our online catalog at http://www.heritagebooks.com