Washington County Arkansas Genealogical Society
July –August 2008

It is the objective of the Washington County Arkansas Genealogical Society to collect
and preserve genealogical and historical information with a focus on Washington
County, Arkansas. We wish to encourage and provide training to those interested.
We champion ethical and accurate research and publication of genealogical and
historical information.

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Upcoming Programs

Mark your calendars now for these upcoming meetings. All WCAGS
meetings are currently held at Headquarters House, 118 E. Dickson,
Fayetteville, AR and start promptly at 2:00PM. Dates of the 2008
WCAGS programs and meetings are listed below:

July 13-Jeane Greenwood, owner of “Custom Tailors” will present
“Grandpa wore what?
Jeane has a home economics degree from the U of A with a minor in
Western Civilization and World History. She does historical costuming
as a vocation ranging in periods from the Middle Ages up through the
1950′s and 60′s as well as "Renaissance Faire" garb.
August 10-Jim Johnson will do a program entitled “Mom and Dad-
What did you do in the War? Researching military records”
September 14-Readers out there! You won’t want to miss this
program!! We will be discussing genealogical mysteries and there
are a lot out there. We will also be giving away some of these books!
(Other dates to be announced later)

Second annual Genealogy Jeopardy match goes to Shiloh
By Janelle Riddle
Shiloh Museum sent its well-prepared team to the Washington
County Arkansas Genealogical Society’s 2nd Annual “Genealogy
Jeopardy” competition held April 13 at Headquarters House in
Fayetteville, but the Marion Chapter National Society Daughters of the
American Revolution team members tried hard despite buzzers
problems and a few other minor issues.
Team Shiloh members Susan Young, Allyn Lloyd, and Pody Gay
unquestionably led 2,240-900 after the final Jeopardy round, but
extenuating circumstances could have been a factor.
Team Marion members Jeanne Tackett, Pam Redfern, and
Janelle Riddle gave it their best effort and even knew such obscure
answers as “Ronnie Hawkins” and the “Helen Dunlap Memorial School
for Mountain Girls in Winslow.”
Team Shiloh folks, on the other hand, pretty much aced the
“Diseases – Old to New” category, the “What is it?” category, and
several other categories as well.
La grippe is now known as influenza, and an accoucheur is now
called a midwife, according to the answer board. Jail Fever has
nothing to do with Elvis Presley but is the old name for typhus. The
Seven Recognized Hills of Fayetteville question stumped even the
Team Shiloh folks.
Questions that neither team could answer were referred to the
audience members, and several of them knew the correct response
and won candy prizes. Janet Mott answered so many of the audience
questions correctly that she received a book about bushwhackers as a
door prize.
Guest moderator Ray Niblock took time out from reading
questions in each category and pondered ways to work ahnentafel
(numbering system used to identify every member of a family) and
onomastics (the study of the origin of names) into one of his closing
arguments.
Cheri Coley kept score as the teams vied for the Jeopardy
championship, David Coley ran the game board, and Kyle Coley took
photographs.
Cheri seemed to delight in the fact that this year’s questions
were much more difficult than last year’s.
It was a rousing Jeopardy game filled with laughs, door prizes
and new information. Barbara Lewis, President of Washington County
Arkansas Genealogical Society County, thanked everybody for
attending and participating.
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1847 Travel hints….makes today’s travel look easy
Individuals who wish to travel through the interior of Michigan,
Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, ect will find that the most convenient, sure,
economical and independent mode is on horseback. Their expenses
will be from 75¢ to $1.50/day, and they can always consult their own
convenience and pleasure as to time and place. Stage fare is usually
6¢ a mile in the west, meals at state-houses, 37-1/2¢.
Steamboat deck passengers-the deck for such passengers is usually
in the mid-ship, forward of the engine, and is protected from the
weather. Passengers furnish their own provisions and bedding. They
often take their meals at the cabin-table with the boat hands and pay
25¢ per meal. Thousands pass up and down the rivers as deck
passengers, especially emigrating families, who have their bedding,
provisions and cooking utensils on board.
The who expense of a single person from New York to St. Louis, by
the way of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with cabin passage on the
river, will range between $40-$45, with travel time being from twelve
to fifteen days. Taking the transportation lines on the Pennsylvania
canal, and a deck passage in the steamboat, the expenses will range
between $20 and $25, supposing the person buys is meals at 25¢ and
eats twice a day. If he carries his own provisions, the passage, ect. will
be from $15 to $18.
-Vol XIV #2, The Family Tree, Odom Library, Moultrie, Georgia
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Who‘s Who??
Celts:
Specific group of Indo-Europeans (called Keltoi by the Greek) who migrated from the Danube Valley to western Europe and the British Isles, beginning in the 4th Century BC.

Gaels:
Celtic tribes who moved from England into Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man; from the word Gaidheil, the name these people called themselves.

 
Britons:
Celtic tribes pushed out of Southern England into Strathclyde, (and Cornwall and Wales) by the Angle-Saxon invasions of the 6th & 7th centuries AD (from the Latin name Briton).

Picts:
Peoples inhabiting England when the Romans first invaded in 80 AD. The Romans gave these people the name Picti or painted men. It is thought that the Picts were a Celtic group, more related to the British branch, rather than the Gaelic branch.

Caledonians:
Name given by the Romans to the people inhabiting what is now Scotland, which the Romans called Caledonia.

Sassenachs:
Invaders of Scotland from Saxony in Northern Germany, from the Gaelic
name for Saxon.

Scots:
Gaels from Dalriada in Ireland who settled in Argyll in the 6th century AD; from the Latin word Scotti. The Scots faced the Picts north of the Clyde and Forth rivers, and the Britons to the south. By the 9th Century, the Scots emerged victorious. However, when the Anglo-Saxons merged with the Viking Norsemen beginning in the 11th Century, they pushed the Scots out to the westernmost fringes of Scotland.

Hibernians:
Inhabitants of Ireland, which the Romans called Hibernia.

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My Brick Wall Break -Through
By Cheri Coley
I had struggled with David’s family for years and finally put the Coley
Family aside. Recently, an uncle of David’s started emailing him and his
cousin sketches that David’s great- grandfather Overbee had done. I started asking questions, were there any more of these sketches? Yes, we ended up with about 25 of them, which we ran several off on acid free paper and put into small frames. This uncle mentioned that family (in this case) David’s family had owned a store in Ozark, Arkansas and a cousin named Lewis helped run it. Lewis? I didn’t have a Lewis in my Coley’s database, who was Lewis? All he knew was Lewis was a cousin but that this cousin had moved to Wister, Oklahoma. I got started. Found Lewis, his name was actually William Lewis and soon found his wife and several kids. Then I would email this uncle and a second uncle what I had found, it would trigger their memory and soon I had many facts about the Coley’s that I did not originally have. I recorded
what they had said in their emails in my notes section of Family Tree maker.
A trip to the Fort Smith Library was now warranted. I came back with
twenty-three copies of records about the Coley’s. Great Aunt Irene
committed suicide, Great -Grandfather Herman was murdered and lot of the relatives had lived in a house in Fort Smith, which just the address brought back more memories which both uncles now related to us. I also broke down and bought a 3-month subscription to Ancestry.com. (A good move for a cheap person.) I found a Coley researcher who provided me with pictures and more information. I posted three inquiries on three different boards; genforum.com, rootsweb.com and a listserve board for Ada, Oklahoma. I got answers from all three boards, including more pictures. Several death certificates that should have been ordered years ago have now been ordered.
One of David’s cousins suggested I write an Ozark Historian named Norman Powell with my questions about the family store. I have done so but haven’t heard back yet. I’m still wading through all the information to see what is usable and what isn’t. I have shared my information with all the family and I am thrilled. My best advice: Ask questions of your remaining relatives!
Phrase the questions so they jog their memories, not just ask “what do you know?’. Also, post queries on appropriate boards and post good inquires – AND spring for a subscription to Ancestry, even for a short time. There is so much available out there. You might get past one of those brick walls!
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If you caught Carol Reel’s program, you heard an awesome
program. How many of us have bought different colored file folders to
get our research organized? If you missed this program, here is the
link Carol referred to:
www.familyrootsorganizer
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Two good web sites you may not know about:
http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=0
http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/
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Upcoming Events:
Sunday, February 8, 2009 2 p.m.
3rd Annual WCAGS Genealogy Jeopardy- We have been
invited by the Blair Library to hold the 3rd Annual WCAGS
Genealogy Jeopardy at their facility. NAGS has been challenged
to a few lively rounds of Jeopardy against WCAGS. Ray Niblock
has already agreed to be our moderator once again.

May 30 & 31st, 2009
These dates have been set for a WCAGS Ancestor Fair to be
held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville, AR. More
information to come.

September 2-5, 2009
Federation of Genealogical Societies 2009 Annual
Conference: Passages Through Time at the Little Rock
Statehouse Convention Center, Little Rock, Arkansas –for more
information on this event:
http://www.fgs.org/2009conference/index.php
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Some Violent Area Deaths
There are many violent deaths listed in the obituaries of years long past. The following obituaries seems to be telling us short stories into their lives.

Mr. Strain- A man named Strain living near Harris, a station on the St. Paul branch, while beating his wife, was struck by his son with a single tree of a wagon. He died Thursday evening from the effects of the blow. 5 October 1894

Henry Bacon- The murderers of young Bacon have been captured and safely jailed at Van Buren. It will be remembered that Bacon was assassinated in church while kneeling in prayer about two weeks ago in Evansville, this county. A Cherokee and two
young men named Simpson have been arrested with positive proof of their guilt. Mr. John Wood is just in from Evansville and brings the information direct from Bacon’s uncle. Springdale News, 23 August 1895. (Van Buren Argus) John W. Simpson and his two sons, Hugh and Walter, living near the Washington County line, were arrested last
week charged with being accessories to the murder of Henry Bacon in Barker township and are now having a preliminary hearing before Justice C. F. Harvey at the courthouse.
The evidence against them is said to be very strong. 30 August 1895

These two pictures were sent to us by WCAGS member, Karen Shapland.  Karen tells us she is researching the following surnames:
Doss/Osburn/Dockery/Lemaster/Blevins/Hedgecock/Haworth. A lot of these families come from the Sunset area. Three of her mother’s brothers are pictured in the top picture on the front row. Karen-thank you for sharing these with us!!