Author: Dan

24 Jan

Posted at 13:40h in Newsletter, Genealogy

ANCESTORS- CHEROKEE BILL'S BAD DEEDS AND TRIALS As a kid, my grandfather (his Inola Philosopher above) had us ride to the top of nearby Belle Starr hill, near Inola, OK. I suspect every town with a hill had one of her alleged hideouts; Oklahoma’s version of Washington slept here. In a continuation of the last edition's article on Ike Rogers, Ike and Bill, this next chapter involves Belle and Sam Starr’s son, Henry (pictured). Here’s what Ike and his gang did that led to the intersection. • On May 26, 1894, robbery of T.H. Scales Store, Wetumka, Oklahoma. 35 cents was stolen. • On...

10 Jan

Posted at 11:41h in Newsletter, Genealogy

GENEALOGY- BREAKING NEWS- HEAR US! You can now listen as well as read the Dancestors Genealogy Newsletter. The QR code links you to a podcast-style sharing of the newsletter to enrich your commute or listening material while puttering around the house. Or, click the play button below. [buzzsprout episode='18486242' player='true']   GENEALOGY- IKE ROGERS CAPTURE OF CHEROKEE BILL While researching a client’s ancestor, Ike Rogers, I came across this story. Ike (pictured) was born enslaved between 1847 and 1853 in the Cherokee Nation (now northeast Oklahoma). He and his mother, Martha May Richardson, were enslaved by Alzira Price May, a Cherokee by Blood, and her husband,...

29 Dec

Posted at 12:46h in Newsletter, Genealogy

GENEALOGY- BREAKING NEWS- HEAR US! You can now listen as well as read the Dancestors Genealogy Newsletter. Just click the play button below. [buzzsprout episode='18484496' player='true'] ANCESTRY- IN OTHER NEWS FROM THE GRAND CANYON In the last edition, I wrote about a 2011 backpack trip in the Grand Canyon. GRAND CANYON Here was one other surreal moment that occurred on that trip. Waking up on Tuesday, May 3, 2011, my roommate and I headed over to the lobby of the lodge to get a cup of coffee. Keep in mind, we’re not in a place where you can turn on the TV in your room,...

05 Dec

Posted at 15:49h in Newsletter, Genealogy

GENEALOGIST- BALLING IN THE GRAND CANYON In 2011, we backpacked west of Grand Canyon National Park, into the Havasupai Indian Reservation. At the end of the trail lies the village of Supai on the valley floor of the Grand Canyon. It’s a short hike to the beautiful Havasu Falls, and you can even continue onto the Colorado River. We spent the day swimming in, about, and under the falls pool. As of the 2010 census, they had a population of 208. The capital of the Havasupai Indian Reservation, Supai, is the only place in the United States where mail is still carried...

29 Nov

Posted at 12:17h in Newsletter, Genealogy

ANCESTORS- MY MAYFLOWER ANCESTOR My 11th Great Grandfather, Stephen Hopkins (fl. 1579 – d. 1644), is my only Mayflower ancestor. Here are some interesting items about him: • He was one of 41 signatories of the Mayflower Compact • He was an assistant to the governor of Plymouth Colony through 1636. • He was first a minister’s clerk and then worked as a tanner and merchant. • He was recruited by the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London to provide governance for the colony and to assist with the colony's ventures. • He was the only Mayflower passenger with prior New World experience, having been shipwrecked in Bermuda...

16 Nov

Posted at 13:34h in Newsletter, Genealogy

GENEALOGY- A PLAY SURFACES AND IS PRODUCED 100 YEARS LATER I wrote in the February 2025 newsletter about Zola Neale Hurston and the work we did gathering all their family information for their foundation meeting. I was excited to read an article about one of her “lost for 100 years” plays being produced. Nearly a century after its completion, a play by Hurston is being staged in full for the first time. Spunk, written in 1935 by the acclaimed author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, was never performed during Hurston’s life. Instead, it remained in the Library of Congress until it...

02 Nov

Posted at 18:11h in Newsletter, Genealogy

ANCESTRY- CHRISTIAN LAND STEWARDSHIP One of our clients was recently honored by the Texas Department of Agriculture. In addition to her family history, we documented in a book the challenging path she took to restore her family's lands and then proceeded to donate land for a Texas State Veterans Cemetery. NEW BRAUNFELS, TEXAS – (October 15, 2025) - The Christian and Jones families have once again shown what it means to walk by faith, build by family, and serve by example. On this blessed occasion, the Texas Department of Agriculture, led by Commissioner Sid Miller (PI), presented the Christian Family with not...

18 Oct

Posted at 13:29h in Genealogy, Newsletter

GENEALOGIST- THE MORMON ASSASSIN My niece’s husband’s ancestor, William Adams "Wild Bill" Hickman (1815 – 1883), married his first wife, Bernetta Burchartt, in 1832, at 17. While living in Missouri, Hickman encountered members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveling from Kirtland, Ohio, to their new gathering place in Clay County, Missouri, and ultimately agreed to be baptized into the religion in 1838. Upon the killing of Joseph Smith in 1844, he and many other Mormons followed Brigham Young westward into Mexican territory. During this period, Hickman began to practice polygamy under the instruction of Brigham Young, marrying Sarah...

10 Oct

Posted at 11:54h in Newsletter

ANCESTORS- CAPTAIN STARBUCK'S JOURNEY Back in 2023, I shared information on my wife’s 5th Great Grandfather, Hezekiah Starbuck Starbuck We learned more about him on a visit to Nantucket, where it turned out he had kept a journal recorded from 1770 to 1775, as a whaling ship captain in the Pacific, which is in the hands of the Nantucket Historical Society. At Mystic River Seaport, we had the opportunity to board the Charles W. Morgan, an 80-year-old whaling ship (pictured) that remains afloat. It was interesting to see how it was set up and to see the captain’s quarters. Because the Atlantic had...

02 Oct

Posted at 21:01h in Newsletter, Genealogy

GENEALOGY- HE WASN'T SHOT IN THE WAR, BUT SUFFERED FOR 23 YEARS My wife’s three-times great-grandfather, Joseph Craig Needham, came to America at age 19 in 1841 or ‘42. At the age of 40, he left his wife and their four children, aged 14 to 3 months, at home, and enlisted for three years on February 29, 1864, at Clarendon with Company H of the Michigan Eighth Infantry (pictured in his soldier’s uniform). There were ten other soldiers in Company H who were older than him. His regiment served in front of Richmond when Lee evacuated on April 3, 1865. They were also...

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