Please see Acknowledgments listed below due to space.


Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Warren Valentine Claypoole, circa 1928-1938



This photo if still under copyright, belongs to the Leister family of Kittanning.  Please do not reproduce without my and/or their permission.  This is a photo of Warren Valentine Claypoole, son of Charles and Anne E. (Boswer) Claypoole taken in the late 1920's or early 1930's.

Marion Claypoole, circa 1885-1895



Another photo from Anne E. Claypoole's photo album, identified in pencil as Marion C.  Based on the age of the sitter, and the type of photo card, my guess is late 1880's to late 1890's.

Alexander Claypoole's children circa 1910-15?



Here is a photo of (I believe) Alexander Claypoole's children taken around 1910 or 1915.  This was in my great-grandmother, Annie Elizabeth Bowser Claypoole's photo album.  Perhaps someone could help in naming the children and provide a more exact date.  This is on an unmailed and undated photo-postcard.

Preview of Upcoming Attractions

Just to let you know I’m working on the following blogs that I hope to have posted over the next three weeks as time and research permits.




First – Lawson Claypoole

Lawson and his wife Jenny didn’t have any children, and I would like to post what information I have on him online in the hopes others can add to it, or point me to other sources of information.



Second – The problem(s) with Harvey

There are a number of difficulties when researching about Harvey Claypool(e), I intend to list them, document them, and ask for help and clarification if anyone can.



Third – Burleigh Claypoole

I will post the verifiable information I have assembled on Burleigh as soon as I can double check some sources and assemble the documentation.



Fourth – An annotated Bibliography of Claypoole Sources available to the public

I hope this will be an ongoing project that will lead to a permanent separate website as an aid to all of us involved in the process of researching the family tree. I will be listing all the public records, books, and online sources with some descriptions for the benefit of all researchers, those of you who have more online savvy, and deeper experience, your contributions will be most welcome.



Fifthly, and Lastly – I’ll begin an online family photo gallery of the items in my collection and to help supplement the great one begun at Facebook’s Claypoole Connection.



Cheers,

Eric

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Links

My thanks again to Barry Chapman for testing the blog out and for reporting a problem with the links.  He noted that they weren't...well...working.

I think the problems have been repaired and all of the links should now work.

Please take some time to see them all, espcially Barry and Kathie's work - it is the best online Claypoole information you will find.

Cheers,
Eric

Friday, September 25, 2009

So it begins...

The First Blog.


I hope other relations, local historians, and genealogists will find the information posted here accurate, useful and entertaining. In a sense the title of this blog is a bit inaccurate, or at least a little misleading, because most of the posts will have little or nothing to do with James Claypoole; he is merely the point of departure. The dates of his life, the terms of his residency in Armstrong County, and his descendants are all that can be safely known about him...as we shall see what was once "known" about him, must now be un-"known".

This blog will most likely be taken up with the lives of James’ descendants. I suspect that little new information about James himself is likely to appear in the ensuing years, although there is always hope. However I think that much information remains to be pieced together to form the biographies of his numerous descendants, and I hope with the help of many other hands, that the work may progress and together we may form a more complete picture of our shared history.

I hope others will write and make use of this blog to help me sort out our common past, and perhaps understand ourselves a little better in the process.

Nil desperandum,

Eric Cook

Acknowledgments

This will be far too brief to begin with, so please forgive me if I ommitt anyone or anything, but there are really too many, but I wanted to thank those who were first or foremost in the process that lead to the creation of this blog.

First my Mother, Fay Anne, who opened my eyes to the richness of our family history, and my father James who ensured that I could proceed down this path.

My grandparents Merle and Alice who personified the good old ways.

My Aunts: Judy, Shirley and Nancy for helping and sharing at all times.

My great Aunts and Uncles, especially Dorothy, Vern, and Beatty without whom so much information would have been lost.

The congregation of Franklin Union Baptist, who opened their attics, minds, and hearts to me.

To Evelyn Claypoole Bracken without whom we could hardly proceed into the past at all (or perhaps receded?!).

To the many cousins who share so often so much.

And most recently and most especially to Barry Chapman of Tasmania, Australia and Kathie Young, who have together resolved something that had truly begun to puzzle me, and whose excellant research is summarized on the Claypoole Family website. And to my sister Erin, who helped stoke the fires of memory.

I will add and update specific thanks and acknowledgments in the places where they are most appropriate. Especially for contributions to original research. I hope to properly credit all researchers original work, and/or to thank those who have allowed me to see and share historical sources whether they are stories, documents, or artifacts.

Also I hope to properly list and acknowledge any secondary sources of information, so that others may check, rethink, verify, and explore the threads of this story.

Please alert me to any omissions, mistakes, broken internet links, or errors of any kind. You may do so in the comments sections or at a new email address I hope to create just for this website.

Cheers!