Hi, I have a smattering of ignorance about some of these names and enough to raise a lot of qyestions about others. Willet My wife attended Clyde High School. Slim Willett attended there before she left Pettit (Levelland) Texas. He ran a battery shop in Abilene and was supposed to have written "Don't Let the Stars get in your Eyes" made famous in the 1950's by Kay Star & others.. He was well known in Clyde- Abilene area and well liked, but never wrote another hit song. . Cook There are a few Cook families in Stephenville who own Cook Building Supply and a Selden farm. One married my mom's first cousin-David Carey. The founders of the business were barbers in Glen Rose. One may have been a mechanic, also. Ms. Urcy Cook was an English teacher in Walnut Springs High in 1960's and her niece Natrelle Hedrick Young is a publications director at Tarleton State University. I taught her math and some history. We lived next door to them until we bought a house. Same family as the Glen Rose group? Don't know. Good hunting grounds for research , including Stephenville and Tarleton State University libraries. Gentry The historic Gentry Bridge is a few miles downstream from Stephenville on the Bosque. Today you turn and go back. There was an excellent swimming hole there- the sight of end of school parties and WW2 farewell parties for draftees. One of these Gentrys married a Garner at Selden and one ran the 4 line Selden switchboard- a local cooperative with wall phones and combinations of longs and shorts for each number. Think I have photos of some Gentrys mom & dad attended school with. Padgett There a bunch in Waco- some spell it Padgitt. We lived by a Padgett in Brandon, Hill County, Texas who ran a store on White Rock Creek and moved it to Hwy 22. It is now closed now. He had a son, a wife, and a brother there. In Waco, some Padgitts we attended church with at Woodway First Baptist were talented musicians and business folk. They claimed no kin th some others here. In the 1800's Tom Padgitt ran a sadle and harness factory in East Waco. He was instrumental in starting Paul Quinn College,A>M>E> Methodist the oldest Black college west of the Mississippi. This college has moved to the old Bishop (Baptist) College Campus in Dallas. Most of the campus buildings are unused and for sale. . Mr Padgitt wanted his workers trained to do skilled work at all levels. There still is a small Waco saddle shop, but later generations changed to photography and a camera store and sells to many schools, including all sorts of Audio- Visual teaching and hobby aids. It was a timely move with the autos and later farm tractors making harness tack obsolete except for rodeo type events. Howard Tim Howard attended Tarleton College and is now living in Hewitt, Texas & I see him at church regularly.Think he grew up farther West towards Lubbock. He has just started his geneaology research. He drove for Poston feeds while attending Tarleton. There were other Howards in the Pony Creek- Cedar Point - Rocky Point area. I haven't seen some of them in 50 years . Used to see them at church or singings at Cedar Point- Rocky Point & surrounding areas. Should be several in Stephenville phone book. Copeland- my Great Grandparents were Charles Madison Hipp (South Carolina German) and Sarah Copeland, Scotch Irish and posibly a dash of Cherokee- they were married in Clinton, Old Laurens District, South Carolina.in the Huricane Baptist Church. The Huricane cemetery has many of their Hipp, White, Dillard, Nabors- Neighbors ,Vaughn-Vaughan kin. John Copeland, Presbyterian elder of Duncan Creek Presbyterian before 1750, is buried at Duncan Creek between Newbury and Huricane church. He was in Rev. War. He is my direct ancestor and his pastor was once Rev. Balch of Greenville, College, Greeneville, Tennessee. he rode horseback from Greeneville to ordain Elders in Duncan Creek. Another pastor who updated psalms acceptable for singing was a John Kennedy. They dressed frontier style, similar to Indians. Since they were not British Episcopal bluebloods, there older records are in 1 of 2 Mecklenburg County courthouses in area once claimed by Va. and North Carolina, not in the present county seats or State capitols. . The Scottish Presbyterians (State church of Scotland) were given land between the coast and the mountains as a buffer from roving Indian attacks. The above Hipp has 48 pages on the Internet now from Stephan Hipp (Hepp) and his 2 brothers from 60 mikes south of Manheim, Germany with a British King's land grant. I have a 1937 Copeland Family tree and history passed out at their rotating reunions in Greenville, S>C>, Clinton, S.C. or Greer, S.C. They had my name and several cousins my age in it, including the children born in Nashville- Hope , Arkansas. A Copeland researcher on the Bosque River north of Waco has recently completed a 2" book of Copeland history and says we are not kin. I think she is wrong. McClennan county is loaded with Copelands. Check your Carolina Cherokee Rolls on this one and you will see why Rev.. Kenneth Copeland boast s of Cherokee heritage, Many claimed Arkansas Cherokee Nation land before the Trail of Tears- see Tahlequah or other Indian records. Grandmother's Copeland cousin settled in Huckaby- Pea Ridge area of Texas between Stephenville and the much larger coal mining town of Thurber, Erath County, Texas. Winningham? Went to High school with "Bulldog" and "Pup" Willingham 1940's, Stephenville. Believe they both played for Tarleton and Texas A&M Reeder- There was a Bose Reeder who was an Erath County politician in 1940's. Think he also had a ranch west of the Bosque River. Mullins- was in Army, 1950-52 with a Mullins, about 6' or more, from Ennis or South Dallas area. Sellers- One was a real estate agent in Stephenville. Green- Several have lived on Hwy 67 east of Stephenville in Welcome Valley or Rabbit Center or Evergreen comunity. They were electricians and country Musicians. Jimmy was younter than me. Also, one .Green, a retired Waco firefighter, runs an antique store at West, Texas on I-35 Is this Allerd or Allred? Gues you know one Texas Governor was named Allred. The Allerd Reunion was the largest and longest running one in Oakdale Park in Glen Rose. Dad went every year before 1950. He said were distant kin, but I can't see it on several lines back to 1750's. Possibly they are Sevier or Cleveland or Yowell descendants- but it looses me. Smith- have known a few hundred, no connection known, except that Kate Smith, the singer, was a grandchild of Oliver Cromwell Wyly, as was my grandad,. O.C. was once sheriff of Habersham County, Ga. among other things. Price- the ones I knew personally were Nolan and Travis Price of Stephenville. One married Balma Gristy, our neighbor, and they were Gospel singers and musicians. Happy hunting, Charles A. Wyly . . ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]