Throwback Thursday - Early Christmas for Genealogy Society

Christmas came early for the Lake Havasu Genealogical society - but the gift did not come in a sleigh from the North Pole. It took a moving van from Arkansas to deliver the early Christmas Present.

Over 800 pounds of books, periodicals, manuscripts, and papers were unloaded from the moving van.

The donation of genealogy material came from Willie Lee Jones, 79, a seven-year resident of Lake Havasu City. Mrs. Jones is the widow of Edward Warren Jones who died October 5, this year (1996). Mrs. Jones donated the personal genealogy library of her sister, Jessye Ann (Welch) High, deceased, of Mountain Home, Arkansas.

Photo contributed by S Maurer, Dec 2004 to Jeanette Perrin Coaly, Coaly Orchard a Book written by Jessye Aggansas "Jessye Ann" Welch High.

a microfilm reader and several rolls of film were included in the shipment, along with over 200 hard cover reference books, files, manuscripts, loose papers and 21 large family history portfolios representing "work-in-process" materials.

When asked to place a value on the donation, society president Nelson "Woody" Woodell said it would be several months before everything is inventoried and we know what we have. "It is a gift worth several thousands of dollars," Woodell said.

Members of the society unpacked the shipment in the garage of Dale and Corinne Wise next to the location of the society's public genealogy library. Members sorting the materials would find an interesting book, sit down an start reading. "It took a long time to get things unpacked," said Corinne Wise. "I would look around and everyone was sitting down and reading - the unpacking and sorting became a very slow process," she said.

Willie Lee Jones made the donation to the local society in honor of her sister as a memorial, and Mrs. Jones said she wanted her sister's genealogy materials put to a good use.

Willie Lee Jones and Jessye Ann High are daughters of David Delbert Clinton Welch and Nancy Younger Oldham. The Welch family are descendants of President Thomas Jefferson.

Jessye Ann High had accumulated the genealogy materials and personal library as a life-lone serious genealogist. Her accumulation includes thousands of letters and vital record documents, stacks of notes, and loose sheets of paper. One of the items found in the shipment was a hand written copy of the 1890 census on lined three-ring notebook paper, over 4 inches thick.

Included in the microfilm are three rolls of the 1790 census, one roll of the 1810 North Carolina census and a rare Rowan County, North Carolina county court Docket Book for 1773-1800. Goodspeed's History of Pennsylvania is complete on three rolls of film. A roll of film on the 1890 special Census of Oklahoma and Indian Territories, and five rolls on the 1910 Oklahoma census were in the donation.

While many states are represented by the vital records books, most of the reference books are for Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Family surnames in the "work-in-process" portfolios include Bishop, Danney, Darwin, Heath, Jefferson, Markham, Maxey, McCallum/McCollum, Oldham, Shults/Shultz, Smith, Sullivan, Vickry, Walker, Widler/Wyler and Younger.

Librarian Gloria Harrington has the task of classifying the books and entering them in the card catalog file. The society operates its library on the Dewey Decimal system and the books will be numbered for location on the shelves. "Preserving and making the loose papers and materials available for researchers will be the biggest challenge," Mrs. Harrington said. "We need to organize this material so people can use it." she said.

"There was so much material - all packed in boxes - on the moving van, we don't know what we have" librarian Harrington said. Society members helping unload the 800 pound shipment were overwhelmed with the size and extent of this personal genealogy library.

The society is working with Willie Lee Jones on a suitable memorial for her sister. In addition to marking the donated books with a memorial book plate, the local society will be planning some other type of memorial for Jessye Ann High in its public library.

At the time of this article, the Genealogy Public Library was located in the Home of Dale and Corinne Wise's home at 2283 Holly. It's current location is 2126 N McCulloch Blvd, Suite 17 located in the Shambles Village of Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

The History of the London Bridge

There has been a bridge across the Thames for over 2,000 years. The first bridge was built by the Romans in 43.A.D. They built a temporary pontoon bridge which was planks laid across a row of anchored boats, or they may have used ferry boats. Soon the first London Bridge was built.

In 1821, a committee was appointed by Parliament to consider the condition of the bridge. The arches had been badly damaged by the Great Freeze, so it was decided to build a new bridge. Plans were submitted and rejected. This bridge would have to be quite different from the previous London Bridge as the old prints were for horse drawn carriages. In 1824, John Rennie's plans were accepted. The bridge was built 100 feet west of the old Bridge. On June 15, 1825, the first stone was laid by the Lord Mayor of London, John Garratt, in the presence of the Duke of York. six years later William IV and Queen Adelaid opened the New London Bridge and the old one was demolished. The Thames narrows 900 feet at this point.

This London Bridge was built out of granite which was quarried on Dartmoor. It was a structure of 5 arches, overall dimensions where 928 feet long and 49 feet wide.

In 1962, it was discovered that the London Bridge was falling down, sinking into the Thames because it was not adequate for the increased in traffic. Robert McCulloch learned that the British Government was putting the bridge up for sale. He submitted the winning bid for $2,460,000. Plans were made to move and reconstruct the bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Each piece was marked with four numbers. The first indicated which span, the second noted which row of stones, and the last tow numbers indicted which position in that row. It was discovered, while dismantling the bridge, that there were code numbers on each stone when it was originally built: Rennie must have used the same system when the sections left the quarries.

Reconstructing the Bridge in Lake Havasu City was done in the same manner as the Egyptians built pyramids. Sand mounds beneath each arch were carefully formed to the profile of the original Bridge arches, serving the same function as molds. When the work was completed, the sand was removed. A one-mile channel was dredged and water was diverted from the lake, under the bridge, then back into the lake. Thus the peninsula became an island.

The bridge was shipped by boat 10,000 miles to Long Beach, California. From there it was trucked to Lake Havasu city, where it was stored in a seven-acre fenced storage compound. On September 23, 1968, the Lord Mayor of London, Sir gilbert Inglefield, laid the corner stone. Robert Beresford, a civil engineer from Nottingham, England was in charge of the reconstruction of the London Bridge in Lake Havasu.

As a guideline, he had a copy of the original plans drawn by John Rennie. During the reconstruction, Mr. Beresford drew sketches of the bridge in different phases of construction. There are a limited number of these prints. When Mr. Beresford returned to England, he gave exclusive right to D & P Antiques in Lake Havasu City to sell these prints.

The Bridge was completed and dedicated on October 10, 1971.