Beverly's letter of 1990

Letter dated 1 May 1990 from Beverly Rambo to Ron Beatty

Dear Ron:

Please forgive me for being so late in answering your Christmas letter. It was such descriptive and newsy one. However, it did sound as if you were going to give up "roaming" awhile when you mentioned putting your bike up for sale.

Anyway, some drastic changes have occurred in my life. Since last Sept., I have had nothing but health problems. At that time I developed herpes zoster (shingles) of the facial nerve that involved the left eye, scalp, forehead, and nose. What a terribly painful disease that lasts and lasts! It dominated my consciousness and took all my energy.

At least so I thought, until I developed pronounced abdominal distention by mid to end February. I was hospitalized, had all the tests, then an exploratory operation. It is a bad type of cancer and though I have had two chemotherapy treatments, the chemo reaction on me seems as bad as the disease. Although it has been 2 months since the surgery, this is the first I have been able to sit up long enough at the computer to do anything. But I can guarantee you would not be able to read my handwriting.

So I may not be able to do any more genealogy on the Rambos. My thought was that we had discussed possible ways of handling the revision and addition of new material. What would you think of taking on such a job on your own? Any thoughts? Don't rush into a decision, though. Just get in touch with me first, okey?

I contacted Peter Craig, Esq. of Washington, D.C., the noted Swedish colonial historian. He was as concerned as I that my Rambo material be preserved, and not lost to future researchers. I asked if the Geneal. Society of Pennsylvania might be interested, so he wrote them. The other day, I had a phone call from Mrs. Seagreaves, the archivist, who was excited about receiving the material,. if it were not already in an updated printed volume! They have someone who would catalog the papers which could be as much as 20 linear feet of shelf space to weed through.

I've about run out of energy for now, and will close. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely, Beverly Rambo

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Letter dated 23 May 1990 from Beverly Rambo to Peter Craig

Dear Peter:

After 2 months of invalidism, I finally refused my scheduled chemotherapy 2 1/2 weeks ago. Since then, I have been making tiny strides forward. I've been able to eat, walk a short distance, and work at the computer for up to 2 hours before I give out. Now that is progress.

Just wanted to bring you up to date on my project. I found a young man in the middle of "Bankston" country of Louisiana who would be excited to do the BANKSTON FAMILY HISTORY. He has already published a history of one of the parishes and included genealogy on a number of the original families. He has numerous contacts with other Bankstons in LA, AL, GA, and MS. He is also working on a history of Tangipahoa Parish for an exhibit for some type of local celebration.

His name and address are: [omitted]

Last year I spent a couple of days with a young Rambo descendant. One topic of discussion was how to proceed with revisions of the Rambo book without making it a 20 lb. tome.

Anyway, I contacted him, and he would like very much to undertake the project of revising the book. I mentioned that the Geneal. Soc. of PA would take the Rambo records for their archives, but he wasn't thrilled with that idea. He said he had tried getting some records from the Archives - with little success. He is traveling in New Mexico and Colorado this summer, but wants to start the book in early fall. Both young men have two or more computers each! I think it would be a big advantage to have the Rambo book redone and the Bankston history published. The Rambo reviser is

RONALD BEATTY

P.O. Box 1468

BIG PINE KEY, FL 33043-1468 [obsolete]

Not much else of news here. I'm not sure that I'll have energy to generate an index for the Bankston material - names have to extracted manually because ancestors are listed for each family.

Good luck and excellent reception for your June presentation!

[signed] Beverly

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Unfortunately Beverly died the day in June before I arrived in L.A. to discuss my acquisition of her materials. Her sister, who administered her estate, has been a "stone wall," willing to promise anything over the phone, but not ever actually doing anything. Her brother is even less helpful. Beverly's materials were stored in his basement until he moved to Tennessee, at which time he admits they were "disposed."

I cannot state this too strongly: If you care about the disposition of your genealogical materials, PROVIDE FOR THEM IN YOUR WILL - and give a description of the size of the collection. Otherwise you can kiss it goodbye.

Click here to return to the Rambo download page or here to return to Ron Beatty's home page, or.

Pages of personal interest: Eve's Garden Organic Bed and Breakfast, a wonderful, eclectic, artistic papercrete alternative living learning mecca in Marathon, Texas, Ron Beatty's home page, the Rambo genealogy, Bankston genealogy, the Dorsey Overturff family, cousin Jean's Schenck and Hegeman genealogy, Eric's RPM coins.