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Archiver > GEN-TRAVEL-US > 2006-01 > 1136351419


From: "E.A. Sloan" <>
Subject: Tn/Al/ national conference 05
Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2006 21:10:19 -0800
References: <19f.434e6140.30ec917f@aol.com>
In-Reply-To: <19f.434e6140.30ec917f@aol.com>


My mom is now 88 and her memory loses ground each day. So I decided a
couple years ago to save up and if things worked out to take her to
Tennessee in June 05 for the National Genealogy Conference, then to Lincoln
County where her father and two previous generations were born, then to
Tuscumbia Al home of her mother's family for three generations, onward to NC
and if time Virginia. On paper it all looked possible but I hadn't
factored in the gas prices, the fact the rental car company wouldn't let me
take the car to NC and the fact mom got very tired and confused. So we went
to TN and Ala and it was a great trip.

If you have never been to a national conference, either the NGS or the FGS
you have missed out on something special. The speakers are all tops in
their fields, the vendors bring great stuff ( and UPS will ship it home so
you don't have to try and lug it to the airport) and of course, the people
are all genealogists who will sit and listen to your family stories. They
only ask that you repay the courtsey. This conference is one of the best I
have ever been to. The state archives were located a few blocks away and
made arrangements to stay open each night for us. The Nashville library was
located across the parking lot of the conference hotel and the staff was
just great. I guess the best part was that I found all kinds of information
at both places. I can't say we saw much of Nashville but for our purpose it
was a great city.

The drive to Lincoln County was easily accomplished once I had rented the
car. I had been there just once before when it was pouring rain and had not
had a favorable impression. This time when we arrived the hills were green
(living in Vegas this is something I don't see too often) and the sun was
shinning brightly. We checked into one of the two motels in Fayettville. I
had hoped to stay in Boonshill, the town of my ancestors but hadn't found
anything listed in guide books. I found out why the next day when we drove
there. There just isn't anything there...I am not sure where it starts and
ends. We drove down a tiny road looking for the village and ended up in
another county. I figured I must have taken a wrong turn although I hadn't
seen another road.But there is no longer a town...just some scattered farms.
We drove back to Fayettville. I had remembered to look up the hours for
the local archives and genealogy society. The latter was only open for two
hours on Sat and Sun but we found that the members of the Society were
working hard to proofread the new heritage book that was being printed for a
December publication date. So they were very kind and said come on in and
let us use the reading room when they were there. This added a couple days
research on. The archives are also only open two days a week but have a
lovely lady who is the volunteer and again, she offered to open up a extra
day for us. The best part of the trip was when one of the genealogical
society women said she knew someone who had lived in Boonshill their whole
life. So she contacted a Mrs. Whitehead and we went to meet her and her
husband Burt. It turns out they own what had once been my great
grandfather's farm. Burt's father had been a sharecropper on it and then as
an adult he had bought it and my great uncle's place. Mrs. Whitehead had
also contacted a cousin and gave me his address. I didn't even know he
existed! That night at the motel the phone rang and it was the cousin. He
is in his early eighties and remembers my mom (it was about this time I
finally faced the reality that she didn't know for sure where we were or why
which was very hard to accept as I had planned this as a great return trip
for her.). Anyway, Shields, the cousin, brought me up to date about two
generations I knew nothing about. Mrs. Whitehead also called the man who
owned the farm where the Boone Wilson (my line) cemetary was located. We
had driven all around and couldn't find it. I guess it is pretty typical of
cemetery's located on farms. It was in the middle of a very overgrown field
with brambles and things I don't know all around it. Mr.Soar the owner,
took us out in his pickup but to my distress we just couldn't see the
gravestones due to the jungle. I said to Mrs. Whitehead I would see about
paying someone to clear the field and let it go at that. Several weeks
later after I returned to Vegas, the phone rang and she was on the line to
inform me she had found someone and they would clear it the next day. I
said go ahead and we would try and return in Oct or when the weather cooled
off. ( By Oct this was impossible as mom's legs now won't cooperate and she
is often unable to walk)
I think Fayetteville showed me that lots of differences still exist in
the USA. I found the people very friendly and helpful but the places to
stay and where we ate we little adventures. I got very tired of fried food
and buffets which seems to exist in very cafe. But these complaints are
very minor. I would return there in a minute.
After about 8 or 9 days we left to go on to Tuscumbia, Ala. I had been
there in '92 for three days and knew that Tuscumbia didn't have a hotel or
motel. So we stayed in nearby Florence. It is a college town and had a
whole different flavor than Fayetteville had had. The library in Florence
is excellent. It is very new and has a huge room dedicated to genealogy.
Like Fayetteville the enviroment was very different from my normal life. I
loved the huge TN river and every day we drove around to look for the farms
that great grandparents had owned before and right after the war. I never
found them. But again, I found a couple new cousins. The first day we went
to the library, I told the man running the room that I was looking for Rand
and Pearsall. He said one of the librarians downstairs was a Rand. Sure
enough her gggrandfather and my gggrandfather were cousins. She made a
couple calls and found two more cousins who lived about twenty miles away.
This was unexpected pleasure. They were on their way out of town for a long
planned vacation so we met them for a late lunch/early dinner and at least
got to say hello. the only negative is that we couldn't find the two great
bar-b-que places that use to be there.

We left to return to Nashville after five days. We stayed in Nashville
right by the Archives and had three more great days of research. The staff
at this facility is very helpful and very knowledgable. I have been to some
archives where the staff seems to resent genealogists but in Nashville they
tried hard to make sure I had everything I would need.

Even with mom's deminished memory, it was a great trip. I think she enjoyed
each moment even if there is no longer a memory of it. We had time together
I am sure I will always treasure. I found that I got very recharged by
being in the areas where those ancestors and lived, and by locating the
cemetery for Boonshill and finding those cousins that I didn't know existed.


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