Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

I've been doing a little family research the last couple of days, and I'm finding out that there are a lot of wanted men (and respectable women) in my past. Details to come...

***

I've chosen to copy and paste a couple of emails that I've gotten from a heretofore unknown relative with whom I've begun to correspond. I discovered him through ancestry.com, and he's told me a lot about the history of my family. Of course, for privacy's sake, I'm blocking out the names:

1st e-mail:

Dear ***, *** was my Grandmother. If she is your great grandmother then you are the grand daughter of either *** or ***. *** was the daughter of an outlaw by the name of *** that killed a man here in Texas just after the civil war. He was eventually captured in Indian Territory, tried in Texas & sentenced to Huntsville prison for man slaughter. Bill is reputed to have killed 2 bounty hunters prior to his capture in the 1880s. ***'s mother was *** from an old & respected Virginia family. Old *** was released from prison in the early 1900s & lived until well into the 1920s. He was known as *** & I think the state of Texas may still have wanted posters on him.
Let me know which cousin is your grand parent. I know aunt ** was married to *** prior to his death in an oil field accident.

2nd email:


*** was referred to as a Half Breed in some of the old writings & appears to have been Choctaw rather than Cherokee. However he may have been only 1/4 Choctaw. The *** Family sued for land rights in 1897 as members of the Choctaw tribe but lost the suit & from my data they were probably frauds seeking to profit from the government land sales. During the 1800s here in Texas they were denied public education for the children as they were declared to be indians. :-) Basically both the Cherokee & Choctaw tribe agreed that they were indians, but "just not our indians."
I traced the ***, *** & *** families back to the 1600s in Virginia. If you wish to join the DAR (Daughters of the Amercan Revolution), you probably have plenty of data to do so. *** of Virginia was something of a hero of the battle of New Orleans in the war of 1812. I have posted most of my research on Ancestry.com for the use of future researchers.
I remember ***, ***, *** & *** from my childhood. I also remember watching my Uncle *** win a bull dogging contest at a Rodeo back in WW2... he was quite the cowboy back then. I know grandpa *** beat him up with an ax handle for hitting aunt *** once, but guess the family changed the story of his death a bit. I also remember ***, raised by my grandparents. My Dad, ***, died in 86 of cancer but Uncle *** still lives in Katy Texas. My name is ***, but I have gone by *** most of my life.
Your Great Grand Pa, *** came from Pine Apple Alabama in 1888 at the age of 4. *** was his 2nd wife as his 1st wife & her child died during childbirth. His parents were *** & *** (Listed as *** in the 1850 Alabama Census). ***'s Parents were *** & ***, both born in Alabama. *** (father of ***) fought in the Civil War. His dad was *** m. *** in 1821 Montgomery county Alabama. You can find *** & *** living in Coffee County Alabama in the 1850 census with the younger siblings of ***. *** had ***, ***, & *** before she died. *** then married *** & had the children living with him in the 1850 census.
Just a note... all the *** in the south are probably related to you because *** produced 25 Children that lived.
Say hello to aunt *** when you see her. I hope you continue the research on the family that I started... I posted all the verifiable data that I could find.

Well, there's nothing like finding out who your ancestors are to make you feel like a part of the world's big picture. And I discovered that I really am, by rights, a Southern girl. How prophetic.