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Archiver > CROCKER > 1998-05 > 0894768883


From: "Andrea Leonard" <>
Subject: [CROCKER-L] New Drury Information/Vince Jones
Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 22:54:43 -0400


Dear CarrolJean --
Maurice has told me of all your work and interest in the Crockers who
originated in the Isle of Wight, VA, also about his own surgery, and about
your husband's. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your
husband the very best -- this is, I know, a stressful time for you, and I
can empathize having been through some similar experiences in the past. I
consider myself blessed to be "walking around" and I hope Bill will be
equally fortunate.
Thank you for posting the news supplied by Vince Jones. I have added it
to my own files.
As you may know if you have been reading the Crocker List postings for the
last few weeks, I have set myself a task (probably an impossible one, but
I'm going to try) of putting the Southern Crocker line in some order, and
seeing if I can follow it through to the present. This is going to take
quite a long time, perhaps a year or more, and in order to do it, I will
need -- and I hope to receive -- the cooperation of all the Crockers who
have been posting since last January, and... however many more we can
locate or find out about.
You mention your book... Are you in the process of writing a book that
would do the job? If so, I will gladly turn over to you all the information
I have gotten so far, and do whatever I can in the future to help you. If
you are simply keeping a book for your own information, then I will attempt
to go ahead with my project.
I've gotten started on this because about ten years ago I began working on
the only line of Crockers I knew anything about... beginning with William
and Alice Crocker who settled in Barnstable Massachusetts in 1639...
William (and his brother John) came to the colonies in 1634, married, and
started his family in Scituate, MA, then removed to Barnstable in 1639 with
several other families.
From several sources (and with the cooperation of dozens of Crocker
descendants I now call Northern Crockers) I prepared a manuscript of some
200+ pages, plus indexes, and my book was published by Heritage Books, Inc.
in Bowie MD in 1995. During the following two years I received many
additions and corrections to the original publication, and in December,
1997, Vol. II was released by the same publisher.
As far as I knew at that time, William and Alice were the foreparents of
"all the Crockers in this country." I was mistaken. An entirely separate
branch, I was astonished to discover in January 1998, came to VA...perhaps
even earlier than William arrived at Boston. Almost immediately after Vol
II was released, I subscribed to the Crocker rootsweb List and found the
large number of Crockers who live in southern states. I have printed the
various messages those Crockers have sent, and this past week have gone
over each one to see if I could hope to work up a manuscript for Anthony's
descendants similar to that I prepared for descendants of William of
Barnstable.
After giving the file (some 60-70 pages) my full attention for a few days,
I realize that to make this a successful effort, Crockers of the southern
states must provide a great deal more material than they have posted to
date. Maurice has posted a great deal of the work Myrtis did 20 or 30 years
ago. Each of the others has traced his or her line back very neatly, but
without giving sufficient detail, and without adequate information about
dates and places of births, marriages, and deaths -- siblings, spouses,
in-laws -- and without sources in most instances. Only if MOST of the
people who wish to have a complete picture -- in book form -- to place on
their shelves and refer to when they need to know facts about their
relationships to other Crocker families -- can I write this book.
A copy of this letter to you is being sent to the List. Whether I begin
the book depends almost entirely upon the quantity and quality of responses
I receive to this posting..I say "almost entirely" because I think perhaps
we could most successfully work together on it.
To the best of each person's ability, I need full name of earliest known
ancestor, date and place born, date and place died, date and place married,
name of spouse, date and place born, date and place died, and parentage --
plus the source of the information provided. Also helpful will be the
names, dates of birth and places of birth of as many of their children as
possible, and any similar information about the siblings of each ancestor.
I will also wish to know the same information about the author of the data,
his immediate family, children, grandchildren, and any great grandchildren.
In the book about William of Barnstable, fourteen generations are
represented. Is each one fully itemized as outlined above? Certainly NOT.
But each is carried as far as possible -- and in Vol. II, additional data
is provided about many of the lines that could not be followed in Vol. I.
CarrolJean, I know you are going to have only limited time to work on this
project; I cannot give it my full attention, either... my mother is 99
years old and living at home; she needs a great deal of my attention. We
all have responsibilities that take priority over producing genealogies.
but I am writing this letter to ask whether you could work with me, or if
you are already launched on your own manuscript and feel you prefer to
proceed independently.
I have no desire to duplicate work you have already done And I'm not
expecting to benefit financially from our collaboration, should there be
one. The purpose of producing such a book is to ensure that present and
future generations have source material to which they can turn when they
want to know "who they are," and "where they came from."
Again... my heart-felt best wishes to you and your family for the best
possible outcome in the upcoming surgical procedure. I will look forward to
hearing from you when you have time and after you have given this message
some thought.

Sincerely yours,

Andrea

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