Effort yields hundreds of histories

SHAKING YOUR FAMILY TREE

By MYRA VANDERPOOL GORMLEY

Los Angeles Times Syndicate

Back in 1974, when Dale Talkington worked in Oklahoma City, he used to drive back and forth to his job past what was known then as the Union Soldiers Cemetery.

"I always wondered who was buried up on that lonely little hill," he says. "One day I stopped to look around, and from that moment forward I was hooked."

Since it was a small cemetery --- fewer than 100 graves --- he decided to become the expert on those soldiers. He began ordering pension records from the National Archives for every soldier (then $5 per file) and started doing extensive research on their family histories.

"Every Memorial Day for several years, I would set up a card table under the shade trees and wait for relatives of the soldiers to come place flowers on the graves. These visits produced much more information than I needed, but it was good to visit with family members and hear their stories. Now each of these soldiers has a thick file full of priceless genealogy for future generations," Talkington says.

The result of his long labor of love is "The Long Blue Line: Civil War Union Soldiers and Sailors Buried in Oklahoma," a 754-page book filled with his collection of data on more than 8,600 Civil War Union soldiers and sailors whose final resting place is in the Sooner State. Some, like my third great-grandfather, are buried in unlocated graves. The information on each person ranges from only a few lines to a maximum of 35 lines.

Talkington plans to donate all of his "soldier files" to the Archives Division of the Oklahoma Historical Society in Oklahoma City, where they can be used by researchers. Interested individuals and organizations will find this book invaluable to order government headstones for unmarked graves in their localities. Additionally, American Legion Posts and other groups can use it as a guide to placing U.S. flags on grave sites for Memorial Day. Genealogists will find it priceless, and it is a must for Oklahoma libraries.

This outstanding contribution to Oklahoma and Civil War genealogy can be obtained ($75 postpaid) from the author, N. Dale Talkington, 10119 Olympia Drive, Houston, 77042-2929. Visit his Web site, "The Electric Cemetery," at http://www.ionet.net/~cousin/ for information about his other Civil War-related projects.

GENEALOGY AND HISTORY intertwine like blackberry vines on a hillside, and if you grew up in Kentucky, part of your family's history probably includes reading the Courier-Journal, once ranked among the nation's 10 best newspapers.

"At Sixth and Broadway: Tales From the Glory Days of a Great Newspaper," by James D. Ausenbaugh, is a book about the foot soldiers --- the reporters, editors and photographers who got the Louisville- based paper out every day. It is an affectionate memoir of the people the author knew during the 20 years he worked there, when, despite the inadequate salaries, the job seemed like fun.

You'll meet Doc Bulleit, reporter, horse player, magic man and staff prestidigitator; Kyle Vance, a drinkin', lovin' man who was years ahead of his time as an investigative reporter; Carol Sutton, a red-headed dynamo who could out-report, out-write and out-think most of the newsroom; and a string of others.

In the introduction by Al Smith, he writes: "Think of James Ausenbaugh as a sergeant who was in the trenches, sweating deadlines in the heat of battle and then laughing afterward over drinks with the troops."

Warning: "At Sixth and Broadway" also reveals tales of raucous, earthy, after-hours life of the Courier-Journal news staffers. Read at your own risk --- and delight. It is available ($17.95 postpaid) from Mews Publishing Co., 207 Anna Lane, Scottsville, KY 42164.

Copyright 2000
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.