We should start with what I "actually" saw (and you did too probably) — the general
poor condition of the stuff at the libraries (not just in Booneville, but ALL OF
THEM). Any material that has been there for any length was not in very good
condition.
One of the Owsley County's original compilers, James F Bowman, died in 1971.
His material had been donated to the library. His brother Arch Bowman died in
1987 and some of his material was also found in the Booneville Library. Then
over the years that followed, the pages had become torn, coffee stained, lost, out of
place, crumpled, and you name it. The old records were not in very good shape -
this deeply troubled me that our ancestors memories were beginning to fade.
I had a "little" bit of use on this thing called a "computer" on which I took care of
my Home Inspection Business - A light bulb begun to become brighter and I tried to
figure a way to develop a system which would NEVER again lose data and would
always go forward by keeping it improved and updated and we could add new
gleaned information to all of the records with just a couple of keystrokes when new
facts were found. Then, if and when someday when newer systems were
introduced, this data "hopefully" could be transferred to something better (computers
and software were "exploding" with new technology and speed all the time).
How it actually got started??? I had an old DOS Computer Program called FIRST
CHOICE in which there was a way to build a simple data-base. I used the
feature which "merged" repetitive information and data from the database to my
daily working documents about 1984 (so I didn't have to type so much in my
reporting system). You can probably get some clues of my thoughts from the disk
I made with the Clay County Historical Society Meeting back in 1993. You will
also hear the excitement in those people's voices when I showed them first hand
what could be done and this scary thing called a computer.
Then I started by adding the names and information from the 1850 Owsley County
Census and I don't remember which census I used (which author?). Each person
got his OWN individual record added which appeared in the census. I could add
new "fields" of information as I needed and move them around on the page just to
make what I felt would be helpful to us. Fields like PARENTS... MARRIED
WHOM?... MARRIED WHEN?... BIRTH DATE?... DEATH DATE?...
HOUSEHOLD #... ETC...
The success I had with the 1850 census inspired me to add the 1860, 1870,
and 1880 census information. By then I had about 15,000 records in the database
of Owsley folks. Then I would bring home 100s of copies of pages made in the
Booneville Library with ANY KIND of information which I felt that would be
helpful. For instance local marriage records would tell me the woman's maiden
name of the people in the 15,000 PLUS marriage date sometimes and even the
place of the marriage. So I would add a couple of more "fields". Then I would
find personal family history studies that people had dropped off at the library.
Cemetery studies were a great source of information. I also had been meeting with
local residents of Owsley which helped me fill in details.
A few days after the '93 meeting I had in Manchester I got a call from Pat Saupe, a
well known researcher specializing in Clay County facts. She said, (and I'm
paraphrasing now) "I heard about you, but my car had broken down and I could not
make the meeting" (she lives in Southern Indiana). She went on, "BUT, if I had
known about your subject I would have rode a horse to Manchester because I too
feel that a system like yours would be a great help to all researchers". I loaded up
my computer and showed the "system" at her home in Moore's Hill, Indiana (no
relation). She said she was ready to help and add the Clay County people. WOW,
maybe I am on the right track I thought.
Right away I had a regular column in the CCAN magazine called "THE
COMPUTER SAYS". I would send them a random list of people for the magazine
and ask our members to help fill in my blanks. The response was overwhelming
and people from everywhere wanted to help. I corresponded with dozens of people
all over this country to help fill in my blanks. If I tried to name them all, I just
could not do it. It was the PEOPLE and their ties to Owsley and Clay Counties &
eventually other neighboring counties who kept me going.
When I got ready to enter the 1900 Owsley County Census I met Betty Bowman
Gabbard, from Booneville (former school teacher, who had been transcribing the
census and she wanted to help out with the Database). I showed her the system and
she fired up and went to work. I would say that there is no doubt Betty has caught
up with or maybe even surpassed me in adding information to the system. Sadly, we lost Betty Sue Bowman Gabbard in February of 2019. There is NOTHING I can say to express my feelings for this wonderful person and what she meant for the creation of this database.
Now, to the quandary of time and the old system. The more entries we had
entered, the slower the system became and it was time to transfer and update the
data after 20 some odd years. The system just could not handle the bulk we asked it
for and I had to break it up into smaller files, which was beginning to make it more
difficult to sort and search. HELP - I cried to everyone I came in contact with...
Then I saw him riding up on a dark dreary night on a White Horse with new
technology in his hand. He said: "GIVE ME A TRY, I might be able to help
you". His name is Dwight Finger from California... Stayed Tuned, This is going
to be BIG...