Sorry; Owen Griffith (c1635-1698) > For that person seeking the Applewaites (Applewaight, etc., sp?), I > find that Henry Applewaite was a very early settler in Isle of Wight > and there, in 1698, witnessed the will of my Owen Griffith > (c1635-1687). Owen likely was a communicant of St. Lukes; whose > widow, Mary Hunt (Edwards), married William Boddie (an ancestor of > William Bennett Boddie). Griffth and Applewaite likely were > neighhbors, and had been for many years. Paul >

For that person seeking the Applewaites (Applewaight, etc., sp?), I find that Henry Applewaite was a very early settler in Isle of Wight and there, in 1698, witnessed the will of my Owen Griffith (c1635-1687). Owen likely was a communicant of St. Lukes; whose widow, Mary Hunt (Edwards), married William Boddie (an ancestor of William Bennett Boddie). Griffth and Applewaite likely were neighhbors, and had been for many years. Paul

In a message dated 05/20/2001 9:34:48 PM Central Daylight Time, fharper@triad.rr.com writes: > I always thought dowsing was a bunch of malarky too. Several years ago the local authorities lost track of their water main. Road projects over the years had changed the face of the intersection, and the utilities were, for all intents and purposes, lost. Now another road project necessitated digging up the intersection, and it was necessary to find the water main before digging or the entire community would be cut off from its water supply. All the high tech gadgets used by the various utility companies couldn't find the water main, and as a last resort, they called in a water witch. His forked twig (call it what you will) signaled the location, and gentle digging revealed the water main. Does it work? I don't know, but my water supply was interrupted only momentarily while they did their road work. Joyce

I suspect that witching for water was probably a widespread practice for a very long time. My father was born and raised Texan and so was his father. Half of their family roots were in Canada and the other half in TN. I have no idea from which half of the roots my father learned his witching skills. When I was a child, I watched my father witch for water successfully. However, I do seem to recall that he said it did not work for everybody. He could not explain why it worked and he could not explain why a few people never had success with it. For him it worked. You don't have to believe it Paul. What you believe does not alter the facts. You can call it voo doo if it makes you feel better; it still works. You might put it under the heading of pragmatism rather than academics. Loretta

I always thought dowsing was a bunch of malarky too. But several years ago, a friend's father went dowsing in a pasture so he could drill a well to water his horses. He said he always used a forked fruit tree branch, but some people used other woods or even coat hangers. Some materials worked better for some people while other materials worked better for others - body chemistry, I guess. I thought the whole idea was rediculous, but I went along with it just for the entertainment. I watched that branch twist downward in his hands pulling his skin with it. I thought he was somehow faking it, but I couldn't see any sign of him causing the branch to point down - plus the effect on his skin. He gave me the branch and had me walk across the same area. The same thing happened to me in the same place! It was like a ghost had reached up out of the ground to pull on the end of that branch! I walked around that pasture several times. It did it again and again - always in the same place! I have no idea why or if it really indicates that there's water in that place. But I do know he drilled there and struck water. And I do know SOMETHING caused that branch to point downward - and it was a force much stronger than simple gravity. By the way, I hold a Master's Degree and my favorite two question are "Why?" and "Can you prove that?" I can't explain this, but I do know it's real. I've also heard it called a "witchy wand" in NC. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Drake" <martee@citlink.net> To: <VA-SOUTHSIDE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2001 9:49 PM Subject: Re: [VA-SOUTHSIDE-L] dowsers' tool > Lee!!!!!!!!!!!! :) C'mon; it ain't calculus to figure out that > there is water in MY commode. :) :) Seriously, in these > mountains many believe in our "dowsers." I have seen them fail more > often than succeed, so no comment. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "G. Lee Hearl" <glh@naxs.com> > To: <VA-SOUTHSIDE-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2001 11:09 PM > Subject: Re: [VA-SOUTHSIDE-L] dowsers' tool > > > > Paul & All: > > I did not believe in "dowser devices" until I was working in the > Newport > > News Shipyard and they needed something to find some water pipes > under a > > concrete floor.. They bent two 1/4 in. dia. brazing rods about six > inches > > back from the end to 90 degrees.. The rods were about thirty > inches long and > > when held by the 6 in. "handles", the long rod pointing straight > ahead, no > > matter how tightley they were gripped, they would cross when > passed over > > water.. I tried it over a toilet bowl and now I'm a believer! > Those things > > really Worked! I wonder if they would work to find old graves, > probably not > > enough water tho'. > > G. Lee Hearl > > Authentic Appalachian Storyteller > > Abingdon, Va. > > > > > > ==== VA-SOUTHSIDE Mailing List ==== > > USGenWeb Archives Census Project > > http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/census/ > > > > > > ============================== > > Shop Ancestry - Everything you need to Discover, Preserve & > Celebrate > > your heritage! > > http://shop.myfamily.com/ancestrycatalog > > > > > ==== VA-SOUTHSIDE Mailing List ==== > Hosted by Rootsweb http://www.rootsweb.com > > > ============================== > Search over 1 Billion names at Ancestry.com! > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist1.asp > >

>>Lee!!!!!!!!!!!! :) C'mon; it ain't calculus to figure out that there is water in MY commode. :) :) Seriously, in these mountains many believe in our "dowsers." I have seen them fail more often than succeed, so no comment.<< Paul, You didn't understand my reason for trying the rods over a commode! I wanted to see the rods Cross Over The Water and they Did! They also Uncrossed as I backed away from the water! It Worked! Try it some time! G. Lee Hearl Authentic Appalachian Storyteller Abingdon, Va.

Dixie reminds us of another fact that we may have all forgotten. Thanks Dixie. Paul >Had to tell you in Missouri the divining rod is or > was, when I was young, called a witch and the process was called witching. Then too, the person witching was called a "witcher." > How about that? Dixie

My wife would run me off if I was standing over our pottie with a forked stick. Thanks anyhow, Lee. ----- Original Message ----- From: "G. Lee Hearl" <glh@naxs.com> To: "Paul Drake" <martee@citlink.net>; <VA-SOUTHSIDE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, May 21, 2001 12:12 AM Subject: Re: [VA-SOUTHSIDE-L] dowsers' tool > >>Lee!!!!!!!!!!!! :) C'mon; it ain't calculus to figure out that > there is water in MY commode. :) :) Seriously, in these > mountains many believe in our "dowsers." I have seen them fail more > often than succeed, so no comment.<< > > Paul, > You didn't understand my reason for trying the rods over a commode! > I wanted to see the rods Cross Over The Water and they Did! > They also Uncrossed as I backed away from the water! It Worked! Try it some > time! > G. Lee Hearl > Authentic Appalachian Storyteller > Abingdon, Va. >

Paul & All: I did not believe in "dowser devices" until I was working in the Newport News Shipyard and they needed something to find some water pipes under a concrete floor.. They bent two 1/4 in. dia. brazing rods about six inches back from the end to 90 degrees.. The rods were about thirty inches long and when held by the 6 in. "handles", the long rod pointing straight ahead, no matter how tightley they were gripped, they would cross when passed over water.. I tried it over a toilet bowl and now I'm a believer! Those things really Worked! I wonder if they would work to find old graves, probably not enough water tho'. G. Lee Hearl Authentic Appalachian Storyteller Abingdon, Va.

Whoa! and Giddy up Margaret! No need to get in a snit over it! My point being it could have meant anything! And who knows what that might have been. The person responsible isn't around to tell us. Now that was fun. Rhonda ----- Original Message ----- From: Margaret Driskill <mdriskill@worldnet.att.net> To: <jrpalmer@intelos.net>; <VA-SOUTHSIDE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2001 5:55 PM Subject: Search > > > Search is a word. As far as I know it has been around for a very long > time. > > duh!! Really? > > > Who knows what it may or may not have been used to describe or to > portray??? > > One can only speculate or guess!!! > > That is exactly what I did, in fun... > > > > Rhonda > > >

Lee!!!!!!!!!!!! :) C'mon; it ain't calculus to figure out that there is water in MY commode. :) :) Seriously, in these mountains many believe in our "dowsers." I have seen them fail more often than succeed, so no comment. ----- Original Message ----- From: "G. Lee Hearl" <glh@naxs.com> To: <VA-SOUTHSIDE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2001 11:09 PM Subject: Re: [VA-SOUTHSIDE-L] dowsers' tool > Paul & All: > I did not believe in "dowser devices" until I was working in the Newport > News Shipyard and they needed something to find some water pipes under a > concrete floor.. They bent two 1/4 in. dia. brazing rods about six inches > back from the end to 90 degrees.. The rods were about thirty inches long and > when held by the 6 in. "handles", the long rod pointing straight ahead, no > matter how tightley they were gripped, they would cross when passed over > water.. I tried it over a toilet bowl and now I'm a believer! Those things > really Worked! I wonder if they would work to find old graves, probably not > enough water tho'. > G. Lee Hearl > Authentic Appalachian Storyteller > Abingdon, Va. > > > ==== VA-SOUTHSIDE Mailing List ==== > USGenWeb Archives Census Project > http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/census/ > > > ============================== > Shop Ancestry - Everything you need to Discover, Preserve & Celebrate > your heritage! > http://shop.myfamily.com/ancestrycatalog >

> Search is a word. As far as I know it has been around for a very long time. duh!! Really? > Who knows what it may or may not have been used to describe or to portray??? > One can only speculate or guess!!! That is exactly what I did, in fun... > Rhonda

Fromand courtesy of Karen in Colorado: > Aha--I just did a google SEARCH for SEARCE. And in 9/10 cases it's a > misspelling of SEARCH! That should tell us something! However, a few good > gleanings. I'm convinced--I think we're looking at an old sieve. > > However, from the description of a man's antique pharmaceutical "toys:" > > The oldest piece in the collection is a rare, hand-carved wooden searce with > a shallow bowl that screws on a hollow stem and foot; it dates back to the > 1600s. A forerunner of the sieve, the searce is a container with holes or a > brass screen in the bottom that allow the contents to empty into a screw-off > lid. > > From an old cookbook: > > > 17th century recipe for making sugar cakes: Take two pound of Flower, dry it > > and season it very fine, then take a pound of Loaf-sugar, and beat it very > > fine, and searce (sieve) it, and mingle your flower and sugar very well, > > then take a pound and a half of sweet butter, and wash out the salt, and > > break it into bits with your flower and sugar, then take four new-laid > > Eggs, and four or five spoonfuls of Sack, and four spoonfuls of Cream; beat > > these all together, then put them into your Flower, and knead them to a > > paste, and make them into what fashion you please, and lay them upon paper > > or plates, and put them into the Oven, and be careful of them, for a very > > little thing bakes them.*1 > > > > From Robinson Crusoe! > > My next difficulty was to make a sieve or searce, to dress my meal, and to > part it from the bran and the husk; without which I did not see it possible I > could have any bread. This was a most difficult thing even to think on, for > to be sure I had nothing like the necessary thing to make it - I mean fine > thin canvas or stuff to searce the meal through. And here I was at a full > stop for many months; nor did I really know what to do. Linen I had none left > but what was mere rags; I had goat's hair, but neither knew how to weave it > or spin it; and had I known how, here were no tools to work it with. All the > remedy that I found for this was, that at last I did remember I had, among > the seamen's clothes which were saved out of the ship, some neckcloths of > calico or muslin; and with some pieces of these I made three small sieves > proper enough for the work; and thus I made shift for some years: how I did > afterwards, I shall show in its place. > > From an 1813 inventory/Northampton Co. VA > 1 Sifter searce & meal bag 4/6 > > From an "old west" cooking site > Searce: To seive, necessary to remove lumps from pounded loaf sugar and to > remove impurities from flour. > > Source:Food and Cooking in 17th Century Britain History and Recipes > by Peter Brears > English Heritage, 1985 > ISBN 1 85074 083 6 To make a Shropsheere cake: Take two pound of dryed flour > after it has been searced fine, one pound of good sugar dried and searced, > also a little beaten sinamon or some nottmegg greeted and steeped in rose > water; so straine two eggs, whites and all, not beaten to it, as much > unmelted butter as will work it to a paste: so mould it & roule it into longe rouses

Looking for information on the family of Walter S Applewhite of VA ( Southhampton area ?).He was married to Martha Eliza Rochelle on March 16, 1846 and had children Mary F, John Walter and William Edward. Also looking for information on ROCHELLE. Thanks- Donna

A "dowser" usually practices his/her trade (magic?) with a "dowsing fork," a "divining rod," or a "water rod." Also in these mountains, I have seen a number of other pendulum devices, usually made of copper, leads and other metals, believed to have the same powers. The trade ("art and mystery," or so it was said) has been practiced for centuries down to and including now and was very well known to every one of your ancestors.

It is a divining rod Rusty! Rhonda ----- Original Message ----- From: Dusty <desbemon@erols.com> To: <VA-SOUTHSIDE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2001 3:28 AM Subject: RE: [VA-SOUTHSIDE-L] Search > > Speaking of guessing, what about that rod they used to find water....? > Can't think of the name of that thing. > > Dusty > -----Original Message----- > From: Margaret Driskill [mailto:mdriskill@worldnet.att.net] > Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2001 6:01 PM > To: VA-SOUTHSIDE-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: [VA-SOUTHSIDE-L] Search > > > Are you ready for a guess? NO KNOWLEDGE...just a guess? > > What about the pan with holes in it like prospectors used when they hunted > for gold? I know it was Virginia and not the "Gold Rush", but might they > have 'panned' for something and just called the pan a 'search'. > > Sounds better than a probe for hunting for bullets. :) > > Margaret > > > ==== VA-SOUTHSIDE Mailing List ==== > USGenWeb Archives Census Project > http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/census/ > > > ============================== > Join the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > Linking the world, one GEDCOM at a time. > http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com > > > ==== VA-SOUTHSIDE Mailing List ==== > USGenWeb Archives Census Project > http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/census/ > > > ============================== > Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist2.asp > Search over 2500 databases with one easy query! > >

Somewhat reluctantly I respond to this heady dialogue on dictionaries, one reservation being the need to spell everything correctly. My Britannica, gives credit to a Dominican friar known as Galfridus Grammaticus in this Promptorium Parvulorum completed c. 1440 and used in the study of Latin. He listed about 12,000 English words. What is known as the first real English dictionary, printed in 1552, was produced by Richard Huloet, again used in the study of Latin at Cambridge. This Abcedarium of 26,000 words was very expensive. A Yorkshire schoolmaster and physician Peter Levins recognizing expensive as a hindrance, published a smaller works in 1570 called Manipulus Vocabulorum. In writing of Huloet's effort he stated "His is for greater students, and them that are richable to have it: this is for beginners and them that are poorable to have no better." A steady evolution of references followed these early works. So, much to my surprise dictionaries apparently existed long prior to those we consider comprehensive works. Be assured this will not be the last word. Robert

Search is a word. As far as I know it has been around for a very long time. Who knows what it may or may not have been used to describe or to portray??? One can only speculate or guess!!! Another thing, no one will probably ever know. Unless they have found a way to travel in time. And then they can ask!:) Rhonda ----- Original Message ----- From: Margaret Driskill <mdriskill@worldnet.att.net> To: <VA-SOUTHSIDE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2001 3:01 PM Subject: [VA-SOUTHSIDE-L] Search > Are you ready for a guess? NO KNOWLEDGE...just a guess? > > What about the pan with holes in it like prospectors used when they hunted for gold? I know it was Virginia and not the "Gold Rush", but might they have 'panned' for something and just called the pan a 'search'. > > Sounds better than a probe for hunting for bullets. :) > > Margaret > > > ==== VA-SOUTHSIDE Mailing List ==== > USGenWeb Archives Census Project > http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/census/ > > > ============================== > Join the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > Linking the world, one GEDCOM at a time. > http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com > >

The Applewaites are well known to 18th century IofW and thence in S'hampton. As I recall, Henry Applewaite was an early Sherriff of S'hampton. Help Donna, somebody; my memory does not serve me here. Paul ----- Original Message ----- From: <KENNEDYQT@aol.com> To: <VA-SOUTHSIDE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2001 5:57 PM Subject: [VA-SOUTHSIDE-L] WALTER S APPLEWHITE > Looking for information on the family of Walter S Applewhite of VA ( > Southhampton area ?).He was married to Martha Eliza Rochelle on March 16, > 1846 and had children Mary F, John Walter and William Edward. Also looking > for information on ROCHELLE. > Thanks- > Donna > > > > > ==== VA-SOUTHSIDE Mailing List ==== > USGW Archives Pension Project > http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/pensions/ > > > ============================== > Search over 1 Billion names at Ancestry.com! > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist1.asp >

Are you ready for a guess? NO KNOWLEDGE...just a guess? What about the pan with holes in it like prospectors used when they hunted for gold? I know it was Virginia and not the "Gold Rush", but might they have 'panned' for something and just called the pan a 'search'. Sounds better than a probe for hunting for bullets. :) Margaret