That's fabulous news!
For those of you who are not familiar with Pat Walker, he was a first
cousin of Sandy and of Don Cooley, who was the first person of our clan to
DNA test (I was the second). He loved genealogy, wrote a lot of letters
and published Cooley Cousins for several years. He also speculated a
lot--but amended his speculations as soon as he found new information.
Although he did not invent the Cooley Dutch myth (Lura Hamil did that), he
is probably the person responsible for suggesting that our John Cooley was
the John Cooley of Hamil's imagination. I have no doubt that Pat would
have dismissed the notion in the face of all the new evidence we've
gathered.
I mention him near the top of
http://ancestraldata.com/ahnentafel/256/ .
Dennis Young transcribed several of his letters, which I have placed here:
http://ancestraldata.com/ahnentafel/256/PatWalker-letters.html , and Sandy
scanned the issues of Cooley Cousins in her possession, here:
http://ancestraldata.com/ahnentafel/256/cooleycousinsnewsletter/
Congrats, Sandy! Hopefully, there's some new information and, especially
documentation. If nothing else, perhaps we'll uncover a part of the
evolution of the Dutch Cooley myth.
-Michael
> Recently I was contacted by a man in St. Louis about some boxes that had
> Dale "Pat" Walker's pictures and research in it. He wanted to find a
> relative that wanted it. Of course, I said YES. It most likely is just a
> small part of it as it weights only 36 pounds and was in only two boxes.
> However, he said if he found more he would let me know. He thought Dale
> died in 1996, but saw that I said 1993. I told him I could send a copy of
> his original death certificate and a copy of Aunt Maureen's letter to me
> giving her son Dale's research to me. He didn't need nor want the copies.
>
> UPS tracking says I will receive it on Tuesday. Guess I will be very busy
> for a long time going through it and will share what I find.
> Sandy
>
>
> ________________________________
--
Second VP, the Cooley Family Association of America
Administrator, the Akins DNA Project
Administrator, the Ashenhurst DNA Project
Administrator, the Bishop DNA Project
Administrator, the Eldridge DNA Project
Administrator, the alt-McDowell DNA Project
Co-Administrator, the Cooley DNA Project
Co-Administrator, the McDougall DNA Project
Instructor "Genealogy and Family History," the Osher Lifelong Learning
Institute (OLLI)
B.A. Humboldt State University, History
Received on Sat Aug 24 2013 - 14:32:22 MDT