Saturday, July 5, 2008

Rootbound in the Hills #167:
4 Dec 1990

by Rocky Macy

Most of the people who migrated through the Ozarks in the last century were headed west or south, but, as with anything else, there were always a few exceptions. Please read on...

Sondra J. BERGMAN (719 Kentner, Defiance, OH 43512) reports that the ancestors she is tracking may have come to Ozark County, MO, from Oklahoma or Arkansas. Her group of forebears include people with the following surnames: CLEMONS (many variations), McDANIEL, MILLER, MORRISON, PROCK, and WIMBERLEY. Some of these folks later shifted to Wright County, MO. Have their descendants remained in the Ozarks?

Paula J. EICHER ATWOOD (721 Old Fort Place, Fort Morgan, CO 80701) is searching for relatives, ancestors, or descendants of her grandmother, Ethel Lennie May SUTTLE. Ethel was born in the 1850s at Neosho, MO, to Malcolm Holmes SUTTLE and Arvilla Belle FURBY SUTTLE. Ethel married Orville Earl EICHER, son of John Atchison and Margaret Elizabeth (WILSON) EICHER. Our correspondent would be very pleased to hear from anyone with a knowledge of her Ozark ancestry.

Betty Jane JAMES (61 Blue Jay Place, Pagosa Springs, CO 81147) is interested in the lineage of her husband, Raymond V. JAMES, and in particular, his great-grandfather, John W.M. JAMES. John was born 5 May 1846 in Missouri, Arkansas, or Texas. He died on 16 June 1917 in Oliver Township, Taney County, MO, and is buried at Gobbler's Knob.

John W.M. JAMES (above) married Mrs. Martha J. SAXON around 1873 in Missouri. Their children were John W.M. (born circa 1874, MO), Thomas A. (April 1880, married Ella _____), and Walter Lloyd (3 Mar 1882, Stone County, MO; married Maud Lavina SMITH 27 Nov 1899, Galena, MO; died 6 Oct 1951, Sacramento, CA). Walter Lloyd JAMES was the grandfather of our correspondent's husband.

The second wife of John W.M. JAMES was Rebecca Jane WILLIS (born 4 Oct 1858, TN), a daughter of Arron WILLIS. Arron died around 1885 and is buried at Purdy in Barry County, MO. Betty Jane JAMES has a great deal of information to share about the WILLIS family as well. Those researching an area JAMES or WILLIS branch should contact Betty Jane at her home in Pagosa Springs.

And there's still more mail from Colorado...

Regular correspondent Janet K. PEASE (10310 West 62nd Place #202, Arvada, CO 80004) is seeking to locate descendants of Mattie A. POINTS who was born in Arkansas in 1886 near the Boston Mounntains. She was the daughter of Francille Sylvester POINTS and a Miss SADLER. Mattie's first husband was George TAYLOR whom she married in 1903 in Newton County, MO. Their sons were Tommy, Walter, Frank, and Amos TAYLOR. Mattie's second husband was Edward SNOW. She died in 1918 and is buried in the Seneca Cemetery at Seneca, Newton County, MO.

Another POINTS of interest to Janet K. PEASE (address above) is Franklin (born 1893, MO), a son of Benjamin and Lydia (KEITHLY) POINTS. Franklin married his first wife, Beatrice GISH, in 1920 in Newton County, MO. After their divorce, Beatrice married Harrison TWIGGS in 1926 in Ottawa County, OK, and Franklin married Mrs. Laura Jane LEDFORD in 1935 in Picher, OK. Franklin was deceased by 1937. Do any of our readers have information to share about these individuals?

Are you new to genealogy? After learning all that you can from family members, the best places to start searching for those elusive ancestors are in the local libraries, courthouses, and cemeteries. And for those questions that still remain, write to Rootbound in the Hills in care of this newspaper. We're as close at the mailbox!

Happy hunting!

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