Genealogy Forum NEWS
February, 1999
Adventures In Genealogy
Adventures in Genealogy: The Black Sheep
or
Rednecks, Family Legends and Lychings
By GFS Waffle@aol.com
I don't know if it works in normal families but here in the South we've all got at least one Crazy old Uncle who tells stories about the family. Now I told y'all about Uncle Hiram a while back so I want bore yall with his descriptions. Instead let's talk about family legends and our Black Sheep.
Uncle Hiram told me a funny story about some of our Lunsford Kin from West Texas. Now I didn't believe him but I did take notes about the locations figuring if nothing else it was good for some leads.
So a couple of weeks ago I loaded up the truck grabbed the new Garth Brooks tape and the new Jeff Foxworth tape and headed for Lampasas. I got down to Lampasas and went straight to the newspaper office. When I asked to see their old newspapers, either the lady didn't understand or she had a vicious streak. She told me to go down the hall and the 2nd door on the left is the Morgue. I got one of those stunned confused looks on my face and said, "OK, I am looking for Dead folks, but that aint quite what I had in mind."
She just shook her head and said "2nd door on the left." I don't know why but I seem to have that reaction a lot.
Well, anyway I went down the hall and went through the 2nd door. There was a little old man in there and he offered to help me. I explained I was looking for any info on the Lunsford family that lived down near here in the 1880s. He gave me a strange look and said, "You mean the Lunsford GANG?" Well, I guess so. "We have lots of stuff on them, here let me get the FICHE."
I got a big smile on my face and said "Sir, I'm way ahead of ya," I handed him the bag I had picked up at German John's on the way down, "It's a family order of fried catfish with Jalapeno breadin." He started laughing and said "I love your sense of humor, I'll be right back." He came back a few minutes later and said "You're in luck that time period has already been put on microfilm." We popped the film in and started going through it while munchin on the fish.
After about an hour and almost all the fish, we came across an article about a new gang of rustlers working the Lampasas area. There was also a small article about Wyatt Lunsford the youngest son of "Captain" John Lunsford being arrested for beating up two men in a bar fight over in Nomocotton, Texas. The article went on to say "Captain" John Lunsford was rumored to have ridden with "Bloody" Bill Anderson during the War of Northern Aggression. I told the guy this can't be my Lunsfords, my John was only a private and served in the infantry. He smiled and said that's "Captain" John, they called him that because he was fast with a gun and he insisted.
As the afternoon wore on we came across newspaper reports of more rustlin' and bar brawls. Finally about 3 PM we got to the account of the trial of 3 members of the Lunsford Gang. They were convicted and sentenced to prison for cattle rustlin', I figured that was it and told the little ole man helping me that I shore appreciated him helpin' me find all this great stuff. He looked at me and said "Don't you want the rest of it?" Well, yes, you mean there's more?
He then fast forwarded to the paper's account of the gang's appeal. It was obvious from the tone of the piece that the editor thought the appeal was a miscarriage of Justice. It seems that all 3 were released on appeal because all of the witness's had "disappeared."
When they were released there was another wave of rustlin' in the surrounding counties until sometime in 1889 when Wyatt Lunsford was shot in a bar fight and his brother Jason Casebeer was lynched by an angry mob. The guy helping me explained that there were other accounts of the various members of the Lunsford family in the paper but the gang had been broken.
Another Adventure in Genealogy draws to a close and once more we have learned some lessons. (1) Before you decide to ignore your family "blacksheep" keep in mind they could very well be the easiest member of your family to research. (2) We didn't all descend from Puritans and Saints. This may strike you as embarrassing but if you stop and think about it; these folkes are like jalapenos on your nachos. They keep your family history from being bland and boring.
New World Book Of Scams: Our Friends in Bath Ohio
By GFS Waffle@aol.com
For all of you who have been doing genealogy for a while this information will be old hat, for that I apologize in advance. Our "Friends in Bath Ohio" are once more sending out their letters offering to sell you the "NEW WORLD BOOK OF (insert surname) for the very reasonable price of only $39.95 (preprinting price) plus shipping and handling. With this amazing Tome you can Amaze your self with facts from the only (insert surname) International Directory. Discover how family names originated and what the distinguished (insert Surname) means. You will get your very own Family Coat of Arms, granted to a (insert Surname) centuries ago, learn how to trace your family history and how to use rare records to discover even more about your origins.
What can I say? Let's all immediately send these outstanding individuals our Visa number, Right? Wrong!!! This is a scam -- these people send you a book consisting of some very rudimentary Genealogical tips, a Bogus family Coat of arms, and a list of address's that you can get from www.switchboard.com for FREE. This scam has been going on for years; they have been sued repeatedly over the years. If you read the order form carefully it says "No Direct Genealogical connection to your family or to your ancestry is implied or intended." What they don't intend is for you to read the fine print. If you feel the overwhelming desire to waste $39.95 plus shipping on something please instead send it to your favorite charity, donate it to a church, take you kids to a movie --anything, just don't send it to these thieves.
For Further Reading
Hocutt, William. Adventures In Genealogy: The Home Page. 1998 - 2004.
National Genealogical Society."PSST! Wanna Buy Your Name?" National Genealogical Society Consumer Protection Committee.
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