Wilson Bingham Book Progress Report - November 2006

November 2006
In This Newsletter
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I. PROGRESS REPORT
II. THE WISHLIST
III. THANKS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I. PROGRESS REPORT
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Since the get-together in July, I have not devoted as much time as I had wished to the book publishing effort. I had hoped to have gathered more individual descendant family group sheets and brief histories from most of you. Computers burning up, the new school year starting, a new baby being born, and a host of other domestic glitches have conspired against us. But now that things have cooled down a bit (pun intended), we shall get on with it.

Linda (Wilson, married to Tobin) Hill and Lora (Wilson, married to Carl) Westphal--both are daughters of Allen and Dee Wilson and great-grandaughters of Emma and Alfred--have been working on the manuscript, ferreting out errors and suggesting corrections. By the way, Lora and Carl also have a new bouncing baby boy, named Christian who was born October 22nd. Lora's brother Jim and his wife Liana had a girl they named Mia Lorraine on September 21st. Congratulations to Jimmy and Liana and to Lora and Carl!.

Gordon Wilson took time out of his busy schedule to make a trip to Payson and take photographs of as many family gravesites as could be found. About 2/3 of the total known Payson burial sites still have identifiable markers. The others have either deteriorated too much to identify, are not identified correctly, or are simply unaccounted for. Part of this may be due to earlier pioneers simply burying loved ones in local family plots or even in back yards and the information (and remains) not being transferred elsewhere. But the pictures we do have are wonderful and will be a welcome addition to the book and DVD. Thanks Gordon!!

Bruce Young, as busy as he is, has agreed to help research Emma's newspaper articles so that we can catalog and preserve as many as possible. Some will be sampled in the book and the remainder will be put on a DVD to accompany the book.

Ruth Young sent, at my request, a wonderful audio cassette tape of her recollections growing up in the Wilson/Bingham household as a child. Her descriptions are vivid and insightful and really give you the feeling that you are there living those experiences with her. I still have to transcribe her thoughts for inclusion in the book, but I'm sure that you will be just as excited to read them as I was when I got the tape in the mail. I have asked her if she will also consider making a separate, more detailed account of each of her siblings. Being the youngest living child of the Wilson/Bingham family, and looking up at her brothers and sister from her youth onwards, I'm sure she will have some delightful things to share with us.

During Labor Day weekend, we had the opportunity to visit Nauvoo and camp in the Nauvoo State Park. I took with me a list of names from both my Watson/Cox ancestry and from the Wilson/Bingham side of the family. The Land and Records office in Nauvoo is truly remarkable. All you need are some names and they can find them instantly in a computerized database of pioneer era land holdings in Hancock and surrounding counties. You can then simply check off the names that are of interest to your family history and go back to your sightseeing. After 10 minutes to 1/2 hour, you can return and pick up a computer CD containing PDF documents full of authorized, transcribed, microfiche, and photocopied histories, journals, deeds, and other records associated with the people who founded Nauvoo. They even linked in families I either didn't know about or didn't realize were part of the Nauvoo settlement experience. It has opened up a whole new set of possibilities for both expanding our genealogy and adding to the book.

I also had a nice interview with Todd Wilson, son of Joe and Dorothy Todd Wilson, regarding his memories growing up in the Wilson/Bingham family. He shared his favorite experiences deer hunting in Utah with cousins and uncles. It is in an internet audio format and the file is somewhat large, so I'm not going to post it for download on this site. But if you want a copy I will send it to you through Mediafire.com.

Wendy Fitzpatrick of Canada had a family reunion in Payson in August right as the dust from ours was settling. She has been sharing pictures and resources with us that she has gathered on the Powell line. Wendy's family branches from ours through Christiana Elizabeth POWELL, daughter of William POWELL who was a son of John POWELL. Her lineage also includes the Depew and Elmer families. Hyrum K. Elmer was one of Alfred Raymond's counselors when he was bishop of Payson First Ward.

Lastly, it looks like cost-wise and for more features and flexibility, lulu.com will be our best bet for production printing of the book and associated photo albums. Check out their services! Pretty neat, if you're publishing to a limited audience or just want to get a book bound.

II. THE WISHLIST
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1) Please print a copy of this family group sheet and add your family's information to it, that is if you haven't already done so previously. Then, please send it to me.

2) If you have a special ancestral photo you want included in the larger photo album, please send it to me and I will scan it into my computer, digitally restore it if necessary, and send it (the original and the restored computerized version) back to you. I can also scan negatives and slides for preservation and so you can easily order larger reprints online or from a local 1-hour photo store. Please include any information you know about the photo, such as dates, names, places, and stories.

3) Please send me the email addresses, mailing addresses, and telephone numbers of you and your descendants so that I can begin to include more people in the effort of this book.

III. THANKS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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Thanks so much to Gordon, Linda, Lora, Todd, Ruth, Bruce, and Wendy Fitzpatrick for all your help!

Thanks to all for your time and willingness to see this through to publication.