Fran, THANK YOU so very much. It's going to be hard to get this bill passed with all the "special interest groups" trying to stop it. We absolutely can not allow this bill to be stopped. Your information will be passed on to the appropriate people in Charleston, WV. Again, Thank you--Ruth Bush Highland, Harrison Co., WV

Barb, Thank you so much for your comments. With your permission, they will be passed on to the appropriate people in Charleston. Ruth Bush Highland, WV

My father is buried in a small family cemetery. It is still in the hand s of family but, I am concerned that if it changes owners we may not be able to visit him or be buried with the rest of our family. You have my support in CA. Is there anything I can do to help? Fran Tomblin [email protected]

I always thought WV to be a progreesive state since birth, death, marriage records go back so far but now I wonder. In NC birth, death records don't go back before 1912 BUT you do have access to cemeteries and burial plots on private land. WV don't let NC be more progressive in this day and age. Barb K

Dear friends of WV genealogy and local history, My name is Ruth Bush-Highland. I am a member of Hacker's Creek Pioneer Descendants Library in Weston, WV, Lewis County. Currently we genealogists are trying to fight a problem that could hinder each & every genealogist & family member who has a relative buried in WV. Please send me your comments!!!! I would like to hear how you feel & any experiences you or anyone you know has had when trying to visit a cemetery on private land. Please read on about Senate Bill 90. This bill, if we can all pull together to get it passed in the House, would allow each & every person trying to visit a grave on private land to do so. If you or anyone you know has a family member buried on private land, there could possibly be a time very soon when you'll never be allowed to visit those graves & it would be upheld by law!!!!! Consider that the land currently held as a public cemetery one day be sold as private land. The person obtaining the land would no longer allow you access to visit the grave or graves of your family members. When our ancestors buried their dead on their own land, they did not forsee the land belonging to anyone other than family. That could possibly be the case with any cemetery. Even those in church yards. Churches are always being sold for one reason or another. Two years ago I had a call from a man in Webster County asking me how he could get permission to visit his wife's grave. She was buried in a family cemetery on land that had formerly belonged to the family. Now the land was sold and the landowners were denying him access to the cemetery. I had to tell him that there was no law permitting him access, that the landowner was within his rights in denying access. Last year a family here in Lewis County ran afoul of the landowner when they tried to bury their mother in what was once a church cemetery. The land around the cemetery had been sold, the new property owner had built a new house across the access road and would not permit the hearse to carry the mother to her final resting place. The case did go to court, a ruling was made for the establishment of a new road (which has not yet been done), and the landowner claims that he doesn't have to permit the family access to visit their mother's grave. Recently, a son of the family, after giving the property owner two weeks notice, was met by a man with a gun when he tried to visit his mother's grave. A quote from another concerned genealogist..... " XXXXX died in Harrison Co. in 1939. He was living in Anmoore, Harrison Co., WV at the "poor farm". It is my mother's recollection that he was also buried in the pauper's cemetery on the property. For the past two years while we have been visiting WV, I have tried to find information so I could bring my mother to her father's grave. She will be 75 her next birthday. We finally learned that the old poor farm is now the 4-H Camp and that everything on the property had been bulldozed - including part of the cemetery. The part of the cemetery that wasn't ripped up was the landing place for all the debris that was. While we knew there would most likely not have been a stone fro his grave, we still wanted to visit his final resting place. So sad that we can not." I know of other similar cases as these scattered around the state. Last year a bill was introduced in the WV Senate that would have addressed these problems. The House did not pass the bill. A couple of weeks ago, the WV Senate passed SB 90 which, if adopted by the House or if combined with a bill from the House would be a step forward in permitting access to family or private cemeteries by cemetery plot owners, heirs of deceased persons, family members of deceased persons and persons interested in engaging in genealogy research for the purposes of visitation of the grave sites, maintenance of the grave site or cemetery or research. It would also create a cause of action for injunctive relief if a person is not permitted access to the cemetery, requires visitors to conduct themselves in a responsible manner and limits the use of motor vehicles when accessing the cemetery. Now the House has HB 4370 in committee. If it does not get out of committee and if it is not acted upon in the next couple of weeks, the bill will die and there will be no relief. You can read HB4370 in its entirety at: http://129.71.161.247/scripts/as_web.exe?hbills2000+D+7832961 The genealogical and historical communities in West Virginia began acting in concert four years ago when we established History Day at the Legislature. Now is the time for us to get our act even more together and contact our delegates about the importance of this bill!!! The property rights activists are sending negative comments to the sponsors of this bill and others. Let us, West Virginia's genealogists, family researchers and historians, work together to preserve an important part of our history and gain access to our sacred grounds. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. Ruth Bush Highland, Harrison County WV

In a message dated 2/26/00 6:11:43 PM Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes: << Copperhill, TN is in Polk Co., TN, neighboring TN counties are Bradley, Monroe, then Hamilton and McMinn. I don't think that the mines you were searching are in this area but if they are I live in Hamilton County...not far from Copper Hill in comparison to most of you...if you need info I might be able to help you. KIM

Pat::::::::::Sorry, I have not found this linkage. Arthur Davidson ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, February 26, 2000 6:48 AM Subject: Re: [WVMERCER] Re: [HILL-L] Been There. Done That. There, Again. > Arthur, did you by any chance have a Hill that married into the Bowen family > out of Princeton, W.Va? I have a Lillian Bowen that married a Hill. I also > have lots of family that lives right in Princeton, W. Va. now. > > Pat (Bowen) Land > Lakeland, Fl >

Queries posted the past week to this WVGenWeb QueryPage mentioned the following surname(s): FLETCHER, HEARN, HICKS, MILLS, MULLENS, MULLINS For those of you wanting to read these new queries, they are located at URL: <a href="http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvmercer/merc-qry.htm"> http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvmercer/merc-qry.htm </a> Regards, Freddie S. [email protected] 3448 W. 170th St, Torrance, CA 90504-2402

Just thought of the other mine in Polk County, Tenn....... Burra Burra Mine & Isabella Mine

Copperhill, TN is in Polk Co., TN, neighboring TN counties are Bradley, Monroe, then Hamilton and McMinn.

The suggestion, has been made, to me, directly, to retire the subject, entitled "WHAT'S HAPPENING OUT THERE?" I apologize, to those, of you, whose, threshold of tolerance, is near, or, has already been violated. Please let this be the last time that this title is seen in these messages. Please take the appropriate action. Thank you, each, and, all. This has been an interesting and informative run. Now, let's find a way to peak our interest and activity. Arthur Davidson

Jim::::::::::more info., please, on the Lilly Settlement in ...........................Mercer County, WV Arthur Davidson ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Gray" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, February 25, 2000 8:22 PM Subject: Re: [WVMERCER] WHAT'S HAPPENING OUT THERE? > Would love to hear some uproar about any Lilly and or Meador lines from > Mercer county. Does anyone have any good information about the old > Lilly settlement? > Jim > > Arthur Davidson wrote: > > > Sure is quite out there. Must not be a good day to surf. > > > > Arthur Davidson > > __________________________________________ > NetZero - Defenders of the Free World > Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at > http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html > >

Arthur you may want to look at The following link: http://www.ls.net/~newriver/nc/wnc25.htm This site http://www.ls.net/~newriver/nrv.htm has a load of information on the upper New River Valley. It is great for researching on line records for that area. Ed Griffith

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Arthur, did you by any chance have a Hill that married into the Bowen family out of Princeton, W.Va? I have a Lillian Bowen that married a Hill. I also have lots of family that lives right in Princeton, W. Va. now. Pat (Bowen) Land Lakeland, Fl

Arthur and list, I realize you asked about copper mines in NC. I do not know of such but I DO know about copper mines JUST OVER THE NC STATE LINE in Tennesee. There was a mine at COPPER HILL, Tenn (Polk Co, I believe) and also one in DUCKTOWN, Tenn. I think one of the mines was called the BURA BURA mine. The county seat for this county is BENTON, Tenn. Many people from NC worked in these mines, especially those from western NC, Madison Co, Buncombe Co, Cherokee, CO, etc. Edie in Atlanta

Would love to hear some uproar about any Lilly and or Meador lines from Mercer county. Does anyone have any good information about the old Lilly settlement? Jim Arthur Davidson wrote: > Sure is quite out there. Must not be a good day to surf. > > Arthur Davidson __________________________________________ NetZero - Defenders of the Free World Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html

Hey, List:::::::::I'm asking every body, rather than just one of you. Was there a copper mine in NC, in the 1850 era? Possibly, in Stokes County. The MABE, first husband, of my g-gm, may have been killed there in abt 1860. Arthur Davidson

Ginny::::::::::Arthur Davidson, here. I do not conect, at least that I know of, into your lineage. My HILL people came out of NC, ?I think??, into the "hills" of WV, in the 1850-1870 era. My branch remained there, and, are buried there, in Mercer County, Rock District, in the area of Montcalm, out of Bluefield and Princeton, about five to eight miles, located on the Bluestone River, about five miles, in a straight line, to its origin. I was born (1931) and raised in this area. Now, let's leave geography, and, go to genealogy. I have, also, lost my paddle, hit a brick wall, got stuck on a stump, something has stopped my trek into history. My elusive, shadow-like relatives exist pretty close to home. Just back at my g-gparents!! HEY, I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM AT LEAST A BAKERS' DOZEN OF YOU FOLKS. Back on track, my paternal DAVIDSON and HILL, and, g-gm HILL, do not seem to have come from any where, except, walk right out of the morning foggy mist. They, as of now, do not, in my file, have parents, siblings, or large feet. A little info.:::::::: James DAVIDSON, b abt 1833, VA +Margaret W.(Ann) FRENCH, b 1836, VA David HILL, b abt 1825, NC? +Louissa ?(Hill, Mahen, ???), NC Take care, everybody. Arthur Davidson (CECIL, DAVIDSON, FRENCH, HAWKS, HILL, MABE, PIGG, STOWERS, PARSELL, WEBB) All in VA, WV, NC ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ginny Manning" <[email protected]> To: "Arthur Davidson" <[email protected]>; <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, February 25, 2000 4:19 PM Subject: Re: [HILL-L] WHAT'S HAPPENING OUT THERE? > Arthur.......maybe we're all resting from having to 'dig' so hard to find > our Hills. > > While I have your attention, will reiterate my quest........ > > John Francis Hill, b. 1856 AR m. Martha Welton, b. 1858 AR. They were > living in Coal Hill, Johnson Co. AR on 24 Dec 1888 when my mother, Nona > Isabelle Hill, was born. As near as I can determine, they were still living > there in 1900. > > John Francis Hill is one enormous brick wall......cannot find anything on > his parents. > > Anyone out there have any knowledge of him? Thanks, ginny > > Virginia Nichols Manning > [email protected] > > BOND, CHILCUTT, CONATSER, CONGER, GREENe, GRIGGS, GUERIN, HILL, > JUSTICE, MANNING, NICHOLS, SHUSTIED/SHASTID, STOKES, & WELTON. > >

Sure is quite out there. Must not be a good day to surf. Arthur Davidson