SANDRA'S SURNAMES
April 22, 2000 (2:04PM) AT THIS TIME I PLAN TO UPDATE THIS PAGE ON A REGULAR BASIS.
This is what I used to look like, (taken about 1997). At that time I spent a lot of time on the computer, mostly
working on my family tree. It was nothing for me to go to bed with Rich at 11p.m.,then get back up once he was
asleep & work until about 3a.m.Of course I had put on a lot of weight which did not help my health one bit.
Added to that I knowingly ate things a diabetic should never eat, which I believe is the major reason for the
stroke. Of course I got plenty of exercise, ate non-fattening foods, nothing with sugar , so, on 25 OCT. 1998 I
had a massive stroke which left almost my entire left side paralyzed (I used to be left-handed). Since then it has
been a difficult life, made much easier by the devotion of my beautiful husband of 42 years.
Two years ago, I had 28 mailing lists which I ran like a tight ship. They were devoted to my many surnames in
my family tree. Through them I was able to extend many of the lines back several generations. One of Richard’s
family traditions was that he was descended from President Franklin Pierce, after spending many hours on this
single problem I received an E-mail on the PIERCE list giving me the line back seven generations to 1753.
Then, on my side of the family, I had a tradition which said that we were descended from Sir Harry Lauder
(Scottish stage entertainer of WWI) another frustrating trail led to nothing until one day, I found a web page
devoted to My LAUDER/LOUDER family! Then on my father’s side was the tradition that we were descended
from President John Tyler. Actually I knew this was probably not true, as I hd once seen A Groucho Marks
show with a descendent of President Tyler& inferred from that show that there was no way we could be
descended. Now, it is possible we could be related but it is not directly.
One of my happiest moments was when I traced my lines back to ADAM (sic). Another happy moment was
doing research in THE BIG place in Salt Lake. There I was able to prove Richard’s line back to George W.
DUNCAN, Sr. & his wife Elizabeth Mounts/Mounce/Mouse. But for the really big, BIG COUPS I WAS ABLE
TO CONNECT WITH A PORTUGUESE cousin who took that line (from the Azores) back to the 1600's
For now all the research I am doing is aimed at extending the DUNCAN & TYLER lines back to before the
Revolution.
Today I still work on my family tree but it is no longer convenient to go to the library to do vital research, so I
get to the computer as soon as I can every day, I can & work until I must quit for meals or trips away from the
house. The computer has been an important tool in my mental health; it keeps me aware & sharp and working
on something new every day.
And my new focus is scanning my photograph collection into my computer. Also, I have a plan to
scan in old negatives to recapture many that have been scattered to the winds. Another primary focus is a
Family Tree site I created at ANCESTRY.COM. There I have been trying to capture the help of all living
relatives, in getting memories and photographs added to the site. With the exception of a very few
(unnamed) relatives, participation has been sporadic. Yes I am well aware that I am on a quest that does
not fire the souls of many others in my family, and I am not doing this FOR them it is solely for me alone
( TO BE CONTINUED!) write me at purplevw@sl.net
Email: purplevw@sl.net
