What Do We Need?

If we are going to make this effort of any value to the rest of the family, we need your input. There are so many of you that that already contributed that I am eternally grateful for your help. With the new sections there is so much room for you to contribute.

Have you written an article? Let’s include it from which others can learn about our family, our methods, or our lives. If not, why not consider it. When I talk to anyone about beginning a family study, I tell them to first think about what they wished their grandparents or great grandparents had told them. Then start with themselves and write down those things for their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

In the Miscellaneous Section before long, you are going to see what Fred Abney wrote about his early life. His was quite a bit different from my early life. I can’t help but mention that he considered us (the Stokes family) rich. Well, I guess we were well off but what made him come to that conclusion? When he was over at our house and mother made us sandwiches for lunch, we had “bought, sliced, white bread.” He thought that was the lap of luxury because he was used to three meals a day: “oatmeal, cornmeal, and miss-a-meal.” You will find my “growing up in Pascagoula” in the Article Section.

The need is there for “documents” which I have added as a new link from the Home page.

The New Link Called “Articles”

I have written a number of articles for the local genealogical society newsletter that may be of interest to some of you. That is especially true if you are from the Mississippi coast or the East Texas areas. However, there are several pieces that are on genealogical topic such as one about the Quaker calendar and a review of a very special book that I enjoyed on the history of Texas, the Comanche Nation, and Quanah Parker. There are several others that may interest you. As time permits, I will delve into the old files and pull out those I wrote several years ago. These include among others the Dawson, Texas, Massacre; What Parson Weems Did; The Kemp Calaboose; What Kaufman County, Texas, Did to Aid the Wives of Confederate Soldiers Who Were in Need.

Another New Link Called “Documents”

Originally, I had planned to call this section “Wills and Probates” but when I thought about it more, I decided to include any document that was a copy of the original--no transcriptions--just copies of the original handwritten document. It can and will consist of anything from “wills” to “bills.” As it stands right now, this will include:

Wills

Probates

Court Recorded Affairs

Bills (Any copy of a charge for service or material)

Personal Notes or Handwritten Documents

Any Original Handwritten Item

Another One Called “Family Obituaries”

Do I need to say what is here? I find a lot of information in obituaries; however, I realize that the information recorded here was given by an individual in many cases grieving over the loss of a loved one and a person who was not there when our relative was born or married or performed some service or activity.

Here is another need. We would like to have images of the obituary along with the date it appeared and the newspaper in which it was printed.

Photo Album

There is a lot going on. Several of you have sent me pictures and I have taken time to include a number of those. Bill Stokes over in Knoxville has over the years sent me copies of probates, wills and court orders that am including in the family files and also in the Document section.

Pat and I have taken a number of trips last year. You will find several of those pictured in the “Photo Album” pages. In 2012, December, Pat and I were able to go with my family on a Caribbean cruise to Mexico, Belize, and Honduras. We will be including those pages soon.

What’s New and What to Do About It