This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: mallowslk19 Surnames: Chalkley Lockwood Nelson Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.westvirginia.counties.pendleton/1794.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: To be accurate, the DAR did NOT sponsor the publication of Chalkley's Chronicles. In fact, as an organization, they essentially repudiated it. The DAR had purchased his work but, based on an a scathing evaluation by Thomas Forsythe Nelson, decided against publishing it and voted to give the publication rights to a member, Mrs. Mary S Lockwood, who had worked tirelessly to have the works published through the DAR. (See the preface to Vol. I of the Chronicles). Nelson examined primarily examined Chalkley's work and found 274 errors and [unacceptable] variations in 80 pages selected at random from the 2654 type-written pages and extrapolated that 9,000 such variations would be expected in the whole Writing No. 3. It seems the Judge was indiscriminate in his errors - with the English, Scots-Irish, and Germans suffering alike, although he may have been less familiar with the old German names and probably could not read the several recordings in the German language. Nelson's full report can be found on www.ancestry.com To Chalkley's credit, I'll say that reading the recordings, even with magnifying glass and computer enhancement, is trying at best. It was a monumental task for one man and, like Mrs. Lockwood, I believe we'd be poorer without access to the work. However, there are reading errors, typing errors, random extraction of names without any seeming reason to select or omit, and, worst of all ,omissions. See: http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/guides/va5_chalkleys.htm Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.