Juanita, Thank you so much for all of this good information! I don't know if the 71 yr old James Vance in the 1870 census (Osage Twp, Labette Co. KS) was my James or another James affiliated with the Roy family. It is my James who is buried in the Harmony Grove Cemetery, though. Thanks again, Carole From: "juanita" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2002 2:28 PM > Carole, > > I don't live in Labette Co., but my husband was born there as were > his parents and many other relatives. You might try checking for > info on your ancestors at the Oswego Historical Society....in > Oswego KS. Oswego is the county seat of Labette Co. and is > where the court house is located. Any land or probate records you > might be interested in would be here. > > The Historical Society has a good collection of data on early > residents and may have something about your James Vance. They > are open only a couple days or so ea. week, during the summers, > and at other times by appointments. > > They are located at 410 Commerical, Oswego KS 67356, ph no. > (620) 795-4500. They did have an e-mail address, but I'm not sure > if it's still good or not. You might try it: <[email protected]> All > the work is done by volunteers so you may have to wait a few days > for an answer. > > From a letter I have they say they are researching and writing about > the history of the community and maintaining files of written material > and photographs of activities and events throughout the history of > Oswego and Labette County. In genealogy research they maintain > over 450 files of individual families - they have over 16 file drawers > of Oswego area families files. A great amount of their research > comes from viewing 35 mm film of all newspapers beginning in 1869 > thru 2001 and census records beginning in 1855. (They sent letters > such as this to everyone who had visited there, soliciting funds for a > new reader printer machine in 2001). > > Good luck to you in your research. I wonder if your James Vance > may have known my husband's gr grandparents who moved from > Jasper Co. IA in 1867 or so to a farm in Labette Co. His gr > grandfather died here in 1874 and his gr grandmother in 1878. I'd > venture to say they probably did. The nearest town of any size is > Coffeyville, KS. Oswego, Altamont, Edna, Cherryvale are smaller > towns - all in Labette Co. except Cherryvale which, as you know is > in Montgomery Co. The Montgomery County Court House is in > Independence, KS. My husband grew up in Coffeyville (Montgomery > Co.). > > jjuanita >