In today's Clarion Ledger newspaper, Jackson, Ms.

June 29, 2007

'Opening the Ozarks' an eye-opening read

By Nancianne Parkes Suber
Special to The Clarion-Ledger

The American Society of Genealogists has just published a remarkable set of books titled Opening the Ozarks 1835-1839, First Families of Southwest Missouri.

Compiled by revered genealogist Marsha Hoffman Rising, who spent 16 years researching the topic, the project traces the origins of the first 1,000 pioneers who bought land from the Springfield, Mo., land office. The land office opened in June 1835 and the list continues through March 1839.

The aim of this project was to find the geographical origins of these men and women before they settled in Missouri. Origins of some 850 people actually were determined.

The research resulted in a massive published work of 2,962 pages in four separate volumes.

Indexed by Patricia Hatcher, FASG, the index alone provides more than 10,000 entries including every name, location and subject such as cemeteries, churches, military organizations, causes of death, divorce, migration trails and pensions.

Primary records from more than 700 counties were used. And these counties were not only in Missouri but in Kansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois, Georgia, South Carolina, Oregon, California, Texas and other states. What an amazing study of migration and settlement!

By visiting http:// mhrsing.com/Opening%20the%20Ozarks/First%20Families%20of%20SW%20MO.htm, you can view an alphabetical list of the families included in the book and determine if any of your own lines may have connections to these early settlers. The list includes each settler's name, date of birth and death and the name of his spouse.

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David Upton