View this page "The Account of Jacob B. Vandevere - for entertainment purposes"

[JerryVan]

I posted this mostly for entertainment purposes. If anyone can
remember any of the names or events that I have forgotten, let me know
so I can modify this page.

Click on
http://groups.google.com/group/family-history-storage-and-discussion/web/the-account-of-jacob-b-vandevere---for-entertainment-purposes
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[vcaul...@comcast.net]

Jerry,
Think you had showed this to me or I'd come across some version of it along the way. Fun stuff, and yes, people take what they think they thought they heard and make it into a gospel by passing it on or especially when on the written page.  The moral for a genealogist is to dig out the primary sources, regardless of the authority.

You've actually done more than entertain though, by offering evidence that explains why the story won't stand up to scrutiny.  But thanks.  I'm up against this kind of "hear say" all the time via my living relatives, no matter what I find in my research.  I've learned not to worry about it, and just go on gathering data. Your people NOT the only ones. Just part of human nature trying to make sense of things by filling in the blanks I suppose.

Thanks for sharing,
Val

[JerryVan]

There are several such bios about a myriad of Vandiver with a lot of
fanciful language. I had put it all down to the family propensity
(did I spell that correctly?) for the "Tall Tale!" I actually went to
Regionals in the Toast Master's Tall Tale Competition out here in
Nevada. It seems that this was a rather common thing back in the mid
to late 1800's. The tales concerning Johan Stalcop just came to
mind ... the famous comment about him "leering at the wives of other
men." Nothing to support that ... actually sounds more like Evert
Ek! LOL!!!