Kind of a dumb question, but I'm trying to find out if anyone on the list is researching prominent families in Tazewell. For example, I notice in the newspaper, that most often the persons mentioned are those who I guess are considered "upper class" There are just certain people who get mentioned all the time (like the McGuires and Steeles) and I guess I'm just curious as to how many of you find more information then other's because of this. I promise the CVN site is almost done. It has taken me longer the I thought because of problems I have been running into. I'm going to be doing another site to with different research stuff on it (like court records, etc) that I'm also pulling off micro film - however that one hasn't even been started yet so haven't got much info right now. In referrerce to my question, I'm asking more about the prominent families because I have to skip over a lot of stuff when making copies (cause I don't have the money to print out everything) and I'm trying to get a feel more for what would be more helpful to everyone. I'm assuming most of us are researching the more common folk - just trying to get some idea. Michelle

Hi Michelle, My ancestors are the families of Steele, Gillespie, Smith, Smyth, Palmer, Ledford, Skidmore, Farmer, all of whom passed through Tazewell, Bland, Washington, Lee, Halifax, and others. Don't know how prominent they were, but surely a "bunch of 'em." I think all Virginians are Upper Class. 8-). Keep up the good work! Be sure to let us know when your new sites are available. Monty Reed Kentucky native Retired in Jax, Fla. > > Kind of a dumb question, but I'm trying to find out if anyone on the list > is researching prominent families in Tazewell. For example, I notice in > the newspaper, that most often the persons mentioned are those who I guess > are considered "upper class" There are just certain people who get > mentioned all the time (like the McGuires and Steeles) and I guess I'm > just curious as to how many of you find more information then other's > because of this.

I think mostly I'm just looking for the common folk. I look for Lester, Ascue, Asbury, Shreve, and some Steele's since they trickled into my Lester line. But I have many others on the fringe I look for too. I mostly concentrate on Paint Lick and Pounding Mill, and some Steelesburg when reading because that's where the highest concentration of my Lester's and allied families are, but I always read the whole article so I don't miss any news. I often find family in areas where I don't expect them to be. I found several names of mine in the WWI selective service listing too! So that was a treat. I basically love all the news. It's fun to read what they did and how they lived, and what seemed important to them then. I am so appreciative of your hard work. I know I've written you many times in the past couple years and thanked you, but it can't be done too often. You deserve it. Sue -----Original Message----- From: Michelle Burress [mailto:mish@TechVox.net] In referrerce to my question, I'm asking more about the prominent families because I have to skip over a lot of stuff when making copies (cause I don't have the money to print out everything) and I'm trying to get a feel more for what would be more helpful to everyone. I'm assuming most of us are researching the more common folk - just trying to get some idea. Michelle

Howdy, Michelle Families I am interested in that have Tazewell Co. roots would be Burke; Burk; Brewster; Beavers; VanDike; Mitchell; Lambert just to name a few. I have ties to all the above mentioned families. Thanks for your good work David Burke

Michelle- Your work is GREATLY appreciated by all on the list. And I thoroughly enjoy the CVN articles. I suspect some of what determined who got written about was a function of who the CVN editor or his staff personally knew. As to the proliferation of data on certain families, I have the following theory... and this is just my own hunch. I don't think I've ever heard anyone else say this: The first group of pioneer families who came to Tazewell county very quickly intermarried, because in the days of those early generations, there were so few people here. There wasn't anyone else to marry. After three or four generations, the descendants of those several original pioneers, were all related to each other. In other words, a large number of people were descended from those few. And I suspect that when the genealogy focused organizations such as the Daughters of the American Revolution became active and popular about 100 or so years ago, and sparked a serious interest in tracing one's roots, there were a number of Tazewell folks all tracing their lineage back to just a few individuals. So a lot of data was researched and compiled for those few families. A few generations later, many other families came into Tazewell co who also made significant contributions to the area in many different ways. The early settlers in my family were: Ward, Bowen, Thompson, Witten, McCall, Meek, Peery, George, Horton. And the present day descendants of these families can be found in every walk of life and circumstance. Again, I think your contribution to the research of Tazewell history and Tazewell families is significant beyond expression. We all thank you. Robt ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michelle Burress" <mish@TechVox.net> To: <VATAZEWE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, January 12, 2004 1:37 PM Subject: [VA-TAZEWELL] Question about who's researching who > > Kind of a dumb question, but I'm trying to find out if anyone on the list > is researching prominent families in Tazewell. For example, I notice in > the newspaper, that most often the persons mentioned are those who I guess > are considered "upper class" There are just certain people who get > mentioned all the time (like the McGuires and Steeles) and I guess I'm > just curious as to how many of you find more information then other's > because of this. > > I promise the CVN site is almost done. It has taken me longer the I > thought because of problems I have been running into. I'm going to be > doing another site to with different research stuff on it (like court > records, etc) that I'm also pulling off micro film - however that one > hasn't even been started yet so haven't got much info right now. > > In referrerce to my question, I'm asking more about the prominent families > because I have to skip over a lot of stuff when making copies (cause I > don't have the money to print out everything) and I'm trying to get a feel > more for what would be more helpful to everyone. I'm assuming most of us > are researching the more common folk - just trying to get some idea. > > Michelle > > > ==== VATAZEWE Mailing List ==== > WATCH YOUR SUBJECT LINES > Take an extra second and > give them a good one for > the subject of your list > message. IT DOES MATTER! > > >