At 11:18 AM 11/27/99 +0000, Russell D James wrote: >I just got off the phone with my father. He talked to his granduncle Paris >James of Clyde, North Carolina. Paris had an interesting story to tell: > >Three James brothers came over from Ireland. One settled in Missouri, one >in South Carolina, and one in North Carolina. The grave for the one in >North Carolina is just behind the new WalMart in Clyde. The Missouri James >is allegedly the ancestor of the outlaws Jesse and Frank James. That's probably an adaptation of what really happened. That one brother settled in A, one brother settled in B, and the third settled in C is an *old* story: it's more likely that there are two or three different groups who came over at different times to different places or that this is really about three cousins. In my experience, oral tradition is almost always slightly off. (Example: I was told for years that I'm descended from the Rev. Alexander Whitaker, an early clergyman in the Jamestown Colony: Alexander didn't have any kids, but I may be descended from his youngest brother.) Sometimes, it's even more off. (My greatgrandfather Snyder, a descendant of the Adam Snider who married in Rowan County in 1791, was under the impression that his grandfather had been born in Germany.) >My father is going today to look for that grave. This James would be the >great-grandfather of William James, from Haywood County who settled in >Cocke County Tennessed and married Lucinda Hall. So far we have been able >to surmise that William's father was a William James from old Rowan County, >North Carolina. Now we have a further lead. > >I write this to a few lists at a time because this is a cross-over. > >First: does anyone know of a graveyard (old) behind the WalMart in Clyde, >Haywood County, North Carolina. I've never heard of one, but good luck! All sorts of bad things happen to our cemeteries, and these are often condoned (allowed) by local government. Very early tombstones may not be readable any more. I saw several of mine in Jackson County from the late 1800s and up to the 1950s that are being damaged by chemical fumes from nearby paper processors and by moss. The WPA (a government agency that was only around in the 1930s) did some surveys (lists) of some cemeteries. These are invaluable if they contain what you are looking for as some of these stones are no longer readable, have been damaged, or have disappeared. (Have your dad check with his local library's reference librarian, and also with the Old Buncombe Genealogical Society in Asheville.) [snip] >I'm so excited about this possible find that I'm sure I have tons of >questions to ask for all of you to help me out on, but I just can't seem to >think of them right now. I guess I'll just ask you to pray that the grave >is found and at least gets a name, if not a date or two. Don't expect quick results. There are no guarantees as to what you will and won't find. One thing you can do right off is to ask where the old family photos are and ask whoever has them to tell you who is who. (Don't hesitate to offer to pay for copies.) Keep those ears sharp when the older generation starts telling those old family stories! Be sure to find out who else in your extended family is doing genealogy. Ask for help as well as copies of their work (and be prepared to check their work). You may be able to track down additional documents and other info that they haven't been able to lay hands on. I've been doing genealogy seriously for over 15 years and still have major gaps to fill. I still haven't gotten most of my North Carolina families definitively out of North Carolina and back to Virginia and wherever else they came from, but I'm patiently chipping away at the mysteries. (So far, all of my major problems except two are in South Carolina, which has major missing record problems.) Elizabeth Whitaker ELWHITAKER@ftc-i.net in South Carolina