| About Judy Harper Family
Note to all Gooch family researchers: I just found the Gooch Family papers 1853-1905. They can be viewed at the website of The State Historical Society of Missouri under their digital collection.These letters were written by John I Gooch to his brother James W Gooch, his father and several other Gooch members. His letters reveal how lonely he was. All his letters were written while serving as a Union soldier. In October 2019 I had a DNA test through Ancestry.com. Very surprising. I have an abundant number of cousins out there. Ethnicity included Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Europe. In 1990 my quest to find Harper/Norton ancestors began. I wanted to know if I had any connection to Native Americans, Cherokee and Chocktaw. The research dates back to the 1600s. In this search I found several wonderful Cousins. Through these Cousins I found information about my ancestors and many wonderful stories that are included in this tribalpages site. It was found through DNA testing that the Harper side had no direct ancestry with the North American Indians but cousins throughout Ancestry could prove North American Indians were in my past as a connection. My search continues and I would be happy to hear from anyone with information concerning the Harper and Norton families, or any branch families. All names listed on this website are currently under research. Like all researchers I have an ancestor that eludes me: Catherine Raeckler, born probably 1845?, married Thomas Burton Harper, died 1860-63. I have tried variations of her name and came up with nothing. Most likely is Rackler. They were living in the Ft. Smith, Arkansas region during the Civil War. Various spelling: Reckler, Rakler, Rucker, Rakler, Rekler, Ruckler. Catherine is listed on this site as "Rackler." I am sure there are other ways to spell her last name. Her name might even be "Rutledge." Email me if you have information concerning this person or her relatives. NOTE: Be very careful when using online databases. I have found many errors on RootsWeb and Ancestry. But even though there may be errors on these and other sites at least it's a beginning to other research sites. |
Judy Harper Family
