It takes a long time to migrate if you only come out once every 17 years. I imagine in a few more generations they’ll be in Henderson County too. It is interesting to think back to the changes that this area has seen in just a few of these “bugs lives”. Last visit was 1991 Many of my older relatives have passed on since then, the grandparents of these current bugs were out in 1973. I wasn’t even one year old then. This area was mostly rural and by my parents account they weren’t quite as noisy. (The area was more cleared than wooded. Since the 1970′s much of the former farm/grazing land has grown up into woods. These cicadas lay their eggs in the growing twigs and the twigs then fall to the ground allowing the grubs to burrow down and grow. So… changes in our forestation has made a difference in where these insects are most active.

1956 would have been the generation of “great-grandparents” of this years crop. 1939 Before that. How much OUR world has changed since then.

I guess the emergence of the cicadas makes for a good milestone along the march of time. I can’t help but see the past in a larger scale when you see things with such a predictable and measurable life cycle. I’ve taken the opportunity to snap pictures and do some digital audio recordings of the cicadas. Who knows what things will have changed when they return?

There is an interesting story to the history of the Bible as it has made its way through history. The book is 322 years old, 2 feet long and 22 lbs. A very rare and unique gift. From the article, there is some restoration work being done on the book and it’s exepcted to be on display sometime in the fall semester.

On behalf of Western North Carolina…. thank you Mrs. Wilde for your generosity to Mars Hill College!

INTERNET GENEALOGY AND RELATED SEARCHES: LOOKING AT SOME FREE SITES: 6:30 p.m. June 2. Using a computer lab in the Griffin Room, you and your fellow classmates will look at and experiment with several different sites. Some computer experience necessary. At least 30-45 minutes will be spent on Heritage Quest’s Census Records — focusing on some searching tips plus how to save and/or print images (there will be no available printer with this computer lab, so if you find any images you wish to keep please bring a flash or jump drive for personal use). Call: 704-283-8184 ext. 224.

Western North Carolina Society of Genealogical Research will meet from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 24, in the Kaplan Auditorium of the Henderson County Library. Program: Using DNA in Genealogy Research with Ray Rhoads.

I’ve got to say I’m really excited about the potential of using lulu.com for so many things, from custom picture books and calendars to customized stories, music publishing, etc…. the mind dizzies with possibilities. Anyway, my “storefront” page which lists all of my currently available items is at http://www.lulu.com/ajparker/

Anyway, his father had accumulated the data and he converted from Gedcom format. It sounds interesting. One of the questions I would have at this point regards 1)how easy it would be for the average person to “massage” their data into a format that would work with Google base and 2) ease of navigation. (Wouldn’t it be interesting to see the Google Base API accessible in such a way that you could affect the presentation of database information – even formatting it in trees/descendancy charts?

he Liles/Lyles was one such family. The earliest known member of this family was Henry Liles born about 1662 in Maryland. Henry’s grandson, Ephraim was the first to move to Anson County, N.C., and was actually the first recorded settler there.

When land had to be divided among several sons it became necessary for some to seek land elsewhere. Four of Ephraim’s sons moved down into South Carolina and settled along the Broad River. Later members of this family relocated to Transylvania County in the summer to escape the S.C. heat eventually remaining to establish permanent homes. For this family one would need to have knowledge of research in many areas of the United States.

Also, we should pass along that there will be a workshop September 23 regarding methods of South Carolina research. This will be presented by Alexia Jones Helsley who spent 38 years with the S.C. Department of Archives and History. She will also have a special session on “Finding Your Revolutionary Ancestor.” This event is sponsored by the genealogical societies of Henderson and Buncombe Counties. The event will be held at Calvary Episcopal Church in Fletcher, NC from 9AM through 4PM on September 23rd. Cost is $15 for the workshop and $10 for lunch. Call 828-253-1894 for more details.

In one of the samples I saw, it appeared that facial expressions could throw the results off. However, this might hold some promise. I know I’ve got a number of old pictures that I might not know who is in it. I don’t know how well they’ll be able to acheive the concept of finding ancestors by matches in other peoples photos given what I saw in the samples, but it might be interesting to try out.

The Domesday Bុុook was commisioned in 1085/1086 by William the Conqueror as a census of sorts. It was along the vein of …. “I’ve conquered this new area – I wonder what all we’ve got in it? How could I tax them?”…. So, this essentially covered landowners.

It is a remarkable record though of what England in the late 11th century looked like and it’s generally used by many genealogical texts to place family name origins in England. The original was in Latin with some bits of vernacular inserted for words that didn’t exist in Latin if I understand correctly. They have images and a translation as well (Thanks – I still haven’t invested in a Latin dictionary!)