I had the wonderful opportunity spend a day with John Gott when he hosted an all-day bus tour of "Mosby's Heritage" area of Fauquier County. He could rattle off names, dates, events, history, etc., like he was telling you his name. What a genius of local history and lore. I regret I never made it back to the Historical Society in Marshall to spend some time on a Wednesday with him when he would be there. He will be missed by all of us with roots in Fauquier County. Our link to the past is no more. Sadly, we must carry on without his sage help and advise. God bless those he left behind. Estelle

Fauquier Historian Dies at 75 John Gott's Affection For County Ran Deep By Jason Ukman Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, August 8, 2004; Page LZ03 Historian John K. Gott, whose long and dear love affair with Fauquier County made him a preeminent chronicler of its people and past, died Wednesday of complications from lymphoma. He was 75. Gott wrote, edited and contributed to numerous books about the area and helped found the Fauquier Heritage and Preservation Foundation, whose library was established largely with donations from Gott's personal collection. For the past decade, he and Bob Sinclair, a former history teacher and now a member of the county School Board, led semiannual bus tours to bring Fauquier's history to its current residents. Although Gott lived in Arlington County, his heart was forever tied to Fauquier, Sinclair said. It was his birthplace, and he could trace his family roots in the area back to the early 18th century. He told friends that his interest in history came from hearing family lore when he was a child. During his childhood, he contracted rheumatic fever and was bedridden for nearly a year. His bedroom "became the living room, and around me gathered my great-aunts," he told The Washington Post in 2000. "The only thing they ever talked about was the family -- for supper, dinner and breakfast. I could reel it off once or twice." That interest in family translated into an interest in people throughout the region. Sinclair said Gott was drawn to such local legends as John Singleton Mosby, the Confederate fighter. "It was the human element, the humanizing of history that appealed to him greatly," Sinclair said. Gott received a master's degree in library science from Catholic University and went on to become a librarian in Fairfax County schools. His last job before retirement was at Langley High School in McLean, which named its library after him. Gott's works included "High in Old Virginia's Piedmont: A History of Marshall," which he spent 30 years researching and writing, and "The Years of Anguish: Fauquier County, Virginia, 1861-1865," which he wrote with Emily Ramey. Gott, who is survived by distant cousins, never married. He was otherwise occupied, Sinclair said. "A library is a living thing: It breathes, it has life," he said. "Therefore, I would suggest to you that John was probably married to those thousands of books that he had in his possession." There will be a viewing from 7 to 9 p.m. today at Royston Funeral Home in Marshall. A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. tomorrow at Marshall Baptist Church.

I have met with John several times in my visits to Fauquier County and enjoyed them immensely. The first time I met John Gott was at the old Heritage Society Building in Marshall and I was smart enough to bring a tape recorder along. LOL John just started talking away and I asked if it was okay if I taped the conversation rather than try to write it all down...he was talking way to fast for me <G> I have loved working with John and the others at the Fauquier Heritage and Preservation Society and will miss the phone conversations and those in person as well. He was a wealth of knowledge and a joy to be around. We will all miss him a great deal. Sandy P.S. Jim, I had gotten permission from John to post the articles he had written in the Fauquier Heritage & Perservation Society Newsletters and will try (can't promise how soon) to get them retyped and sent to you to upload to our Fauquier County Website. I think that would be a nice honorarium for him. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Burgess" <jim@promobiz.biz> To: <VAFAUQUI-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, August 09, 2004 12:33 AM Subject: [VAFAUQUI] John Gott a legendary Historian of Fauquier County, Virginia > Dear Fauquier County, Virginia Genealogist, > > Just wondering what memories or stories we have of Mr John Gott! > > Jim Burgess > Fauquier County, Virginia > USGENWEB > > > > ==== VAFAUQUI Mailing List ==== > Visit the Fauquier County USGenWeb Home Page! > http://www.rootsweb.com/~vafauqui/fqva.htm > Be sure to bookmark it!!! > >

I was never able to meet John Gott in person but his books got me started with my research in Fauquier County and later, through correspondence, I was able to "bounce" some hunches/ideas off of him and move even a bit further. It is a sad day. He will be greatly missed. Cindi Bomersheim WYNES/WYNE/WINES/WINE

John Gott was a great researcher and genealogist, and a great friend to many whose lives he touched. I first met John Gott in 1980 when he agreed to give a talk to our then fledgling Fairfax County [VA] Genealogy Club. As you can imagine, it was an insightful talk, and helped us become established. He kept a folder on my BARTLETT line which passed through Fauquier County 1768-1785, and he would collaborate with me, or pass on to me, queries about my line. I really came to believe John Gott could reconstruct the county history through deed descriptions he could remember. I last saw him in 2000 - he was in his element - helping me find some information, telling me about everyone who lived around or near (or even not so near) my ancestor, while at the same time answering phone calls, talking to other visitors, and filing papers. He was surely a multitasker... and he surely will be missed. Jim Bartlett; Bethesda, MD [new] -----Original Message----- From: Jim Burgess [mailto:jim@promobiz.biz] Sent: Sunday, August 08, 2004 9:33 PM To: VAFAUQUI-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [VAFAUQUI] John Gott a legendary Historian of Fauquier County, Virginia Dear Fauquier County, Virginia Genealogist, Just wondering what memories or stories we have of Mr John Gott! Jim Burgess Fauquier County, Virginia USGENWEB ==== VAFAUQUI Mailing List ==== Visit the Fauquier County USGenWeb Home Page! http://www.rootsweb.com/~vafauqui/fqva.htm Be sure to bookmark it!!!

Jim, I had the pleasure to meet John Gott for the first time in 1999, my first visit to Virginia and my first Germanna Reunion. My friend and I were on a major research trip, photocopying our brains out at each library! We went to the old Heritage Center at Marshall, manned that day by Jackie Lee and John Gott--what a treat that was! Both of them helped us enormously and John was such a character. And what a wealth of information. I last visited the Heritage Center in Marshall just a few weeks ago after returning from Germany with the Germanna Foundation and was hoping to speak to John as I was researching the Holtzclaw home located on Hwy 211 in Warrenton, Ashland Farm, and I knew that John had written about it many years. I was disappointed that he wasn't there, but also sad that he was ill. And now I'm saddened to learn of his death, which is a huge loss to the genealogy community. He will be sorely missed. Barb Price

John K. Gott was a man of many talents. He was a noted Author, Historian, Educator, Lecturer, and belong to the Mason's. The Fauquier Heritage and Preservation Foundation dedicated its research library to John K. Gott in Marshall, Va. I had the opportunity to talk with Mr. Gott over the phone on a few occasions and believe me, he was such a wonderful person who was so willing to help you and to share his knowledge. A couple of years ago, it came up over one of the sites about people copying his works and sharing it with others, was said that it was illegal. I took it upon myself to call Mr. Gott, explained to him the problem at hand. He said, sure you can share my works with everyone, as long as you give credit where credit is due. He was a very kind and giving person. A lot of hard work and many many hours went into his research, but he loved what he did. Through that love of labor he left a legacy behind, of which all genealogist will enjoy and cherish. John K. Gott will never be forgotten and greatly missed. He has passed and now will have the most joyous opportunity to be greeted by all his ancestors and those he has placed in his books. God Bless you John K. Gott. June

I never met John Gott, but his works have furthered my knowledge of my Germanna family. I have had the pleasure of being in Fauquier Co. only once. It is a fur piece from California. I have great admiration for any compiler of genealogical works who spends hours/days/weeks either turning dusty and perhaps moldy records in a courthouse or squinting at microfilm and trying to make out the old handwriting. Thanks for people like John Gott. I am please to know that he seemed to have a good disposition!!! E.W.Wallace

Dear Fauquier County, Virginia Genealogist, Just wondering what memories or stories we have of Mr John Gott! Jim Burgess Fauquier County, Virginia USGENWEB

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survived by close family cousins Now he belongs to the genealogists -- whose future generations will benefit from his research into past ones. Some of the best family historians I have met, do not have any direct descendants (nor are they motivated by religious beliefs). Mr. Gott's dedication to tedious collection of details and careful analysis of sources is all the more remarkable, because he was doing it for us unknown heirs.

Sad day for Fauquier County and friends. John Gott was quite the gentleman and will be missed. The following is from the Washington Post. Watch for Wednesday's Fauquier Times Democrat as I imagine they'll have something about him there. You can access it online. Thought the list would want to know. GOTT, JOHN K. On Wednesday, August 4, 2004 in INOVA Fairfax Hospital. JOHN KENNETH GOTT, Arlington, VA survived by close family cousins, Virginius Bowen, Lacuta Gasser and Helen Rucker. Friends may call at ROYSTON FUNERAL HOME, INC. Marshall, VA Sunday, August 8, from 7 to 9 p.m. Masonic service at 7 p.m. Funeral services will be held Monday, August 9, at 11 a.m. from the Marshall Baptist Church by Rev. Sam Jones. Interment Sharon Cemetery, Middleburg, VA. In lieu of flowers, donations to Fauquier Heritage Preservation Foundation, 4110 Winchester Rd., Marshall, VA 20115. Online guest book: http://www.legacy.com/WashingtonPost/Guestbook.asp?Page=GuestBook&PersonId=2492551

Dear Sandra, Do you know whether any of the Smiths of Fauquier Co., VA migrated rather early to either Mercer Co. or Garrard Co., Kentucky? Reason for my question: Some of the children of my John Kemper, Sr. of Dicks River area of Garrard Co. (Mercer Co. is just across the river--still requires a ferry in that area), married into a Smith family. Just curious, that's all! (A driving force--curiosity--for genealogists!) E.W.Wallace

Who is the James Smith, age 75, farmer, in the Ashby Dist. of Fauquier Co. in the 1850 census? In the same household is J.S.Smith, male, age 33, also a farmer. Listed on one side is Gabriel Rogers, age 44 and on the other side, William Jett, age 86. Thanks, Sandra

> > Remembering Joe > > on August 5, 1862 > > Joseph Kendall Notable Man of Fauquier > > > Quoting from the following source: > > "The Brooke, Fauquier, Loudoun and Alexandria Artillery" By Michael J. > Andrus, H. E. Howard, Inc...Publisher, ISBN 0-930919-92-0, page 68. > > Quote: " Early the next morning, August 5th, breathless cavalrymen reported > that the Federals were approaching Malvern Hill from the North. Stribling's > men rushed to their guns but barely had time to wheel them into position > before a squadron of Union cavalry charged. Cavalry was no match for > artillery, and a few shots from the Fauquier men drove the horsemen back. > Soon, however, more Yankees appeared. Two Federal batteries wheeled > out into the fields about 600 yards from Stribling's guns. The Federal guns > opened fire and a hasty dual followed. Privates John Ball and William Suddith > fell dead. > > Others fell wounded, including JOSEPH KENDALL --- 'a plain country lad' --- > whose leg was torn off at the thigh by a Union shell. Two men carried KENDALL > behind the crest of the hill. Seeing a group of loose horses, KENDALL insisted > on holding them: " At least I can do that much," he said. The two men placed > him on the ground, gathered up the reins of the horses, and gave them to > KENDALL. Lying there the suffering private occasionally yelled to his > comrades, "Don't give up, men. Never let them take the guns. Fight to the > last!" When Captain Stribling walked by him, KENDALL asked, "Can we > drive them back? How are the men of Lieutenant Marshall's section fighting?" > Stribling asked KENDALL if he wanted anything. "I want a drink of water," > he replied, "But don't stop any of the men to bring it, for I will soon be dead." > A short time later, KENDALL died, the reins of the horses still in his lifeless > hand." End Quote > > Joseph Kendall was a Fauquier native. Born in 1840 just South of Marshall in > the "Free State" to Jeremiah and Jane (Carter) KENDALL. Before the war, he > had worked for Thomas A. Hirst as a farm manager. He was killed in action on > August 5, 1862 at the battle of Malvern Hill in Virginia. His heroic memory > was legend among Confederate Veterans. For decades, at annual reunions of > Confederate Veterans, their meeting place was called the JOE KENDALL > CAMP in honor of his selfless dedication on the battlefield. > Sincerely, > Tom Kendall > Wilmington, North Carolina > > > >

We Are The Chosen My feelings are in each family there are those who seem called to find their ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again. To tell their story and to feel that somehow they know and approve. Doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts, but breathing life into all who have gone before us. They cry out: Tell our story. So, we do. In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. How many graves have I stood before now and cried? I have lost count. How many times have I told my ancestors you have a wonderful family, you would be proud of us? How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for us? I cannot say. It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who we are and why we do the things we do. It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying I can't let this happen. The folks here are bones of my bones and flesh of my flesh. It goes to doing something about it. It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish. How they contributed to what we are today. It goes to respecting their hardships and losses. Their never giving up or never giving in. Their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family. With love and caring we record each fact of their existence. Because we are them and they are us. We might be born that we might remember them. So, we the chosen tell their story. Lloyd Ray Timmons, Sr.

1910 ED 41, Fauquier co., VA, household 95/95: Fletcher, Thomas, 46, M1 (12), Farm Fletcher, Mildred A., 35, M1 (12), 3 children, all living Fletcher, Luther M., 10 Fletcher, Henry F., 7 Fletcher, Violette E., 10/12 Fletcher, Charles R., F-I-L, 59, M1 (36) Fletcher, Elizabeth C., M-I-L, 58, M1 (36) 7 children, 6 still living On the next page, household 105/105 is: Fletcher, Charles W., 58, M1 (36) Fletcher, Mary C., 50, M1 (36), 18 children, 8 still living Fletcher, Lena, 16 Fletcher, Bettie F., 14 Moore, William H., 8, grandson Everyone above born in Virginia, as were parents. CAPPELLASK@aol.com wrote: Would someone with census access pls look up and transcript the family information for: CHARLES R. FLETCHER--age 59 (father-in-law) 1910 Fauquier County...enumeration Dist. 0041 Household of THOMAS FLETCHER It would be very much appreciated!! Sharleen ==== VAFAUQUI Mailing List ==== Visit the Fauquier County USGenWeb Home Page! http://www.rootsweb.com/~vafauqui/fqva.htm Be sure to bookmark it!!! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

This article from today's New York Times does not have a connection to Fauquier County, so I apologize to those who would prefer to see the maillist stay on topic. I just thought it had compelling interest for anyone with an interest in genealogy. July 31, 2004 New York Times By Accident, Utah Is Proving an Ideal Genetic Laboratory By KIRK JOHNSON SALT LAKE CITY- Utah is justly famous for its big families, with cousins piled on cousins, uncles from here to Tuesday, and roots stretching back to the Mormon pioneer days. And what once appeared to be a regional quirk is increasingly viewed by scientists as something more: a near-perfect laboratory, arrived at by complete accident, for the study of human kinship. Mormon genes are hot. Utah DNA is being used for an international study that seeks to identify chromosomes linked to diseases like asthma and diabetes. Other researchers are studying how the genes for left-handedness or longevity or even the ability to taste bitter foods have moved through the Utah gene pool over time. A nonprofit foundation here is compiling a giant genetic database that will try to pinpoint - after a quick swab of a person's cheek for a DNA sample - where the person's ancestors came from. "Utah's contribution to genetics has been enormous," said Dr. Mark S. Guyer, a division director at the National Human Genome Research Institute in Maryland. To a scientist, the single greatest attraction of Utah - and its biggest distinction in a nation of rootless wanderers - is stability. For more than 150 years, largely because of the Mormon church, the state has been a magnet to people who mostly stayed put. A relatively small founding population was fruitful and multiplied - aided in the 19th century by polygamy, adding a unique wrinkle to the genetic trail. With its emphasis on family records and genealogy, the Mormon church, officially the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, then created a treasure trove of details about those people. The rest was left to science. In the 1970's, researchers at the University of Utah began melding church records with every measure of public health and mortality they could find, creating a vast database - now containing 1.6 million people - that scientists can use to cross-index family trees with cancer clusters and disease patterns and death rates. In the 1980's, an in-depth study of the genetic makeup of 50 big Mormon families was begun. Those families, containing more than 650 people, have since been revisited again and again for study. Their identities are closely held secrets, say scientists at the university's department of human genetics, but the raw data of the group's cellular structure has been shared all over the world. "We know probably more about the definitions of the DNA segments in those individuals than in any others, anywhere," said Dr. Jean Weissenbach, the director of the French National Sequencing Center, which used samples from the Utah families in its work on the multinational effort to define and delineate DNA, called the Human Genome Project, which was completed last year. But there is also something else involved - call it marital fidelity. On average across the United States, about 5 percent to 10 percent of people who have DNA tested for various reasons are not really the sons or daughters of the person they had thought of as dad, scientists say. In Utah, or at least in the families at the heart of the various genetics studies over the years, the rate of "nonpaternity," as it is called, is less than 1 percent, private industry researchers and University of Utah scientists say. "They stick to their knitting," said Mark Skolnick, the chief scientist at Myriad Genetic Inc., which is one of the biggest companies in the state's emerging genetics corridor, clustered around the University of Utah, where Dr. Skolnick was a professor and a pioneer in the discovery of the gene marker for breast cancer. People like Norm Jones also help explain how Utah is different. A missionary who serves at the Mormon church's Family History Library across the street from the downtown temple, Mr. Jones, 69, is a living embodiment of what the culture of genealogy can produce. He can trace his roots to the 1840's in Salt Lake City, through an extended web of intermarried families in the many decades since. He can print out his family pedigree with the tap of a few computer keys. He knows which of his ancestors walked across the Plains to Utah, and which could afford a wagon. Quite often, Mr. Jones said, he wanders up to help a library patron and finds that they have a common ancestor. "After a while, you're related to everybody," he said. There are certainly other places where genes and genealogy have merged. Researchers in Iceland, where many family histories go back a thousand years or more, have created detailed genetic family trees. Other groups, like the Amish and Mennonites in the United States and Canadians from Quebec have also been studied for their genetic distinctiveness. What Utah offers, researchers say, is partly the power of numbers. The life and health histories of 1.6 million Utahns, living and dead, have been incorporated into the Utah Population Database run by the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. Iceland, by contrast, which is probably Utah's nearest competitor as a geneticist's paradise, has only about 280,000 people. Iceland's population, because of its isolation, is also much more inbred than Utah's, where the gene pool has been regularly infused with new blood as converts to the church came here over the decades. About 70 percent of Utah's population is Mormon. Mormons themselves say that the church's emphasis on the importance of family created a natural bridge to the more scientific definitions of kinship. Researchers say there is also a strong community sense that makes people want to contribute, even if it does not help them or their families. "Among Christian religions, we probably stand out as the one probably most interested in family ties; we are a record-keeping and record-gathering people," said Jay W. Butler, the associate international legal counsel in the church's office of general counsel. "All of that contributes to the uniqueness of Utah as a fertile ground for the research of families." There are limits, however, to what Mormon leaders will condone in using church records for genetic research. The church strongly opposes abortion, for example, and also frowns on the use of alcohol, tobacco, coffee and tea by church members. So, Mr. Butler said, the church opposes any research that might lead to more abortions, for example a gene that identified the likelihood of a birth defect, or might encourage the use of alcohol or tobacco, for example a gene that suggested reduced health effects from smoking or drinking. Managers of the population database at the University of Utah, which receives dozens of research proposals a year, say they recall only a couple of outright church vetoes over the years. Since then, they say, they have learned to cull the ideas that will not be approved. More than 50 genetic research projects are now under way, they said, on health issues like psoriasis, autism and arthritis. Other pieces of Mormon history that the church is sometimes reticent to talk about, like polygamy, are also good things for science, researchers say. The taking of multiple wives was practiced by a minority of mostly prominent Mormons for two or three generations, from the 1840's to 1890, when the church said monogamy was the way of the future. But polygamy left a big imprint. In a state where thousands of families are descended from polygamists, the genes of a relatively small group of men have been amplified and etched into the biological record, researchers say, as though with a highlighting pen. One male whose genes might have carried a particular mutation, for example, could have fathered dozens of children through multiple wives - and had sons who in turn took multiple wives themselves and had equally big families. Scientists tracing that gene through the family branches where it was found and those where it was absent can learn a great deal about how very specific traits move through succeeding generations. Some Mormon-based organizations are now trying to bring modern genetics back full circle, to reinforce traditional church genealogy. The Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, the nonprofit group here that compiling a global genetic database to assist Utahns and others in finding their roots, is housed in a nondescript building a few miles from the sleek new research centers at the University of Utah. The scientists creating the database were hired by a billionaire medical equipment entrepreneur, James LeVoy Sorenson. The chief scientist at the foundation, Scott R. Woodward, said the goal was to have a DNA sample of 100,000 people within the next few years, focused primarily on Western Europe - the place from which most Utahns are descended. About 40,000 samples are already available, he said. When the database is completed, Dr. Woodward said, a person should be able to walk into the office, provide a DNA sample, and get a report back saying what place - perhaps down to the town or county, if not a region - his or her genes are most likely from. "Genealogy was the starting place," Dr. Woodward said. "Genetics has now made the tools to go back and verify the genealogy."

Who where kind enough to answer my query about my ancestor joining the army in 1783. Since the war was over, and papers signed. Would the states still be giving out land bonus. I traced my ancestor after leaving the army in 1787 to Hardy county where he purchased 69 acres of land. And have him and family moving over into Monongalia county where he disappeared from the tax rolls the last year was 1809. In 1810 his widow purchased land in Mon. County she signed the papers and from then on she is listed as widow Efaw. I have searched for the land thinking their graves might be there but have not pin pointed it so far. Don't recall if I mentioned but he was listed as a "Matross" Artillery on his pay stubs. If he joined up after war was over and served for 3 years would he be eligible for a pension? again thanks bob e

Would anyone with access to Fauquier County Marriages Registers PLEASE check for the marriage information for: RICHARD KELLEY (KELLY) B. 1875 va MAUD(E) LEE B. 1880 VA THANK YOU so very much!! Sharleen