Back In The Saddle Again

Back In The Saddle Again

Hello to all of my family and friends, who have supported me while I took the last two years off to just let go, and Let God! Sometimes we simply have to separate ourselves from all things in order to get to that sweet spot that God preserves for us. And I thank you all for allowing me time to do that.

So, with that being said, Mountain Genealogists, and therefore, the Monroe Bean Newsletter are back up and running. Our first newsletter should be ready in the next couple of days. Those who have been with us for so long will recall that I previously kept two blogs. This one for business, and another for the family newsletter. From now on, they will all be combined into this single blog page. And the newsletter will be transformed from The Monroe Bean's to Mountain Genealogists. 

Mountain Genealogists takes me back to that thrilling time when I met with the elders of our family and the first bug for family genealogy bit me. Many of you will remember Fannie Bell Beane and her husband, Jim, who did so much for our family genealogy! We have built upon their foundation, and I will always be indebted to Fannie's tireless research! I miss her very much, and I know one day, when I pass from this life, I will sit down with her and we will not only talk about the Beane family, but get to see those we are talking about as well!

Sometime after the New Year we will be doing another DNA test. This time to discover the haplogroup that tells us where the majority of our ancestry comes from. Yes. We will finally be able to say with a relative certainty whether our line of Bean's comes from Scotland or Ireland. 

Clan MacBean Tartan

 

In our newsletter, we will also be featuring a new section which will feature "famous" relatives, as found through  new research. These will all be verified, which means you can count on these being correct.

Last, we have begun work on a trilogy of fiction based on fact of the Bean's of Monroe County. This is a project I outlined several years ago, and will be working on it daily. This will take some time to complete, but it is something you can look forward to in future print.

 

Once we have completed these three novels, we will begin work on a complete, referenced, genealogical study of William Bean (1792-1864) and his descendants. When that work begins, we will be reaching out to everyone to assist us with updates. (The last one was written by Fannie Beane, and was written before many of our young adults were even born!) This will be in a bound book form for passing onto your children and grandchildren.

As before, I would love to have guest writer's each month. This does not have to be professionally written, and the subject is up to the writer. Have a poem you've written? A short story? Song lyrics? Or would you like to relate something about an ancestor? You can email it to cynthiahenry@consultant.com Because of digital newsletters, there is no limit to the size of article you submit. Just remember that you want to hold your audience captive during their entire time reading. So, send us your stories! We'd love to have them. We would also love to have birth and death announcements. Achievements. And photographs.

I look forward to sending you the newsletter in a few days! So be watching your email in box. Be sure to have our email address listed in your contacts so that the newsletter will arrive safely to you and not be put in your junk, or spam, folder. That email address is texicanwife@hotmail.com

 

And last, beginning in January we will be keeping copies of our newsletter. At the end of each year, we will be printing these newsletters into a bound book. These will be inexpensive and within a price range most everyone can afford. This will make a lovely gift to pass down to future generations. 

Be watching for your newsletter!

Cyndi Beane Henry

Mountain Genealogists

 

Busy as a Bee

I have been stealing two hours every evening to simply write.

 

 

 

What, you might ask, is causing me to spend two hours every evening typing away on my computer?

 

The Great American Novel!

 

Okay, okay, I figured you wouldn't fall for that! However, I am writing a novel that is the Great American Novel to me. It is a novel on my great-great-grandfather's life.

 

We haven't a lot to go on. His father as know it, is another of those whimsical McBean's named William. Family lore says he was a loyalist in the Revolution.  After the war, he received land grants at a place called Stoney Creek, which even today is a natural divider between Virginia and West Virginia.

 

We know that his property was sold off for back taxes because his widow could not afford the taxes in 1805.

 

We know that his eldest son, John, was placed as an indenture servant in February 1804. So we are "assuming" that he died before then. And in September his son William, my gr-gr-grandfather, was also placed for indenture. On his 12th birthday.

 

Family lore states that he had a younger brother, Roy, who was indentured with him at the same time. Roy either disappeared or ran away shortly thereafter. He was never heard from again. It is believed there may have been foul play and Roy was killed accidentally.

 

The novel is being written as fiction. The gaps being filled in by imagination.

 

I am in hope of finishing it about the first of the year. And so I am making good progress with it, and that my dear friends and family, is where I am hidden each evening. No phone calls will be answered during my writing time!

 

Do you have your Great American Novel yet inside of you! Explore with it. Perhaps you can write yours completely non-fiction! How great would that be? Unfortunately the family lore has been passed down and I am including that as part of the fiction, since I am unable to prove, or disprove it.

 

Give it try. I've spent years researching my family. And this is just one of many more books to come.

RootsMagic Releases Free Genealogy and Family Tree Software

Editor's note: The following press release was issued by RootsMagic, Inc.

"RootsMagic Essentials" Brings Free Tools for Family History

SPRINGVILLE, Utah. — November 18, 2009 — RootsMagic, Inc. announced the immediate availability of RootsMagic Essentials, free desktop genealogy software based on their award-winning RootsMagic 4 system. RootsMagic Essentials contains many core features found in its namesake that allow the public to easily start tracing their family trees.

Essential Features for Everyone

“Many of our users have told us that they have friends and family members who are interested in getting started in family history but aren’t ready to invest in a more comprehensive package like RootsMagic,” said Bruce Buzbee, president. “RootsMagic Essentials gives them the features they need to start researching and recording their family tree at a price that can’t be beat — free!”

RootsMagic Essentials shares many of the same features with the full RootsMagic software including clean and friendly screens, the ability to add an unlimited number of people and events, pictures and media management, the SourceWizard to write your source citations for you, powerful merging and clean-up tools, dozens of reports and charts, support for international character sets, FamilySearch integration, and the ability to share data with other people and software programs. The full version of RootsMagic is available for purchase and includes features not available in RootsMagic Essentials.

Free and Available Now

RootsMagic Essentials is available now for free at http://www.rootsmagic.com. Users of other genealogy software products will find it easy to experiment with RootsMagic Essentials using their own data. RootsMagic Essentials can directly import data from PAF, Family Tree Maker (through 2006), Family Origins, and Legacy Family Tree. It can also read and write data using the popular GEDCOM format.

"We're excited to make RootsMagic Essentials available to the community," said Michael Booth, vice-president. "Our mission is to provide 'software to unite families' and our hope is that RootsMagic Essentials will encourage more people to record their family trees and connect with their family histories."

About RootsMagic, Inc.

For over 20 years, RootsMagic, Inc. has been creating computer software with a special purpose—to unite families. One of our earliest products- the popular "Family Origins" software, introduced thousands of people to the joy and excitement of family history.

That tradition continues today with "RootsMagic", our award-winning genealogy software which makes researching, organizing, and sharing your family history fun and easy. "Personal Historian" will help you easily write and preserve your life stories. "Family Reunion Organizer" takes the headaches out of planning those important get-togethers. And "Family Atlas" creates beautiful and educational geographic maps of your family history.

For more information, visit http://www.rootsmagic.com.