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Dated these last days of July, 1995.

I wanted to say a few things before you began reading. Hopefully it will make things more clear as to what was put in this booklet of information and why. First and foremost, I must thank my grandparents, William and Regina DeCoursey, for giving to me such a wonderful mother. I'm sure all my cousins distant and not so distant would argue vehemently that theirs is the best mom ever but being that I am the one writing this forward- my mom is the best mom ever! Secondly, I must thank all of you who sent me information and all your written-from-the-heart memories. Truly, you were a blessing and will forever be appreciated by generations to come. And last, but definitely not least, I wanted to thank my husband, Jeff. Not only did he do a lot of work on the book, but for quite some time he hasn't had a decent meal or any other such things that a good housewife would be taking care of if she weren't involved in family tree "stuff."

The idea for this book was to collect all the information that others had already gathered and put it in one place. Simple, right? Wrong. I had been hoping there existed more footwork and knowledge on the DeCourseys, especially Hannah and her husband. I gleaned as much as I humanly was able to find with the amount of time and "moolah" I had available to me. Hence, going back in time there is a huge gap of information connecting James and Hannah DeCoursey and the ancient DeCoursey clan.

It must be emphasized that this was not an attempt at writing a genealogical book, but rather a gathering of information about the DeCourseys which is by no means complete. There is a certain amount of repeated information and even some conflicting stories. In a publication such as this, errors are inevitable and apologies are hereby extended. I leave it to you, the reader, to take in what you like and disregard what you believe to be questionable information. I don't want to be held liable for what may seem to some as a "defamation of character ." People wrote from their hearts of their memories of different relatives. I did not deem it necessary to change what was written over what was hear-say (even if it did sound better!) I am not a professional genealogist or historian, just a housewife slightly fanatical about having "stuff' in one place. I guess what I'm trying to say is "Don't shoot the messenger" . In the beginning I was petrified as to what I might find while delving into the DeCoursey past. But as time went on and information was being sent back to me (of course at a more rapid pace when I threatened to hire "Guido") I realized what a terrific family the DeCoursey family truly was and is. The DeCourseys are bound by an unquestionable sense of family and faith with a wonderful strain of humor. The DeCourseys are the kind of people you are happy to say you are related to and would love to have over for dinner. Needless to say, it was a delight getting to know where my mother came from. And hopefully, this gathering of information will spark a need for someone to go into more detail on the DeCoursey family tree. It is a wonderful family and worth the research. We purposely put the gathered information in loose leaf binders so information and / or pictures could be easily added or deleted as possessors of the book desire.

God bless you, and have fun browsing,

Aileen Colitti

From "The DeCoursey Family", compiled by Aileen Colitti, 1995 Transcribed by Erica DeCoursey 2002