RELEASE DATE: APRIL 2, 2006

KINSEARCHING

by

Marleta Childs
P. O. Box 6825
LUBBOCK, TX 79493-6825
[email protected]
 

     The fifth annual Cherokee Ancestry Conference will be held on June 9-10, 2006, at the Best Western Trade Winds Central Inn in Tulsa, OK. This year's theme will be "A Cherokee Road Trip: Down Genealogy Lane." Featured speakers and their topics will be as follows:

• Dr. Daniel F. Littlefield, Jr., who will discuss the Sequoyah Research Institute's work on indexing and digitizing the Cherokee Nation newspapers online;

• Barbara Butler Rust, who will tell about the Cherokee records available for research at the Southwest Region branch of the United States National Archives in Fort Worth, TX;

• Jack D. Baker, who will give a lecture on the truths and myths concerning the Cherokee Trail of Tears;

• William D. Welge, who will comment on the little used records of Cherokee resources at the Oklahoma Historical Society;

• Anita A. Finger, who will talk about Cherokee research in western North Carolina;

• Sue Tolbert, who will speak on historic cemeteries in the Cherokee Nation;

• Roy Hamilton, who will examine the work of the late Dr. Angie Debo concerning the corruption among members of the Dawes Commission and its effect on the Cherokee Nation; and

• Gene Norris, who will discuss "Records: A Cherokee by Blood or Citizenship."

     Cost for the conference will be $60 for members of the Cherokee National Historical Society and $75 for non-members if paid before May 26. After that date, the cost will be $80 for members and $95 for non-members. Seating is limited to 75 people.

     Vendors at the conference will include the Cherokee National Museum Store, the National Trail of Tears Association, and Cherokee author Marybelle Chase. For more information get in touch with Gene Norris or Ben Chasenah at the Cherokee Family Research Center, P. O. Box 515, Tahlequah, OK 74465; call 1-888-999-6007, ext. 239 or 242; or e-mail either [email protected] or [email protected].

     Carved out of Spotsylvania County in 1734, the Virginia county of Orange attracted a large number of permanent settlers. It also became a "feeder" county--a conduit for migration to points south and west. Although many people had resided in or passed through the county, information from grave markers was not recorded on a large scale until America's Bicentennial. In 1979, Margaret C. Klein published her data in TOMBSTONE INSCRIPTIONS OF ORANGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA, which has recently been reprinted.

     Klein transcribed the tombstone inscriptions in 150 cemeteries, 33 church cemeteries, and 6 proprietary cemeteries. To keep the daunting task within practical limits, she recorded only the inscriptions for persons who were either born before 1850 or died before 1900. Where it was appropriate, she included information on wives, husbands, and children who did not fit the criteria. In family cemeteries, however, Klein copied every headstone inscription. She also gathered material on unmarked but known burials throughout the county. Her enumerations pertain to approximately 3,000 county inhabitants. Some recurring surnames are BATTAILLE, BLAKEY, CATTERTON, CAVE, DOWELL, FAULCONER, HUME, LUMSDEN, PANNILL, QUANN, TALIAFERRO, and WAUGH.

     Under the name of each cemetery, Klein furnishes the names of the deceased in alphabetical order--a drawback since that method often destroys clues to family relationships. For each burial ground, the compiler provides directions so researchers can easily locate them and perhaps visit them to determine if relatives are buried nearby. Because this volume preserves information, some of which may no longer exist due to such circumstances as vandalism or erosion due to weather, TOMBSTONE INSCRIPTIONS OF ORANGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA is still a useful work to have in genealogical collections on the Old Dominion State.

     The 120-page paperback has a preface, an excellent table of contents, an introduction, and a full name index. To the book's price of $17.50, buyers should add the cost for postage and handling charges. (For U. S. postal mail, the cost is $4 for one book and $2.00 for each additional copy; for UPS, the cost is $6 for one copy and $2.50 for each additional book). The volume (item order #3235) may be purchased by check, MasterCard, or Visa from Clearfield Company, 3600 Clipper Mill Rd., Suite 260, Baltimore, Maryland 21211 (for phone orders, call toll free 1-800-296-6687; fax 1-410-752-8492; website www.genealogical.com).

     Charles N. Ferguson, 811 South Market, Shawnee, OK 74801 is seeking information about this couple who lived in Hopkins Co., TX, in 1850: Joseph GRACE, age 22, born in Tennessee, and Virginia N. GRACE, age 16, born in Missouri.