- Let me walk with you amid the emerald woodlands and capture the bountiful wonders of nature. I remember the awe and wonder I felt as a child whenever new flowers bloomed. This is the place where my memories come alive and my spirit is renewed. Tomorrow, come walk with me and let us find the wonders together.
- If you think my behavior lately is giddie, child-like or just plain nonsense, please forgive me. I have no excuse. Unless you consider that it is Spring– known as the season of love, new beginnings, and housecleaning. (Although I wonder how they all got tied in together.) Or it could be that I’ve had some great breakthroughs in my own family line. Or it could be that I’ve found–rather they’ve found me–some new cousins! It’s always exciting when we meet new cousins, but this is especially exciting for me because they are from a branch that I have had to go it alone in my research because I had found no other connections before. These are my Cornells. In just a few days between I received emails from not one but two different lines of descendants of Edmund Cornell and Laura Allen. I could SCREAM with delight!
Many of you Heycuz members are Sullivan or Harp descendants and therefore have lots of cousins to correspond with. I am also a Sullivan and a Harp so I value all the give and take, the humor, the thoughfulness, and the general greatness that we’ve inherited. All kidding aside, we also have other lines, that for whatever reasons stay hidden from view leaving us to search under every rock, shrub, and riverbed until something miraculous happens.
As usual, I was reading my emails one morning when I happened to come upon a querry about a Laura Allen. “Do you know anything about a Laura Allen who married a Ed Cornell?” Such a simple question but I spilled my coffee, read it over and over three times. I answered it and quickly got a reply, “Hello Cuz!” Three thousand miles away from me in Massachussetts, my new “cousin” Darrell couldn’t have been closer. So, who are Ed Cornell and Laura Allen? I’m glad you asked. My grandmother Ruby Rennie, is the daughter of James Thomas Harrison and Minnie Cornell. Minnie is the daughter of Edmund Cornell and Laura Allen. My cousin, Darrell Stroh, is the great grandson of Edmund and Laura’s son David Cornell and Rachel Joiner. So we began to exchange information and photographs. Then, Darrell mentions another cousin! Phyllis Masters is the granddaughter of Edmund and Laura’s son, George Cornell who married Alice Sheldon. We’ve been having a great time getting to know each other, exchanging family stories, photographs and genealogies. Darrell was also able to solve a mystery in our family. We had a photograph for a long time and didn’t know who it was. He gave the photograph to his Aunt who not only told us it was my Great Grandfather Tom Harrison, but that he had served in the Spanish-American war. Imagine not even recognizing your own great grandfather much less not even knowing he was a veteran. Then, I find out from Phyllis that her grandfather, Virgil, the son of George Cornell, lived in Riverside, California until his death and that his family still lived there. That’s less than a two-hour drive from me! There were more cousins out there!
Moving on
Anyway, let’s just say it’s been an incredible start for Spring. I’ve done the usual spring cleaning on the site, and so the family and individual cards are all new. That is why the listing of updates and additions has not been added in this column.
I have also added a new “Share the Wealth“ site which has scans of vital records available online. I have slowly begun scanning and posting some records that I have collected or have been submitted to me. I urge you to take a look. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I hope to get more up soon. Also if you would like to post some of your vital records for others to view, let me know and I’ll post those also. Right now there is no index to the records. They are numbered according to the Heycuz Source Number as listed in the source index.
I have also updated the Players List which includes members of the Heycuz newsgroup. If you want to have your surnames added, please write to me.
We have some new submissions in the “Past Lane” section which deals in recollections and memories of our ancestors. One is The Life Story of Verla G. Knight. She was the daughter of Norman Allen Sullivan and Mona Louella Stinson. Charlton Queen has contributed a piece titled My Confederate Ancestors.
Coming up
Many of you are wondering about the Family Cookbook. Well, I’ve had a quandry with that. There were so many wonderful stories included with the recipes that I’ve decided to switch around the layout making the stories, not the recipes, the focus of the book. The recipe’s will still be there, but they will be sidebars to the story. I am wrapping that up and plan to include an index in Grandma’s Secret Recipes so you will be able to locate a specific recipe quickly, such as JoJo’s slickerdowns or Martha’s sassafrass tea.
The Family Album is yet to be updated. With my new cousins, I have a lot more pictures to add and plan to get to that shortly.
I’m off
Well, I’ve nothing more to say! Can you imagine? Just keep the information rolling in and hopefully we’ll all have a lot more cousins to add to our site. Best wishes.
- Love,
April
Heycuz, What’s New?: April 2001
http://heycuz.net/docs/NEW/2001_04_01_archive.html