Highland HomePage

As I import the records of our Appalachian ancestors from other source databases, such as FamilySearch or private database gedcoms submitted by fellow genealogy researchers, I encounter many records that contain a “christening” event. Often, these events are not supported by any further supporting information in the form of exact dates or places. Placenames entered , in particular, are frequently only as a county and state, or only a state. This leads me to question the validity of the christening…

Read More Read More

One very handy feature of the Highland HomePage database structure is the ability to select an individual (non-living only) and generate a colorful visual representation of that person’s direct ancestors for several generations. The database tool is known as a fan chart, and here is an example of how to use it. First, utilize the basic name-search tools to focus on a particular person of interest. In this example, I selected my deceased mother as the starting point. Once the…

Read More Read More

Many folks who have followed my online presence over the years may recall that I once maintained a blog and collection of resources as part of the Highland HomePage. After a series of changes of webhosts, as well as a change in the underlying architecture for my huge genealogy database, I discontinued blogging. Well, I’m back!!! Unfortunately due to all the transitions among host providers, I was unable to save or retrieve several years of postings (thanks especially to Google”s…

Read More Read More

How many of you have heard of the “no-hellers” of Cental Appalachia? They were a small subset of Primitive Baptist “universalists” who firmly believed that a loving Creator would not separate anyone from ultimate reunion with the Creator. Instead, they believe that “hell” consists in the disordered mortal life of sinners, who after death would be reconciled into a unity of all humanity.The no-heller movement was, and is, centered primarily within a single cohesive group — the Three Forks of…

Read More Read More