Beginning March 2nd, 2020 the Mailing Lists functionality on RootsWeb will be discontinued. Users will no longer be able to send outgoing emails or accept incoming emails. Additionally, administration tools will no longer be available to list administrators and mailing lists will be put into an archival state.
Administrators may save the emails in their list prior to March 2nd. After that, mailing list archives will remain available and searchable on RootsWeb
As Thanksgiving rapidly approaches, I think it would be good to share
with you, my fellow Choate's and Choate researchers, the TRUE story of
the 1st Thanksgiving and how our distant relative, Furd T. Choate was
responsible for the 1st turkey dinner. I know that many of you will not
believe this story, but I am in the process of having the parchment
(which I believe to be made of turkey skin) analyzed and carbon dated to
prove the validity of what I am about to relate to you - my relations.
You won't find Furd's name in the history books because he was a
stow-away on the
Mayblossom. He spent the entire voyage hiding in the #13 life-boat,
drinking from water
condensation off the life-boat cover and eating nothing but Hershey
candy bars he had
brought from home. Furd ran away from home because of horrible living
conditions -
Furd's Mommy had a rhyming compulsion and gave all her children rhyming
names -
Small Paul was a midget, Hairy Mary was a bearded lady for the Barnum &
Bailey Circus
and Furd T_ _ _ had a serious body odor problem. (Mom apparently spent
all her money
on Rhyming Dictionaries rather than soap and deodorants.)
Any way, after the boat landed and the Pilgrims began their colony,
Furd's presence was
noticed. The leaders decided to make Furd a kind of flunky and gave him
all sorts of
menial jobs to do - scrubbing the sidewalks and stuff like that.
Towards the end of
November, they sent Furd out into the forest to gather feathers for
feather beds and feather pillows. (It seems that the mayor and his wife
were allergic to polyester.)
While looking for feathers, Furd noticed a fine looking bunch poking
over the top of a
bush. He walked up to and grabbed them - the large turkey that they
were attached to had watched Furd come up to it with a feeling of
disbelief because everyone knew that you couldn't just walk up to a
turkey. The turkey's amazement didn't release it's grip on the bird
until Furd had delivered the feathers, bird and all, to the Mayor.
It just so happened that Chief Wanderingbowels, chief of the
Skatawatchiepookie Tribe,
was visiting the Mayor, looking for a fourth for his golf game on
Saturday (this being
Thursday time was running out). Chief Wanderingbowels was almost as
amazed as the
poor old turkey when he saw Furd. Tribal legend said that anyone who
caught a turkey
bare-handed could share the wisdom, strength and intelligence of the
bird if they would
share the drum-sticks with others. (The Chief was a Ringo Starr fan.)
Immediately the Chief told the Mayor of an old custom of the
Skatawatchiepookie Tribe
where they shared a special meal with friends who just happened to have
a turkey available to eat. Need I say more? The turkey was eaten - all
the Pilgrims and members of the Skatawatchiepookie Tribe gained the
wisdom of the turkey and ended up running around inside a shelter made
by someone who hadn't eaten any of the turkey.
And that is how Furd T. Choate was responsible for the first
Thanksgiving and the first
Turkey Dinner. Unfortunately, Furd never married because all the women
of the colony
preferred men who gobbled their food - and noone would ever gobble a
Hershey bar!
I know that you may have trouble believing this - but I believe it to be
true and I hope to prove it - if I can get the turkey-skin parchment
away from the cat.
I am searching for some info that came across the web in Aug about
Austin Bulger Choate. My records say it came from Bev Casey, but the
email address for her isn't any good. Can anyone help me with this?
Many Thanks,
Dave Choate
X-URL: http://members.aol.com/gresinet/gen_mail_surnames-c.html
X-Mailer: Lynx, Version 2.7.1ac-0.93
X-Personal_name: B.D. Gordon
X-From: bubblyshus(a)hotmail.com
Hello. I would like to be included in any discussion about the
name(s) (C) Shoate. I'm doing a VERY leisurely family history research
in my spare time.
The Shoates I would like to know about may have moved from or are
in Tennessee. The Shoates I'm most familiar with are from Spiro, Oklahoma
or Indian Territory in those days.
Thanks for any information you can give me and I'll try to share some of
mine!
B.D. Gordon
Hello all- I am hoping you won't mind my forwarding this to the list in
hopes someone might be able to help this couple get started on their Choate
line. I have also sent them the instructions for subbing, and they will
probably become regulars. If you have info to share, please reply to
jfllawson(a)aol.com
Thanks for letting us borrow the space for this - Maria
>Dear Maria:
>Please forgive me for not having any information on your
>BABCOCK/BADCOCK'S. It is not that surname that I write about but your
>own - that of CHOATE.
>
>My husbands mother was born Ollie Luellen Choate, 18 Feb 1895, in
>Briartown, Muskogee, OK. He is having a terrible time getting any
>documentation or information on the family. Her parents were supposedly
>Drew Cass CHOATE (but we have found him on a census as Dan CHOATE) and
>Mary Caldona HEARRON. Might you know anything about any of these people.
> Ollie always said she was born in Indian Territory and that somewhere in
>her direct line was an Indian. (the tribe is uncertain)
>
>Your name caught my eye and I had to respond. My husband is rather
>discouraged because he hasn't even been able to document the early life
>of his parents. His mother has been dead since 1966, and of course, we
>weren't into genealogy then. All the sisters seem to have about the same
>recollections but they don't back too far.
>
>Any help you might give us would be greatly appreciated. Maybe you might
>know of someone else who is working on the CHOATE surname in OK or maybe
>you know of the better archives in the area and would share them with us.
>
>
>Thanks, in advance, Maria, for any help you might send our way.
>
>Jane Lyle Lawson
>for my husband:Milburn Wesley Lawson, b. 7 Jul 1928, Maude, Seminole, OK.