Chasing Our Tales--Queries

This month I am going to, once again, address the many correspondants who write asking questions or supplying wonderful historical and genealogical information for my readers.

First of all, thanks for the many kinds words I received doing the Bill Camfield piece. I do want to make one correction. The photo labeled Bill and his son was actually Bill and Paul Jung, Ringling Brothers Clown. If you really enjoyed Bill's shows, I hope you will contact Bill's son, Paul, and tell him. Remember the internet address is http://www.ickytwerp.net/ .

Now for the first letter: " I have a question. I am trying to prove Indian blood in my family, a great heritage that my Grandma and father had told me was there, but knew very little about. I found 27 people in the Dawes Final Rolls with our family name. They are listed as Choctaw and the Choctaw Tribe blood quantum requirement for membership in the tribe is any descendent from the tribe. My father is retired from 30 something years at Bell Helicopter and has a great pension and healthy and comfortable. I don't need money either, so we do not want anything from the tribe except the proud sense of belonging and maybe some education about their ways and beliefs. What is the next step I need to take to establish membership with this tribe? I would greatly appreciate any helpful information. Our family name is Pearcy." Sincerely,Shadowhawk shdwhwk243@sbcglobal.net

Shadowhawk, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma can be contacted through their website at http://www.choctawnation.com/ . The chief's name is George E. Pyle. You may also call or write P. O. Drawer 1210, Durant, OK 74702-1210; 1-800-522-6170 or 580-924-8280.

Our next letter comes from Faye Campbell, krazylady6@frontiernet.net , who askes about the Willow Pond Cemetery and a person listed as W. A. Clary. "I would like to know what the W. A. stands for. I am looking for my grandfather and the date listed is right.....if you could help me, thanks."

I don't know the answer to Faye's question, so if anyone out there does please email her or write me, and I will let her know.

Here is some interesting information for you Warrens out there. "Just found your Warren History. I am a Warren from Ireland. There are not many of us here who are supposedly descended from the De La Verennes in Normandy France. Are your Warrens of this descent? I am in County Galway Ireland." Peter Warren peterwarren@esatclear.ie

Please let us and Peter Warren know if you have information for him!

Yet another message says, "I'm a descendant of Matt Stephen, a brother of the founder of Stephenville. Would love to have a picture of him or some of his family. I wrote the museum there and received a picture of his brother and his family--his nephew who was his namesake. If you have any idea of a source for a picture, I would appreciate hearing from you. I do have a picture of my grandmother who was Matt Stephen's daughter, her sister pictured with her family and two pictures of the twins but I do not know if the pictures are the same twin or one of each. Again, Any help would be appreciated."Bobby Walcott rwalcott@msn.com

If any of you have a photo, please send it to Bobby, and to me and we can publish it with this column

Here is a really interesting letter from Noel Garland. "To all, I am unable to forward much as before on possible on the search for our ancestors due to continuing computer problems, and the fact that much of the material I receive is not definitely proven facts, merely hypothetical, or distantly related data. Some time ago I found a website < http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~rochelle/horton.html > which has pictures of my great great grandparents, Jesse and Mary Crowe Garland, plus pictures of one of Jesse's daughters, Moriah Jane Garland Horton. Another link on that website has another picture of Moriah, which I hadn't seen before. I called a man in Kershaw, South Carolina, who has written a book about the history and lives of the Horton family in South Carolina and found that he had the original tintypes, photographs, or daguerreotypes, and he graciously provided me copies of the pictures of Jesse and Mary. This man is a descendant of Moriah Jane and William Batts Horton, but is distantly related through her to our line. I read and copied portions of his book in the Lancaster, South Carolina, library, which is out of print, and found a lot of interesting information, but some of it is questionable accuracy, in that he relied on information from a deceased Garland researcher whose documentation is still unfound and thus can't be accepted as factual without that documentation He was one Marguerite Garland Nation, late of Shreveport, Lousiana. If interested, go to the Rochelle/Horton website and scroll down until you see Jesse's and Mary Crowe's pictures. There is a possibility that we will have access to pictures from another source, of two other of Jesse's children, and their spouses, but they are as yet unavailable. These are the first known pictures of any of my ancestors, from my grandfather on back, but I think I may have one or more in a group of pictures I receive from a seond cousin in Newport Beach, California. These pictures may be of my grandparents when they lived on a farm northwest of Garner, Texas, prior to their demise in the 1930's, l940's. This has been one of the more interesting aspects of my search, and I have tried to see if there is any resemblance to me with my early ancestor. Maybe I took on some of his more attractive facial characteristics. The ears may be as close as I'll ever come!" Noel Garland, noelgarland@msn.com . Thanks, as always, Noel!

"Dear Sue, Hello, my name is Theresa Tramel, tvtramel@yahoo.com . I came across your website while I was doing an internet search for my family. I can't tell you how surprised and pleased I was when I saw my great-great grandfather's and grandmother's names: Thomas F Weldon and Mary Elizabeth Craig. I have searched for so long to try and find info on them. Do you have any more info on them you'd be willing to share, or do you know of anyone who would be willing to share? Is there any more info on them say in a Fortune Bend Library? Any help you could give me would be so deeply appreciated. Thank you very much."

Well, I know a lot of you Fortune Bend folks can help Theresa, so please email her and let us know as well!

I have contacted the Mineral Wells Index a couple weeks ago in hopes to find the Funk family who lived there in or near Mineral Wells in 1949. George Elton Funk (b.7 Jan 1906) died at Mineral Wells on 18 July 1984. His wife was Pauline (nee Rambo Eskilson b. 23 May 1912 in Sweden) and I believe she died at Lubbock on 15 Feb 2002. They had a son in 1949 named Billy. I don't know when or where he was born. The librarian there in Mineral Wells told me that copies of the newspaper are not kept anywhere to find obituaries for this couple. That seems very unusual to me. I have been corresponding with a genealogist for many years in Sweden who has found alot of information about my ancestors there. We have visited him and his wife and become good friends. He has a friend who lives near him who is a cousin of Pauline Rambo Funk and would like to know what ever happened to her and her family. They received a from Pauline in 1949 but as it was in my family, the second generation to emigrate to the USA didn't speak Swedish and the communication could not continue. Now all Swedes under the age of fifty speak very good English. If you could give me some idea what or where to look next I would be very grateful."

Sincerely,

Lyra Johnson
474 39th Road
Minden, Nebraska 68959
Tel. 402-756-0766
email haldinelyra@gtmc.net

I was able to email Lyra and let her know of my personal knowledge that both Pauline and George Funk, as well as their adopted son Billy, are no longer living. The I received the following from Sweden"

"Dear Sue Seibert,

"I have got a letter from Lyra Johnson in Nebraska, a letter sent to her from you. Thank you very much! This is the story:

"It is not my relatives, the Funk Family. A friend of us, (Ingegerd my wife and me), has asked me to help him searching about some relatives in America. He, Hans Svensson, cannot speak or write or read English.

"His relative Olof/Ola/Oliver Eskilsson/Eskilson emigrated to America 1893. His wife Ella/Pella came there some years later. Four children were born in Sweden, two more children were born in America.

"Their last child (number 6) was Pauline, born 1912 in America. I have newly found her death on Internet, Lyra found the death of her husband. Hans has for many years wondered about some problems:

"Why is Pauline called Pauline Rambo in her father´s Bible? Could it be right that Pauline was born when her mother was 54 years old? Why did three children in the family die as so young? (Anna 23, Helga 16, Fred 20). Lyra has tried to get obituaries of Pauline and her husband from a newspaper, but yet she has not got them.

"My questions to you, so I can tell Hans, he would be so happy: Did you know Pauline well? So that you can tell me about her. Were you a friend of her and her husband? Did Pauline speak about her Swedish ancestors? Do you remember Billy?

"Can you answer me to the questions above and tell me as much as possible? I, and specially Hans, would be so happy!!!

"What can I find on the websites-addresses in your letter to Lyra?

"Most kindest regards from Ingegerd and me and of course from Hans."

Rune Gunnarsson, living in Olofström in south-east Sweden

I have told Rune all I know, so anyone who remember anything about Pauline would please let me know, I will pass it along. Thanks!

"My name is Karen Cockerell, and my husband and I have been doing research on the Hitson (Hittson) family. My husband's great grandmother was Mary Minerva Hitson, daughter of Alexander and Mary Jane Motley.Could you tell me about the Hitson family reunion in Mineral Wells?"

Thank you. cockerell.co@cox.net

Please let Karen know the details of this reunion!

Finally, "Sue, what a great website! I have been into genealogy for a little over two years, and you have put together so many of the pieces. Rachel Stockley Donelson was my first cousin five times removed. My grandparents were dairy farmers in Austin, Texas, and never in my wildest dreams could I imagine such a connection with American history. My mother will be 83 on November 1st. Her stories of my great grandmother Texana Chloe Henry started me on my quest. I have found so many "kissin' cousins" on the internet and have had such fun with it. I think my mother has enjoyed it most of all. So, I would like to say thank you for your research and for sharing it."June McFadden Junemcfhou@aol.com

Thanks, June!

Finally, I want to share an absolutely non-genealogical poem from a cousin, Bill Crawford, whom I found on the internet years ago. As an almost retired teacher, these are my sentiments exactly:

Mary had a little lamb. His fleece was white as snow.
And everywhere that Mary went, the Lamb was sure to go.
He followed her to school each day, twasn't even in the rule.
It made the children laugh and play, to have the Lamb at school
And then the rules all changed one day, illegal it became.
To bring the Lamb of God to school or even speak His Name.
Every day got worse and worse, and days turned into years.
Instead of hearing children laugh.,we heard gunshots and tears,
What must we do to stop the crime that's in our schools today?
Let's let the Lamb come back to school, and teach our kids to pray!

Well, until next time you all take care and have a joyous Thanksgiving. May God bless us, everyone. Sue Seibert, P. O. Box 61, Mineral Wells TX 76068-0061, siouxcitysue@cox-internet.com ; http://www.ralphandsue.com