Lee pointed out something, information I gave about John HERRELL that was identical to his information about Reuben HERRELL. Lee is right. I got sloppy, no excuse....seventeen of nineteen pages dealt with John and I ASS_U_ME_ed the final two pages did. They did not, they were a synopsis of Reuben HARRELL's pension application. My apologies for any confusion and subsequent extra emails. Thanks a bunch Lee for being attentive! The correct! abstract for John HERRELL now follows: John HARRELL originally filed for pension in Anson County, NC 10/10/1832. States on this affidavit he was born in Bertie County, NC about 1761. His family moved to An(t?)on County, NC about 1763 according to his parents. He was drafted in that county (assume <flinch> Anson) on 7/1/1778 at age seventeen in Capt. Jonathan Jackson's militia company for a three month tour. Joined a cavalry unit as a volunteer 10/10/1778 commanded by Capt. Patrick Bogan. Skirmished with Tories commanded by Hector McNeel and "Fannon" at Bailey's Bridge on Drowning Creek in Richmond County "at which time and place the American troops were defeated", Capt. James White (& Capt. Wilson written above line) were killed. Remained in the cavalry unit 3 years 3 months. A Rosanah RUSHING in an affidavit from Sumpter County, AL 2/17/1853 states she is the daughter of John. She states that he immigrated to AL 1839 (22 of May is crossed out). An affidavit from same county & state by James & Jesse DUVEN declare that Rosanah is the only surviving child of John as they know. Affidavit from JP's in AL state John's wife was Jane and she died about 1828 in Sumpter County, AL. Whew! Billy

Lee, If you wish, let me have your snail mail address and I will send you copies of the original affidavits from the John Harrell (or whatever) file from NARA. I was scanning the info, as in visually eyeballing, so I may have gotten a small detail wrong but not to the extent you state. Reply to me privately with the address and I will send you the copies at my expense (you can do a favor for someone else-or, give us a good Appalachian story!). Best of wishes, Billy

See Comments Below this Message: >>HERREL/HARREL JOHN born Bertie County, NC served 1 tour, moved to Anson County & enlisted in militia about 1778 at age of 17 (as wife recollects). Died Washington County, VA August, 1825. Married Rebecca SMITH 1770 or 1771 in Shenandoah County, VA. She received pension 8/24/1839 at 86 years old while living in Floyd County, KY. She died 3/12/1842. John & Rebecca had 13 children, 2 born before Declaration of Independence (William & Nancy). Too many names to type now.<< I am very interested in the source of this information! If I interept it correctly, it is completely erroneous! This information applies to Reuben Harrell/Herrell who died in Washington co., Va. in 1825, not to a John Harrell/Herrell.. Exception: Reuben Harrell who married Rebecca Smith in Shenandoah Co., Va. was not, to my knowledge, born in Bertie Co., N.C.. and did not live in Anson co. N.C.. and could not have enlisted in the militia at age seventeen in in 1778.. He married in Shenandoah co., Va. in 1770 according to his Rev. War Records... Please try to CORRECT this information before posting on other sites.. Note: I have found No Record of a John Harrell dying in Washington Co. Va. in 1825.. I have found Proof that Reuben died in Washington co. in 1825.. Thank You, G. Lee Hearl Authentic Appalachian Storyteller Abingdon, Virginia

Hi, Virginia Researchers: Our one-time VIRGINIA chat on Thursday night was so successful (over 35 people attending) that I have opened a spot on Sunday nights for you to gather again. http://huntsville.about.com/mpchat.htm Sunday: 10 pm Eastern; 9 pm Central; 8 pm Mt.; 7 pm Pacific Be sure to come with printouts of your family tree and any resources you have to share. This is for the whole state--everyone is welcome. There are no scheduled chats after this one--so you can stay all night if you wish! Please feel free to notify others interested in VIRGINIA genealogy. If you miss the chat, be sure and go by the forum and post your SURNAMES: http://forums.about.com/ab-huntsville If you need instructions for the chat room or forum or would like a full schedule of all genealogy chats, just let me know. Jean Brandau [email protected]

Could someone do a lookup for me, in the High on a Windy Hill. Trying to find the burial place of a uncle. William Fawbush b. 1888 or 1887 d. June 1976 Your help would be appreciated. Thanks Sandy [email protected]

--part1_a3.aa5b42b.26da9895_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This was getting a bit large so I am going to send it out in several parts. Billy --part1_a3.aa5b42b.26da9895_boundary Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Disposition: inline Return-path: <[email protected]> From: [email protected] Full-name: BJMarkland Message-ID: <[email protected]> Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2000 11:56:54 EDT Subject: Transcription Bound To: [email protected] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: AOL 5.0 for Windows sub 114 Having obviously decided to solely support the Kansas City National Archives Volunteers fund by having copies of various documents made, I find myself in a bit of a bind. Too much to do and too little time to do it in. It doesn't help that I get easily sidetracked while researching if I find something interesting totally of no consequence to my original search :) Following is a list of what I have lined and up and progress so far (usually zero). I wish I had figured out the NARA facility was here B.C. (before child)! I am plugging away but just want to let various people/groups know where the data is and provide an abstract of the surname data. Surname Projects COWARD HERREL/HARREL JOHN born Bertie County, NC served 1 tour, moved to Anson County & enlisted in militia about 1778 at age of 17 (as wife recollects). Died Washington County, VA August, 1825. Married Rebecca SMITH 1770 or 1771 in Shenandoah County, VA. She received pension 8/24/1839 at 86 years old while living in Floyd County, KY. She died 3/12/1842. John & Rebecca had 13 children, 2 born before Declaration of Independence (William & Nancy). Too many names to type now. JOEL HARRELL filed for pension 4/3/1832 from White County, IL aged 85. Born in Bertie County in 1758 and entered service in Martin County, NC for tour of 3 months. Served under Capt. MAYS & Lt. Ben WHITLEY. Marched to Pee Dee River in S.C. , took sick, recovered at hospital in Salisbury. After recovery, moved to Botetort County, VA where he was drafted abt. August, 1781. Was at Little York for surrender of CORNWALLIS. After war, lived in KY & IL. DONOHO Thomas enlisted at Halifax, NC April, 1776 and commissioned Lt. Doesn't state where he was born or lived when he enlisted but all affidavits are from Caswell County, NC. Rejoined after initial tour and commissioned Capt. in 6 NC Regt. promoted to Maj. 10/13/1781. Was in battles of Guilford Court House & Eutaw Springs. Married Keziah SANDERS 12/3/1774. Died 4/2/1825. Children were: Betsey (widow in 1839), Hirum, Salley, Francis, Sanders (became Maj. in Army, shot by "refractory soldier" at or near Pensacola, FL), Susannah. Thomas DONOHO had a brother mentioned in his affidavit named William. Robert married Salley FREEMAN in Madison County, KY 5/5/1795. Widow and Mary RAMSEY state marriage took place 5/5/1791. Robert died 1/30/1827 a "very old man". James enlisted about March, 1779 at Dover, Ke

Hi Guys! Here are a few more URLs. Can't remember exactly where I left off so there may be some overlapping w/ the ones I already sent. Here goes: <A HREF="http://www.heritagequest.com/">Heritage Quest - Genealogy and Family History...</A> <A HREF="http://www.cgo.wave.ca/~hessian">The Hessian Page</A> <A HREF="http://www.higginsonbooks.com/">Higginson Book Company - Publishers, Printers...</A> <A HREF="http://www.ls.net/~newriver/swva/swvahs.htm">Historical Sketches of Southwest Virginia</A> <A HREF="http://www.gensource.com/archives/">I Found It! Genealogy Archives Search Engine ...</A> <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/1594/melungeon/melungeon.html ">I'm Homeward Bound</A> <A HREF="http://genweb.net/Kentucky-Roots/">East Kentucky Genealogy</A> <A HREF="http://www.lva.lib.va.us/dlp/index.htm">The Library of Virginia Digital Library Program</A> <A HREF="http://www.vsla.edu/">The Library of Virginia</A> <A HREF="http://mamma19.mamma.com/index.html">Mamma.com: The Mother of All Search Engines</A> <A HREF="http://www.intl-research.com/migration.htm">Migration Charts - Genealogy & Family History...</A> <A HREF="http://www.oz.net/%7Ecyndihow/pensions.htm">Military & Pension Records for Union Civil War Veterans</A> <A HREF="http://www.ls.net/~newriver/nrv.htm">New River Notes</A> <A HREF="http://www.ls.net/~newriver/nrv.htm">New River Valley Historical Notes</A> <A HREF="http://www.tngenweb.usit.com/tncolor/">"People of Color in Old Tennessee", ...</A> <A HREF="http://www.drmag.com/calendar.asp">Perpetual Calendar</A> <A HREF="http://www.ida.net/users/rwb/genealog/pocahon.htm">Pocahontas</A> <A HREF="http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/POCA/POC_mix.html">Pocahontas and Miscegenation</A> <A HREF="http://www.texas-scv.org/relate.htm">Relationship Chart</A> <A HREF="http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl">RootsWeb Mailing Lists -- Interactive Search</A> <A HREF="http://searches.rootsweb.com/">RootsWeb: Search Engines</A> <A HREF="http://archiver.rootsweb.com/">Rootsweb Threaded Archives</A> <A HREF="http://www.the-seeker.com/">The Seeker, Reuniting America!</A> <A HREF="http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi">Social Security Death Index Interactive Search</A> <A HREF="http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~south1/trails1.htm">Southern Trails Main Links Page</A> <A HREF="http://artsci.wustl.edu/~stone/history/">Southwest Virginia Family History</A> <A HREF="http://surhelp.rootsweb.com/srchall.html">Surname Helper Search for a Surname</A> <A HREF="http://www.firstct.com/fv/tmapmenu.html">TREASURE MAPS - the How-to Genealogy Site - M...</A> <A HREF="http://www.firstct.com/fv/uscensus.html">The U.S. Federal Census</A> <A HREF="http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ussearch.htm">USGenWeb Archives Search Page</A> <A HREF="http://www.usgenweb.com/"> USGenWeb Project - Home Page</A> <A HREF="http://www.hamrick.com/names/">U.S. Surname Distribution</A> this interesting site lets you put in your family surname and trace its spread across the US. <A HREF="http://www.virginiagenealogy.com/page14.html">VA Counties/Cities</A> <A HREF="http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/vaindians.htm">Virginia's Indians, Past & Present</A> <A HREF="http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/_vti_bin/shtml.exe/Virginia_NC.htm"> Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina</A> <A HREF="http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvgenweb/">West Virginia Genealogy - WVGenWeb Project</A> <A HREF="http://www.rootsweb.com/~vapulask/wrrm/index.htm">Wilderness Road Regional Museum</A> <A HREF="http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~mtnties">MOUNTAIN TIES</A> These are all that I have gotten in order and will send some others later, as I go thru my saved sites. Hope this helps. NancyS THE MELUNGEON HEALTH EDUCATION AND SUPPORT NETWORK: http://www.melungeonhealth.org SPARKS Genealogy: http://SparksGenealogy.net

Researching William Benjamine MORTON, James Wilson MORTON, Benjamine W. MORTON,Elizabeth CHARLKES and Rev. James CHARLES in SW Va KEETER, BRADLEY,McKINNEY, HAMPTON and WALKER in Rutherford Co. N.C.

We are chatting now on Russell Co, Va. If you have any names from this county or the surrounding areas please come join us. Lots of names being researched. http://www.rootsweb.com/~varussel/chat.html

Matewan is a great movie.... As to the other questions.....I did grow up hearing about Keystone. I can't repeat what I heard here, but it had the reputation of being a VERY ROUGH and LOOSE place. Many of the places in McDowell County are familiar. All are in approximate driving distance of Bluefield where I was raised. Roads are very winding and some of the locals very isolated. One point....You said that the Catholic churches were likely due to the Italians and the Poles.....You need to remember there was also a large number of folks from eastern Europe especially Russia and Hungary. Some of those Catholic churches only stopped having Mass in Hungarian or another Slavic language in the last 15 to 20 years. While there are numerous pockets of German families there I have seen more in the Roanoke Valley. Many of the folks in those counties as well as Tazewell,Russell etc can either point their ancestry back to folks that came to the Coalfields around the turn of the century [for numerous reasons] OR they can point to early settlers who can during the first part of the 19th or last part of the 18th century. Each Community is a little different and some are much more diverse than others....but many of the "company towns" have more diverse ethnicity than those areas that were already settled prior to the late 1800's when the coal fields began to open up.

If you're online--we'll be having 4 chats tonight. Remember that the VIRGINIA chat is for tonight only.....if you have friends or relatives researching VIRGINIA--please forward this message to them or have them write me to get on the chat list. Thursday's Chat Schedule: http://huntsville.about.com/mpchat.htm Subtract 1 hr. for Central time; 2 hrs. for Mt., 3 hrs. for Pacific time) 7 pm Eastern Time--RICHARDSON surname chat 8 pm Eastern Time--MELUNGEON genealogy 9 pm Eastern Time--SOUTHERN STATES genealogy (all So. States--including VA) 10 pm Eastern Time-- Featured State: VIRGINIA genealogy (one time only!) If you miss a chat, please remember to go to the forum and post your questions and surname queries there: http://forums.about.com/ab-huntsville If you need instructions for the chat room or the forum, just let me know. Jean Brandau [email protected]

In a message dated 8/24/00 2:02:21 AM Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: << Matoaka (is this the place of the movie? ) >> Matoaka is supposed to be Pocahantas' real name. NancyS THE MELUNGEON HEALTH EDUCATION AND SUPPORT NETWORK: http://www.melungeonhealth.org SPARKS Genealogy: http://SparksGenealogy.net

Dear List, I am from Oceana. Truly if you ever want to take a wonderful trip go there!! We are so lucky to have Eddie here since he takes all these jaunts and tells us all about them. Makes me homesick. One point of interest that I wish I had mentioned to him earlier is the hieroglyphic carvings which are located up Elkins holler right before you reach a small place called Lillydale. My father when he was younger collected many arrowheads carved from what looks to me to be flint and quartz. Also located nearby is Crouch's Farm which was the McDonald Plantation in the days of the Civil War. Up on the hill from there the old slave quarters still stand. My own family is quite a mixture of German, Welsh, Indian. Although I have no definite proof I consider myself to be of Melungeon descent. There are many bloods running through me. My father has the horn that my great-great grandfather used to store his powder in and the bullet mold. The horn was a cow's horn and it has a metal hook inserted in the end. Sorry I am rambling a bit this morning. Jennifer

--snip-- "Iaedale (can anyone phonetically spell this pronounciation? )" -snip- Eddie... I'm guessing you might mean "Iaeger" in McDowell Co. ...pronounced "YA-ger"... just like WV native Chuck Yeager, the Air Force pilot who first broke the sound barrier in the late 40's. (1947, I think?) Warmest regards, Kim

RE: Matoaka Since the movie called "October Sky" was filmed at Oliver Springs, TN, owners of an old movie theater in nearby Clinton, TN, just recently remodeled and again opened "the Ritz". The last movie shown at this theater was "Dr. Zhivago" in 1969. For it's second premier opening the Ritz showed the movie, October Sky. Pat O'Neal

RE: Matoaka (is this the place of the movie) The place of the movie was "Matewan" starring James Earl Jones. I copied this from my search regarding the movie. "See Matewan for its wonderful portrayal of the events that occurred in West Virginia in the 1920's. See this film for its phenomenal cast. See it for its beautiful cinematography. There is an ethereal glow that envelopes the characters and buildings of Matewan. There is also an underlying allegorical depiction of Christ and his followers. Chris Cooper is a saint. He reminds me of Gary Cooper a little bit. He has such an unusual handsome face. He is the protagonist joined by James Earl Jones, Mary Mcdonnell, and Will Oldman. Perhaps the most fascinating character is that of the Sheriff portrayed by Strathairn. He is the angel on the black horse who carries with him the wrath of God. Just watch him stand up against the bad guys. The main antagonistic characters are pure evil. They terrorize the inhabitants of Matewan with juvenile antics. Please see this film and be prepared to have it imbedded in your mind for the rest of your life. This is what great film making is about." Pat O'Neal

No, swvaroot did not wrote. That was Jodie. -eddie ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Wed, 23 Aug 2000 20:53:44 -0500 From: Lila White <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Subject: Re: (Fwd) Re: S. WV. trip [email protected] wrote: > Matoaka is the town of "October Sky." I understand that the man represented > by the principal boy in that movie has or is going to retire from NASA right > here in Houston. Actually, Homer Hickum lives in Huntsville, Alabama. ------- End of forwarded message -------

All, I did not mention but most of those towns are becoming ghost towns. The houses and buildings are rotting and caving in. There are some new homes in some areas. I would guess the population generally was declining. Coal mining takes a lot less miners. Oceana was the most prosperious I saw. Welch and Bradshaw looked very poor. What was strange was that I saw no family cemeteries. There is one large cemetery in Oceana, I think. -eddie

- Hi Eddie and Listers, How exciting to hear of your latest trip as I grew up in McDowell County in the coal mining towns of Hemphill and Superior close to Welch. My home in Hemphill was still there 20 years ago, but the one in Superior was gone with only coal dust over the area. I just learned from Charleston today that Superior still has a post office but very few residents. Maybury is a common name in England although I do not know the part of the country it is from. Matoaka is the town of "October Sky." I understand that the man represented by the principal boy in that movie has or is going to retire from NASA right here in Houston. By the way, if anyone on this list has seen that movie, whether from a coal mining family or not, please rent it and see it. What a wonderful movie that is, one of the best. Eddie, how far from Welch is Matoaka? Thanks for the wonderful report. Jodie BOWEN Russu P.S. Does anyone know the address for a list that might help me with the death of my ggf, David BOWEN, in a coal mine in Kanawha County September 11, 1885? I believe it was in Coal Valley. ------- End of forwarded message -------

Folks, Anyone using "Generations Family Tree" software program for data? Will it create, import and export GEDCOM files like the others? Can you give me general instructions to create/import a gedcom file so I can help a friend. Does HELP give good simple instructions? Thanks. Might be smart to post to the list so all can see and I don't get ten copies. -eddie