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Archiver > MORAY-CGA > 2001-08 > 0997651562


From: "Heck" <>
Subject: [MORAY-CGA] "History of Ray County, MO"
Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2001 14:26:02 -0700



I wanted to share with others the wonderful surprise I experienced at my
local FHL yesterday.

A while back, a generous volunteer offered to do a lookup in the book
"History of Ray County, MO" for me. They came back with the results that
my ancestors - David Fletcher, Solomon Fletcher, Goldsmith Fletcher, Jesse
Fletcher - were not listed in this book. Well, it has baffled me from the
get go - "How can my ancestors not be in that book when they were there at
the formation of Ray County, MO?".

Yesterday, I discovered a new addition to our local Family History Library.
They now have a copy of the book "History of Ray County, MO., Carefully
Written and Compiled from the Most Authentic Official and Private Sources,
Including a History of its Townships, City, Towns and Villages,......." St.
Louis Missouri Historical Company 1881.

I went to the back of the book and my ancestors were not listed in the index
as the volunteer had stated. But I just refused to believe and just felt in
my heart that they were in that book somewhere. I opened the book and
started reading and low and behold, I had opened it to a page that
mentioned my 3rd g. grandfather David Fletcher.

"In March 1818, John, Richard, Samuel, Zachariah, William and Jesse
Cleavenger, Isaac Allen, John Hutchings, Lewis, Samuel, and Jacob Tarwater,
James Wells, and William R. Blythe (a trapper), settled in Fishing River
bottom, in the southwestern part of the county. They, too, were all from
middle and east Tennessee.

The next year R. Lewis McCoskrie, a native of Bourbon county, Kentucky,
settled in the same locality; Captain Jacob Riffe, from Casey County,
Kentucky, a little further to the east in township fifty-one, range
twenty-eight, and Dorodle Rowland and David Fletcher, on sections three and
ten, township fifty-one, range twenty-nine, respectively. They came from
Indiana directly; originally from North Carolina.

The above settlers all cam to stay, and were sober, industrious, honorable
men. Several of them held county and township offices at different times."

above quoted from page 209

-------------------------

I then began skimming through a few pages and found on page 221

continued on pg 221 under "First Grand Jury": ...........Wiliam Scott, John
Dickson, Daniel Shackelford, Samuel Prewett, William Rawlings, Charles
Scott, James R. Walker, Jesse Fletcher, David Bryant, Daniel Duvall, Samuel
Oliphant, William Ragen and Hugh Valandingham."

So my original hunch was correct. My family may not have made it in the
index for what ever reason, but they were included in the book.

This incident has motivated me and opened my eyes to the importance of
taking the time to read through some of these old books and not just rely on
the surname indexes in the back of the books.

I'm not able to take the book out of the library but, I plan on spending
time reading it every opportunity I can (which isn't that often I get to the
library).

Jean Heck

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