I am NOT going to spend any more long periods of time carefully putting this information up to send! These darn computers mess it all up. I looked at some of the family information I transcribed and it looked like I did not know how to write a sentence!!!!! I want you all to know that I am a retired teacher and that I did my Bachelor's and Master's and part of my PhD in Physical Education, Kinesiology, Special Education, Athletic Training and ENGLISH!!! I taught classes of English...creative writing, composition, etc......it is the computer that messes up my sentence structure! ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHH I am going by the Volo Cemetery for pictures, the Hillcrest Cemetery for pictures...Rountree...and try to get by the record office in Belton to search some....if I can get someone to lift the books for me...I want to take the names you all have sent and first check the "Unrecovered" documents. These are such things as birth certificates and marriage certificates. Most county courthouses keep the unclaimed originals in their vaults and they look as new as the day they were prepared. In the early days our ancestors may have lived so far away from the county seat that they never got there to collect the documents. For example, people in Bartlett had to travel at least a day and a half or two days to get to Belton...plus in the very early days, they were actually in Milam County....sometimes they were killed by Indians or outlaws or became ill and died before they could pick up the documents. If there is one of your ancestors there, I will let you know so you can request it...in Williamson County you have to request it in writing and include a photcopy of your driver's lisc. I cannot collect the document for you...I can, however, get a copy for you. I asked about the copy of the driver's lisc. and they told me that that information is for county records only and not for public distribution. If you request and show your proof first, you get the document. If anyone else asks, they are told another family member claimed it and showed proof. The clerk said that you could put an address or email addy on your letter if you wanted to so other relatives could contact you. Next week I plan to go to Coryell and Lampasas Cos. to do some looking. Most of my time will have to be spent searching for a QUEEN family. I have been working for a lady in California for a couple of years now...a friend is going with me to help lift books and copy information and get copies. If I find someone you mentioned, I will get a plain copy of the document and snail mail it to you along with a request form for you to use to get a certified copy. If I were you all, especially any of you new to this work, I would stay with the plain copies...usually only a dollar. If, for some reason you need a certified copy later, you can order it. Some of the certified copies can be upwards of $25 in come counties. If you want me to get you a certified copy, I can....but I would like for you to send me a note snail mail requesting I get you the certified copy of Clem Kadiddlehopper and Mrs. Kadiddlehopper for your genealogical files. State that you are a descendent of the Kadiddlehoppers as they are your gggggggggggggggggrandparents. If you live in another state it might be good to mention that. MA Bartlett P.O. Box 606 Bartlett, TX 76511 I will do all I can to help yall.....I have been trying for several years to get some help with my BARTLETTs and BELLs in MO and no one has answered. I know how hard it is to get to other states and even to other counties in a state. Some of us here in Texas have to drive as high as 800 miles one way to get to a county in North or West Texas. I did make a 1600 mi. trip for a lady several years ago to get information on a person she was sure was her ancestor. It turned out he was not her ancestor. I learned something about the land records .... those in Texas that have Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Moses Austin, and Samuel May Williams (McKinney & Williams), these are in the early 1800s...before there were any counties...when TX still belonged to Mexico. Some of your ancestors during this time were actually Mexican Citizens and may have had to get a Passport to come into TX. Also, if you see a name listed and get to the ABS (abstract no.) and it has 999999....that means that the person did not complete the purchase or sale of the land...or never showed up to claim his/her papers. Women's names...I was told that women that had lost their husbands on the way could buy land; or if their husband died here, they legally got title to the land. There are never any dates on those records on internet but if you go to the land office, the dates and other details are in most of the documents. As soon as you have time to go to the Web Page for Bell county, check out the History of Bell Co....it will help you understand how the counties evolved and why you may need to search other counties...especially if your ancestors lived on the far sides of the counties close to county lines. A bit of History again... Ann, the MotorMouth -----Original Message----- From: MaryAnn Bartlett <bartlett@vvm.com> To: TXBELL-L@rootsweb.com <TXBELL-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Wednesday, April 28, 1999 10:00 AM Subject: [TXBELL-L] ALLEN; ALLISON; BEARD; BIRD; FULCHER; HAYNES; POOLE; STONE; GRIFFIN |Granger City Cemetery |1/4 mile east of Granger |Williamson County, Texas (originally part of Milam County) |Canvassed by: Mrs. Henry LABAJ and Mrs. Ella HILL |Record located at: Teinert Memorial Library, Bartlett, Bell County, Texas |R Pamphlet |312.2 |GRA |------------------------------------------------- |BLOCK NAME |BIRTH DEATH |============================================================ |Page 1: |7 ALLEN, Mare Irene |0 9-12-1905 05-23-1966 |7 ALLEN, Hollis O. |01-05-1889 05-23-1996 |5 ALLEN, Lee O. |09-29-1907 08-06-1915 | (s/o L.E. and Dora ALLEN) |