Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Rootbound in the Hills #230:
18 Feb 1992

by Rocky Macy

Last week's column mentioned the importance of published family genealogies as a source for research. Many of these types of books are available in the genealogical sections of our local libraries. And the branch libraries of the LDS Church (several of which are in this area) have the card catalogue for the church's main library in Salt Lake City on microfiche. So it is relatively easy to find and use published family histories.

Remember when using work that has been compiled by other people, however, that their research methods may have not been as careful or thorough as your own. Published genealogies and histories give wonderful clues as to where to look for information, but their facts always need to be rechecked and verified before being incorporated as "truth" into your own family history.

This columnist has several good family histories in his own library. One of the best is MACY Genealogy which was authored by Sylvanus J. MACY in 1868. It covers the family history in fairly thorough detail from the time of the arrival of the immigrant ancestor, Thomas MACY, in the early 1630s until the book's publication more than two centuries later.

Another volume that occupies an important place in my library is The COFFIN Family which was edited by Louis COFFIN and published by descendants of Tristram COFFIN, the immigrant ancestor, in 1962. Tristram COFFIN and Thomas MACY were two of the ten original white purchasers of Nantucket Island. (A third original purchaser was Peter FOLGER, maternal grandfather of Benjamin FRANKLIN.)

A third volume in this columnist's personal collection is The QUACKENBUSH Family in America by Gail Richard QUACKENBUSH. This extensive work (nearly 900 pages) covers almost every known QUACKENBUSH in America from the 1650s until the 1980s.

Each of the above three books are coded by generation and individual, and each have complete indexes. Rootbound readers who believe they might have a family tie-in to any of these genealogies are encouraged to send their information or questions to Rootbound in the Hills in care of this newspaper.

And now...on to the mail!

Leona GUTHRIE (Box 1174, Choctaw, OK 73020) is seeking to learn more about J.O. CHESTER who lived with his wife, Katy Leona, near Ft. Smith, AR, at one time. J.O. died between 1900 and 1909. Katy Leona had been married earlier to a man named John AUSTIN by whom she had three children: May, Eddie, and John Felix AUSTIN.

Leona GUTHRIE (above) also wishes to gather information on Jacob C. HUTSEL (HUTZEL) and his wife, Mellie (or Mollie, or Millie), and their daughter, Elva Frances. The HUTSEL family lived in Houston, Texas County, MO, in 1900. Any of our readers with a CHESTER, AUSTIN, or HUTSEL connection might do well to contact Leona.

Mrs. O.D. ATKINSON (370 Church Road SW, Marietta, GA 30060) wishes to correspond with anyone who has material to share on David Franklin SINGLETON (born 1868, Benton County, AR), a son of Daniel Madison SINGLETON and Amanda GREEN SINGLETON. Who did he marry? Where is he buried? Family sources say that David had one daughter, Mary, who married Cooper HUDSPETH. She may have been living in Ft. Smith, AR, in 1971.

Mrs. O.D. ATKINSON (above) is also on the trail of descendants of William Edward and Nancy Margaret (COFFEE) SINGLETON. All of their children were born in Arkansas, probably in Washington or Benton Counties. The children of William and Nancy were: Amanda E. (born 1850; married Jasper DICKERSON), Franklin Alexander (born 1857; married Della HINTON; buried in Thornsberry Cemetery, Washington County, AR), and Lucinda (born 1861; married Jim GEORGE). Lucinda and Jim GEORGE were said to have had two children, Tony and Edmund, and Edmund supposedly migrated to Texas.

Our correspondent, Mrs. O.D. ATKINSON, hopes that she still has cousins in the Ozarks who are willing and able to help her discover those elusive ancestors.

Until next week...happy hunting!

No comments: