Elrod Falls

Amazingly one of the most beautiful and accessible water wonders in East Tennessee remains a somewhat secluded area still waiting for people to discover it. Once you go, you will not only know why this is a must see; you will also know why not many people have found it.

Elrod Falls is in Hancock County about 10 miles from Sneedville. Elrod actually consists of a series of three waterfalls cascading off a steep ridge. From the parking lot at the base of the first falls, a quick stroll will get you into quick view of what most people refer to as Elrod Falls.

There are two pools of water at the base of the first fall with the closest being a popular spot for swimming. There are plenty of rocks to sit on and gaze at the water cascading down the flat rock wall. The pool of water at the base reaches a depth of about seven or eight feet, but is very narrow and several rocks in the bottom of the pool make it easy "walk" across. There is even a point on the left side of the falls where nature has carved out a seat where you can sit and let the water fall all over you.

As you look across the creek you will notice the start of a trail that will lead you up to Elrod Falls 2.0 and 3.0

For more information,including directions: Click Here.

The Civil War in Knoxville

Knoxville, a small city of about 3,700 people according to the 1860 census, was strategically very important to the Confederates during the Civil War. The shortest rail route from Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, to Chattanooga and hence the rest of the South was through Knoxville. Without Knoxville in Confederate control, supplies, soldiers and information had to travel longer routes on either side of East Tennessee.

Equally important to the Confederates were the food stuffs and natural resources, such as saltpeter and copper, that could be supplied by East Tennesseans. And, of course, if Knoxville was important to the Confederates, it would be important to the Federal forces for the same reasons.

Knoxville and East Tennessee held a unique position in the Confederacy. Although Tennessee voted to join the Confederacy, East Tennessee remained throughout the war staunchly Unionist. To complicate matters, Knoxville was a blend of Union and Confederate supporters. This combination would ensure that Knoxville and East Tennessee saw their share of political and military fighting during the Civil War.

Knoxville was the home of one of the most intense Union supporters, William Brownlow, editor of the Knoxville Whig newspaper. Even after Tennessee voted to join the Confederacy, Brownlow kept up his attack on the Confederacy and its leaders. Finally the Confederates imprisoned Brownlow, later forcing him into exile outside of Tennessee where he lectured and wrote to further the cause of the Union. After the war he was elected governor of Tennessee.

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Note: Governor Brownlow holds a very special place in Melungeon studies.

For more on that: Click Here and Click Here.

The Jamestown Records of the Virginia Company of London

The Jamestown Records of the Virginia Company of London, part of the Thomas Jefferson Papers at the Library of Congress, uniquely illuminate a critical era of early American history. Jefferson incorporated them into his own papers because he recognized their great historic value. This essay by Sylvia R. Albro and Holly H. Krueger, Senior Paper Conservators at the Library of Congress, tells the remarkable story of how these records were rescued from disintegration and suggests some of the many ways in which the physical conservation of historic documents is vital to the acquisition and preservation of historical knowledge. In this online presentation, the original Jamestown Records may be seen in Volumes 16 and 17 of The Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 8.

To continue reading: Click Here.

To see the Jamestown Records: Click Here.

For a timeline of the Jamestown Records: Click Here.

Old West Point Applicant Letters Being Put Online

Years before leading his vastly outnumbered troops to their doom at Little Bighorn, a young George Armstrong Custer was described as accurate in math.

Nearly 30 years before his March to the Sea laid waste to a large swath of Georgia, William Tecumseh Sherman was deemed a "fine energetic boy."

And two decades before he would earn the nickname "Stonewall," Thomas J. Jackson's dreams of a military career got a boost from a man who would help start the Civil War.

Those are some of the tidbits gleaned from more than 115,000 U.S. Military Academy application documents being posted online for the first time by Ancestry.com. The Provo, Utah-based genealogy website said Tuesday that the information can be viewed for free starting Thursday — Veterans Day — through Sunday.

For more information: Click Here.

DNA Testing for Genealogy

What Can It Do For You??

Paper by MHS Board Member Roberta Estes

DNA testing for genealogy didn’t even exist a few years ago. In 1999, the first tests were performed for genetic genealogy and this wonderful tool which would change genealogy forever was born for the consumer marketplace from the halls of academia.

Initially we had more questions than answers. If it’s true that we have some amount of DNA from all of our ancestors, how can we tell which pieces are from which ancestor? How much can we learn from our DNA? Where did we come from both individually and as population subgroups? How can it help me knock down those genealogy brick walls?

In just a few short years, we have answers for some of these questions. However, in this still infant science we continue to learn every day. But before we discuss the answers, let’s talk for just a minute about how DNA works.

To continue reading: Click Here.

One-Step Web Pages

A One-Step Portal for On-Line Genealogy

By Stephen P. Morse

In the “old days” genealogical research was done by traveling great distances and then going through dusty archives or using microfilm readers. But the advent of the World Wide Web has changed that. Today much of the data useful to genealogists has been put on websites and can be accessed from the comfort of home.

Unfortunately, many of these websites are not easy to use. And those that are don’t always offer all the versatility that is possible. For that reason I have created alternate ways of accessing some of these websites. In addition I have developed some of my own databases and programs to facilitate doing genealogical research. These are all collected together under what I call the One-Step website.

The name “One Step” was chosen when I developed my first search tool, which allowed for searches through the Ellis Island records. A search done from the ellisisland.org website involved many steps, whereas my search tool was able to do it all in one step. Hence I called that tool “Searching the Ellis Island Database in One Step.” Little did I realize that, by choosing such a name, my website would become branded and I would be forced to use One-Step on all subsequent tools. I almost called that early tool “Searching the Ellis Island Database with Fewer Tears,” in which case this paper would be about the Fewer Tears website.

In this paper I’ll present an overview of what the One-Step website has to offer and, in doing so, will introduce other resources that are available on the web.

To continue reading: Click Here.

To go directly to the One-Step Portal: Click Here.

Burned Counties

The phrase "burned counties" was first used for research in Virginia where many county records were destroyed in courthouse fires, or during the Civil War. The strategies for researching places where a local courthouse or repository was wiped out by flood, fire, war, or cleaning-streak clerks are useful in similar situations all around the United States, Canada, and throughout the world.

For a good deal more on this subject: Click Here.

Note: Even when the usual records have not been destroyed, it's always good develop alternate sources to confirm and expand on them.

For more on Virginia burned counties in particular: Click Here.