Here's more great news from Rootsweb. They just keep on adding new things. Guess they want to be your "one stop" on the web! ENJOY! ANY feedback would be greatly appreciated! Let me hear from you! Vicki ============================================================ NEW COMMUNITIES WEB PAGES AND MAILING LISTS. New community lists appear at <http://communities.rootsweb.com/>. Several new communities have put up Web pages (URLs below). The most comprehensive new community Web pages to date are at PetMarks, pet-related online links presented by the Pets Community at RootsWeb. All are family-rated and many are great for the kids' summer enrichment or just plain fun. We'll be glad to add your favorite links. WARNING: we are not responsible for your falling in love with and adopting any of the animals you'll see on the links. Arts Community: ARTS-L THEATRE-L Collecting Community: ANTIQUES-L COLLECTING-L FLEA-MARKETS-L POSTCARDS-L Computers Community: LINUX-L MAC-L WINDOWS-L Crafts Community: <http://www.crafts.rootsweb.com/> JEWELRY-L SEASONAL-CRAFTS-L SEWING-L WOODWORKING-L Education Community: EDUCATION-L HOMESCHOOLING-L Food Community: <http://www.food.rootsweb.com/> CAJUN-COOKING-L PRESERVING-L WINE-LOVERS-L Gardening Community: SEED-EXCHANGE-L Health Community: FIBROMYALGIA-L Living Community: FRUGAL-L RETIREMENT-L Outdoors Community: FISHING-L OUTDOORS-L Pets Community: PETMARKS <http://www.pets.rootsweb.com/> AQUARIUM-L HORSES-L REPTILES-L Science Fiction/Fantasy Community: SCIENCE-FICTION-L STARTREK-L STARWARS-L Sports Community: AUTO-RACING-L COLLEGE-SPORTS-L * * * ROOTSWEB'S GUIDE TO TRACING FAMILY TREES ("RootsWeb Guide") <http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/>. If you think a fraktur is a misspelled bone break, you'll learn a bit more about this Pennsylvania Dutch document in Lesson Six, "Birth Records," online at: <http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson6.htm>.

This just came from Rootsweb. I wanted to make sure you all know that you can add your homepage link on the Gibson Co. TN cluster page. Vicki ========================================================== ROOTSLINK <http://resources.rootsweb.com/~rootslink/search.html> is now accepting URLs and displaying them directly on the Surname Resources pages <http://resources.rootsweb.com/surnames/> and County Resources pages <http://resources.rootsweb.com/USA/>. Use RootsLink to create a link to your non-RootsWeb-hosted Web page by entering the URL using the "add" form on the relevant page. The link instantly will be displayed on that page. URLs previously registered with RootsLink must be reentered in order to be displayed. Any link can be added and links that are not associated with a surname or county resources page should be added to RootsLink at http://resources.rootsweb.com/~rootslink/addlink.html

Hello all - William and Crissy Williams were in Gibson County from at least 1828, when son Daniel Williams was born, through 1849 when William assigned his property to brothers Jeremiah and Charles Williams, and moved to Des Moines Township, Van Buren County, Iowa, with married sons James, and Charles, and married daughters Nancy Connell and Polly Thetford, and their respective husbands M. Peter, and William. In addition, William and Crissy were accompanied by their minor children: Elizabeth, Franklin, John, and Sarah. Two sons, Daniel and William, and their respective families remained in Gibson County. Apparently William died early in the 1850's, as Crissy and three of the minor children, plus son Charles and his family, Polly and Wm Thetford and family, and the Nancy and Peter Connell family returned to Gibson County. The eldest son, James Williams, and his wife and children moved on west, and settled in Crescent, near Council Bluffs, Iowa. The 1860 Gibson County census shows Crissy, and her teen age daughter (Sarah) living with son Franklin and his wife Tabitha (Connell). By 1870, however, Franklin had died, and Sarah had married. Tabitha did not remarry until 1870. Crissy is no longer in the census (at least where I've looked) Given all the above, does anyone know anything about the Williams family, and specifically about Crissy Williams, Williams widow? Thanks for any related information Tom Davis

Everyone is probably tired of me asking, BUT have you checked your family on the 1830-1850-1860-1870 census lately? I want to make all the corrections that I can. FYI - Jere Cox and Wanda Johnson are hard at work proofing the 1870 census right now. So keep checking back in case your family was entered in error! (Hope NOT!) Vicki

Would appreciate information or map indicating general area encompassed by District No. 5, Tax Book, 1869, Gibson County, Tenn. J. A.

I finally realized that the 3 pages of Dist No. 11 that were in the middle of Dist No. 9 had been transcribed with Dist. No. 9 by Dennis West. So I made a duplication. BUT I noticed a difference in transcription. Where Dennis had Rogers, I read it as Ragar. I know someone on the list is related to the Ragar's. Could you write me? Thanks, Vicki

Does anyone know about the cemetery in Mason Hall, TN? It's just across the border in Obion Co., TN. Looking for burial of James W. Wilson, b. 7/3/1857, d. 10/5/1935 Nancy Hunt Wilson, b. Sep 1859, d.1920 - 1935 (wife of James W. Wilson) James Wilson's death certificate says that his body was removed to Mason Hall, TN. ___________________________________________________________________ Get the Internet just the way you want it. Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month! Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.

We have more census up. Jere Cox transcribed District No. 9 of the 1870 census. One of our listers let me know about 3 mysterious pages that were missing from the 1850 Census District NO. 11. I found them in the middle of District No. 9 and transcribed them. So if you were missing family on that census you might take a look at District No. 11 now. Lots of Greers! Vicki

Cassie, My mom says she hasn't been able to find any info on her Hicks line. Willie Emma Hicks was definitely female and married to Robert Crouse. If you have any information at all, we'd really appreciate it. Your Hicks are probably tied in there somewhere. Do you live in TN? :) Karyl -----Original Message----- From: Cassaronda H Schneider <cdhouse@juno.com> To: Fisher@hcol.net <Fisher@hcol.net> Cc: TNGIBSON-L@rootsweb.com <TNGIBSON-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Wednesday, July 14, 1999 1:55 PM Subject: Re: [TNGIBSON-L] Flowers Cemetery >I notice that you have a Willie Hicks of Gibson County. I am researching >a Hicks line from that county and Dyer also. I have a Willie Hicks but >my Willie is a male. Do you have any information on your Hicks line? I >would love to compare notes. thanks Cassie (cdhouse@juno.com) > >On Sat, 10 Jul 1999 23:18:02 -0500 "Fisher" <Fisher@hcol.net> writes: >>My mother: Dorothy Jean King-Powell married to Raymond Lyndell >>Powell. Dad >>is 72 years old TODAY! >> >>Dorothy's parents: James David King (died before Mom was born in >>1931) and >>Betty Lee Smith. >> >>James David King's parents: James Vinson King (Sr.) and Harriet >>Josephine >>Hurt. >> >>Betty Lee Smith's parents: Markus Ellis Smith and Ora Balina Crouse. >> >>Ora Balina Crouse's parents: Robert Crouse and Willie Emma Hicks. >> >>My dad: Raymond Lyndell Powell. >> >>Rays parents: Erby E. Powell and Lattie Lee Green (still living) >> >>Erby E. Powell's parents: George McDonald Powell and Sexter Cooper. >> >>Lattie Lee Green's parents: Littleberry Green and Lillie May Bolin. >> >>My dad says he knew Fred Smith who married Ossie (Sp.) Watson and had >>a son >>L.C. and another younger son. And, Ossie's had a son George Watson. >>George had two boys, Carthel and Lyndell, and two girls, Lottie and >>Ossie. >>Lyndell Watson and my dad are the same age. Lyndell lives near >>Bernice >>Martin (my Dad's aunt who ran Martin's store/Powell's store/etc.). >> >>My grandmother's half-brother, Clifton Grissom, married George >>Watson's >>niece, Mary Louise Watson. Mary is Ace Watson's daughter. >> >>Are you from Dyer? My dad says he knows a lot of Flowers and Watsons. >> >>So, do you live in Lexington as well? We've lived here about 7 years. >> >>Nice to hear from you, too! >>:) Karyl >

My gggrandfather's, William Andrew McCartney, first wife died leaving four minor children. He was appointed guardian of the children. I found where it was reported to the court more than once and even mentioned the death of one child in one report. I wondered why he would be appointed guardian when he was the natural and legal father. Patti Simmons Gibson Co., TN

I am really interested in this guardianship discussion, my ancestor (male) assigned guardianship of his infant son to his father (the child's grandfather). Mr. Culp said it was common if the mother died, to ensure the child would receive his inheritance. Does anyone else have guardianships where the mother died, not the father? Cheryl Oklahoma City

This was posted on a list hosted by Bill Utterback, he graciously gave permission for it to be reposted to our list. It covers guardianship records. Milton ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Volunteer of "Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness" at http://www.rootsweb.com/~tnraogk/index.htm ----- Original Message ----- From: Bill Utterback <billco@ARN.NET> To: <KYJacksonPurchase-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, July 16, 1999 5:37 PM Subject: [KYJacksonPurchase-L] Tip # 39 - The Appointed Guardian > My friends - > > Over the past several weeks, I have coincidentally received about a half > dozen private messages from subscribers to this List, and from others, > which all had the same general question. The question concerned why a > guardian was appointed after the death of a husband and father, when the > widow survived, and, in fact, in the next census, the children are shown > living in the household with the widow. This gives me a good opportunity to > talk for a few minutes about guardians. > > We deal with, and see documentation about, guardians in every aspect of our > genealogical research. We know that it is important to investigate > guardians, since they are very often close family members. We know that > there are guardian bond books in many courthouses, which we should > investigate, since the appointment of the guardian often mentions some > details of the death of the parent which brings about the need for a > guardian. We also will want to examine the court minutes to watch for the > reports which the guardian must file periodically with the court. If a > minor child is 14 or over, he may, in many states in the 19th century, been > given the right to select his "guardian and curator". Anything that relates > to guardians and guardianships requires our diligent attention and > investigation. > > But what about the situation I mentioned in the first paragraph above - why > would a guardian be necessary if the widow survived and the children are > living with her, and if a guardianship was needed, why was she not named as > guardian? Occasionally, we will see the widow named as guardian, especially > later in the 19th century. Before about 1870, however, women were not > considered to be capable of handling the financial part of their children's > inheritance from the deceased father, either because of the custom of the > times, or the possibility that the widow was illiterate or there may have > been reason to believe the widow would not preserve the children's > inheritance properly until the children reached their majority. In those > cases, the court would appoint a guardian to oversee the children's rights > through inheritance, even though the children continued to live with their > mother until they reached their majority, or married, at which time the > guardian would discharge himself. > > It is vital to follow a guardian's administration activities from the time > of his appointment until he discharges himself. There are occasions in > which court documents will provide valuable clues if a squabble develops > between the family and the guardian. Guardians did much more than care for > the children - they were, just as often, the overseers of the property due > to the children, whether the children lived with the guardian or not, and > therein lays the potential for possible clues in the documentation. > > As always, there will be no data posts per se over the weekend, but I will > be dropping in with another in our series of JP Land Grants, and, if time > permits, another from the miscellaneous files group. > > -B > ============================================================ > > > ==== KYJacksonPurchase Mailing List ==== > Check out the Rootsweb searchable mailing list archives at: > http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?list=KYJacksonPurchase-L > >

Thank you all for your responses to the question of guardianship of minor children. I have one more question along the same lines. John Butler left ten children and a wife. I don't know that he left a will, so far none has been mentioned in any of the court records. John's personal property was split eleven ways, to include all ten children and his wife. However, his land was only split ten ways, to exclude his wife. It appears that two of the adult female heirs were married; one was a widow; one was unmarried. Two minor female chilren are included in the distribution of land. Was it common to exclude the widow of the deceased, yet include the adult and minor unmarried daughters? Thanks again, Karla

Adam McCartney has transcribed two more cemeteries for us. They are Griffin's Chapel Methodist Cemetery athttp://www.rootsweb.com/~tngibson/cemeteries/griffin.txt and Pleasant View Church of Christ Cemetery in Skullbone at http://www.rootsweb.com/~tngibson/cemeteries/Skullbone.txt A big thanks to Adam! Vicki

To all of my fellow genealogy listers - FAMILY TREE MAKER has some errors in it that are causing me to lose some of my entries in my family file database. I am also not able to export my data into a GEDCOM format that would allow me to save it. I may be forced to re-enter my data before I can confidently use the FAMILY TREE MAKER program again. (This is where I remind myself that I have 28 years worth of data stored in that database.) Some of you also read messages earlier this week about several others among us who have ALREADY LOST ALL OF THEIR DATA from their FAMILY TREE MAKER program. To make a long story short, I spent the major part of this weekend trying to fix problems in FAMILY TREE MAKER from error codes. In case you were wondering, FAMILY TREE MAKER doesn’t DO weekends. Fortunately, I was able to post my problem to their website and other genealogists who have had similar problems came to my rescue with attempted fixes. None of the fixes worked, however, one of the attempted fixes did identify that I have 276 ERRORS in my family file! I am still hopeful that FAMILY TREE MAKER will respond to my series of messages on Monday. However, most of the other genealogists have expressed similar frustration at not being able to get their FAMILY TREE MAKER problems fixed. So, all I can do is keep my fingers crossed . . . . . AND REMIND YOU TO BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP ! ! ! ! ! I would highly recommend that you make a complete backup of your family file by either copying your .FTW file or by exporting a GEDCOM file that can be saved as a backup for later. Or, better yet, do both! Also, make TWO backups. Keep one at home -- Take the other one to work, a friend’s, a relative’s, ANYWHERE but your house! AND DO IT NOW ! ! ! In case any of you are having FAMILY TREE MAKER problems, here is the FAMILY TREE MAKER site to which all problems are posted: http://genforum.genealogy.com/errors/ My hope is that in the long run, I will not have to re-enter my data -- AND that at least we all realize that as wonderful as many thought FAMILY TREE MAKER was, it is not infallible. You know, I completely lost my hard drive at my office one time . . . . THAT was nothing compared to the heart and soul I have put into my family file database. . . . Laura Darr

Hi Y'all, Well, here it is, the Medina webpage. It's not quite finished, but you should get the general idea. If y'all could have a look and tell me what you think, I would sure appreciate it. http://www.public.usit.net/kyates/medina/index2.html Thanks! Sherry Yates

Roll 50, Gibson County Court Minutes, page 174 (I don't have an exact date, but I believe it's 1859) "On motion James T. Swindle was this day chosen and appointed guardian of Ledufsia, Nancy Jane & Jesse G. Butler minor heirs of John Butler decd. Whereupon entered with court in the sum of Five Thousand Dollars with F. G. Goodman, ?H. Holt his securities which bond was duly acknowleged in open court recd by the court & ordered to be recorded." John Butler died leaving a wife and ten children, three of those children minors. I don't understand why a guardian was appointed for the minor children. There was land and property to be sold. The minor children were to receive their shares equal to the shares received by all other siblings. I haven't seen a value assigned to the land and property. I wondered if a guardian was appointed to ensure that the children received their fair share, but why would someone assigned to protect the rights of the children be required to post bond of $5,000? I've seen instances when orphaned children were appointed wards of certain individuals, to be reared and cared for by these adults in exchange for work. Surely this wouldn't have been one of those situations? If I total the real estate and personal property of the Butler heirs living very near each other in 1860 (assuming they are living on the divided land) the value is $8,250, so John did not leave his minor children pennyless. By the 1860 census, at least two of the children were living with family members. None of the children were living with James T. Swindle. Can anyone explain this situation to me? Thank you Karla Butler Everett Bakersfield, CA

Does anyone know the address of a place I can request invidual probate records (wills) for Gibson Co (Guessing this is the Probate Office)? Also, do you know the search & copy fee? Also, does anyone know of pro researcher that is available for searches through land deeds? I wish I could get to Gibson Co to do my hands on research, but can't get down that way for a while. Thank you, Tara Barrett

On the same page as some Butler information is a portion of court decree regarding the following parties. Anyone interested? John A. Duncan; W. C. Duncan; S. A. Duncan; M. E. Peel; W. R. Peel; Mary J. Simmons; John B. Simmons; F. Hall; E. C. Hall; vs W. C. Duncan; H. Duncan; J. Duncan, minors 1-Sep-1858

Henry White James born 21 April 1797 in South Carolina died 30 July 1873 in Hempstead County, Arkansas, married Martha Brown about 1815-1820 , lived in Stewart County around 1820 and Gibson County from 1825-1837. Martha Born 9 Sept 1792 in Hertford County, North Carolina, died in Hempstead County, Arkansas in 1861. Children: William L. James born 1820 and Thomas J. James born 1820 in Stewart County, TN. Benjamin Martin James born 1825, Catherine James born 28 March 1828, Daniel B. James born 13 May 1830, Sarah A. James born 1833, Louis B. James born 1837 all in Gibson County. Hiram Henry James born 1838 born in Laf. County, Mississippi. Catherine James married Rubin May 21 January 1843 and died 1 March 1879. Daniel B. James married Martha W. Askew 16 April 1851 and died 2 Nov 1906. Sarah A. James married William H. S. Askew 29 August 1850 and died before 1895. Louis B. James married Sally M.????? in 1862 and died about 1880. I am hoping Gibson information on James family will help me sort out my Brown ancestors. Martha is reputed to be a sister of the Wilson Brown I am trying to learn about. Neal B. Brown WL7NZ 907-479-2773 Alaska Science Explained 1569 La Rue Lane Fairbanks, Alaska 99709 http://Alaskascience.com