Avoid mistakes being repeated. Please do your own research on these
families.
Contributing photos of your
ancestors listed on this website would help preserve all of our heritage
as well as any additions or corrections.
Please email to: [email protected]
Thank you to those who have assisted
in our research
Researching the following surnames:
Find
A Grave
Death
Certificates:
Obituaries:
Tombstones:
Wills:
Revolutionary
War Records
Tons
of Photos (Bachler, Bates, Burkhart, Carroll/Carrell)
More
Photos: (Conley, Fravel, Jordan)
Mary
Ellis Home Page (A wonderful web site packed with Information on Guilford
County, North Carolina)
Check out
these cool links and great genealogy information:
The
Chosen (All genealogists should to
read)
Addison
Sparks Ruby History
Elizabeth
Shamblen Story (large file, slow
loading)
Diary
of Nellie Gray Gaines (PDF file)
Bible of John C Gray and
Elizabeth Barnes (Courtesy of Linda Gray Carter)
(Bible in possession of Harold Dee Gray and wife Arley Joan Barton Gray)
Bible
of John Pitman
Bible
of Levi Pitman (Courtesy of
Beverly Bogart)
Bible
of William Henry Fravel (Courtesy of
Leslie Fravel) (Bible in possession of Leslie Fravel)
Kim
Komando website
(Everything you ever wanted to know about computers)
Raccoon
Miller Blockhouse
Our Ancestors
As our ancestors began
getting restless in war torn countries of Europe and other distant lands, they
looked for a new land where there would be no religious persecution, where
they could be free to worship as they pleased and when they pleased in peace.
They flocked to the ports of debarkation to board ships to the "New
Land", America. They came by the thousands, your ancestors and mine. They
found a new life in the Eastern part of America, building homes, tilling the
soil and planting crops. There were those from every walk of life. Houses were
built, Churches and Stores were built, Schools and places of entertainment
were built.
Life was not easy in the "New Land", winters were bitter cold, food
was scarce and many got sick and many died in those first years. The hardships
just made them stronger and the families grew and grew and spread to the South
and the West. They traveled in Covered Wagons, Ox drawn carts, horseback and
even walked to get to their "Gods Country". Some died along the way
and were buried in unmarked graves. Those that made it settled in what is now
the Midwest and the South. They raised their families, worshiped on Sunday,
worked very long and hard hours to make a living from the land.
As their families grew again, they spread further west until they were to the
Pacific Ocean. They settled along the shores of the great Pacific and logged,
farmed and raised their families.
Today we are searching for those brave ancestors of ours, their name might be
Smith, Jones, Miller, Eickman, O'Leary or whatever. We will never find them
all, because some might be those that were buried along the trail West, with
no marker. Some might have been simple people that were satisfied with being
farmers or loggers or whatever. Some of their names went down in history books
as great men. Some were criminals, some were law officers. Some were hung for
horse stealing or murder. Some left no record in the County or State records
because they were to far out in the country for the doctor to come at
childbirth and the child never got recorded in the records. Some died out
there also and were buried on the farm in the back country and no record of
their death was noted. Some were Soldiers or Sailors that went to war to
preserve our freedom, many died in those distant lands for us.
Today as we search for those wonderful people, we search records of every
description in every Court House and cemetery in the land. Sometimes we find
the person we are seeking, sometimes not. Our search will never stop though
because we have that drive like our forefathers had. We will build our family
trees from the names and dates and places that we discover. We will not stop
trying, we will not fail, we will move forward and continue to search for more
facts about our ancestors. Author: DON CONLEY
Copyright © 2006 by [Don & Scharmal Conley].
All rights reserved.
Updated:
08 Jul 2015 12:55:54 -0700
Email:
[email protected]
