"It has been said that there are two lasting bequests we can give to our children....one is ROOTS, and the other, WINGS.

After 20 years of working off and on with our family genealogy I finally sat down and tried to put it all togther......ended up with over 400 pages of information!

Everyone was always asking about what I found so I decided for Christmas of 2004 I would make copies and give everyone a copy as a gift from me to them ~~ it was quite a project!

I'm still researching and discovering new facts and would love to share with others who might have that missing piece of the puzzle or have a picture that I haven't seen.

~~ Jesse Merida James, my father who I consider to be one of the finest men ever born.

~~Tylee Houston James, my grandfather who fought the Indians at Long Creek, Oregon with other members of his family. He came to the West 3 times in a covered wagon and his last trip was on the Immigrant Train with his family in 1910. He stated they were cousins of Frank & Jesse James and he had seen them once as children. After his death, his wife still wrote to "Cousin Frank's widow in L.A." but those letters have been lost. 

~~ Robert Newton James, my grandfather's brother, who settled in the Texas Panhandle when it was overrun by outlaws on their way to Indian Territory to escape the law. He and his wife Frances Ann Eakins were among the first settlers of Quanah, Texas. Robert brought the first printing press used for publishing a newspaper in Quanah; in a half-dugout, no less!

~~ Meridith Taylor Crossland, a great-great-grandfather was elected to the Alabama legislature and was murdered and the log home he built over 175 years ago is still standing today! 

~~Winifred Sweet Black, a great-great-great aunt who became a successful newspaperwoman and wrote articles enttilted "Rambles Through My Memories" that appeared in Good Housekeeping magazine almost 80 years ago!

~~The Long Cane Massacre ~~ being related to Vice President John Caldwell Calhoun and many others....

  Click here