Over the years I have had the privilege of corresponding with a number of Kerley researchers. A lot of this correspondence took place before the Internet became as robust and well-developed as it is today. These researchers were, without exception, extremely generous with their time and in sharing documents, theories and ideas. Generally, we were coming at this difficult research problem (i.e., the Kerley family history) from different angles, and thus were able to offer each other useful perspectives and sometimes confirming data. I am indebted to each of these persons for their help and assistance.
In particular I would like to thank:
Loreda Wood Davis of Crossville, Tennessee (for her material pertaining to the James Kerley (1757 - 1810) family
Bernice Evans of Corpus Christi, Texas. Bernice was one of the first researchers I found who agreed that a lot of the early Kerley research erroneously intermixed the Henry -Sarah Kerley and William-Mary Bostic families. She painstakingly traced records in central Tennessee to show that these are two separate families with a lot of common names.
Marina Blatherwick. Marina was one of the first persons to study the Kerley family. She lived in the late 1800's and early 1900's and thus had the opportunity to talk directly to several old members of the Kerley family. She obtained first-hand knowledge of the early origins of the Kerley family, and much of the anecdotal stories we have today are the result of Marina's vigorous pursuit of the real story of the Kerleys.
Jim Henry for his work on the family line of James Kerley (1779 to 1854).
Dorothy K. Keenan.
Amy White of Winston-Salem North Carolina, particularly for her tracking down some of Marina Blatherwick's correspondence in the first part of the 1900's.
Jim Fritsch for his work on Major William Kerley
Wanda Walters of Casper, Wyoming