"Silver Notes" and "Silver Threads" |
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Go to [SILVER THREADS]
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Go to [SILVER NOTES] page. |
Many years ago, John Silver Harris, one of the first family historians, started a periodic newsletter called "Silver Notes". Johnny created this as a means to communicate with his many contacts in the Silver Family. These family members had assisted him in authoring and publishing the many books written regarding our family; the most widely known being "Silver: Our Pioneer Ancestors". "Silver Notes" provided the instrument to continue research and provide feedback to family members. It was a well-loved creation. After many years of collecting and publishing family information, Johnny's workload was restricting the amount of time available to work on the newsletter. John Silver (the co-host of this website) stepped in to continue the publication for his mentor, 'computerizing' the many boxes of material for easier search and retrieval. The original 'round-robin' format was becoming unwieldy given the increasing audience, so in October 1997, the first subscription format of "Silver Notes" was issued. Cousin Clarence Tillery, fed up with retirement, came on board to handle the production work, freeing John up to focus on the writing. Clarence and his wife, Margaret, never missed a deadline over the next five years. A number of family reported submitted stories for publication during this time. Special thanks to Wayne Silver of Kona, David Taylor of Hickory, Nancy Puckett of Morganton, Wanda Silver Ball of Mars Hill, Laura Cowan Cooper of Kodak, TN, Carolyn Silver Sutton of Cave Spring, GA, and Gladys Gibbs of Old Fort. In January 2001, Rex Redmond joined Clarence and John as a primary writer. In June 2001, cousin and friend Wayne Silver died. He had been the 'Keeper of the Flame' at the old homestead for many years, and without his input, it was decided to close down "Silver Notes". The last issue was mailed out July 2001. Most of the subscribers took their refunded subscriptions and donated them to the Kona Baptist Church Building Fund, helping to repair the roof of the building that houses the Silver Museum. At the family reunion in July 2001, cousin Kay Silver offered to continue the newsletter. She and cousin Rex collaborated in producing "Silver Notes" and "Silver Notes II" until the end of 2002. At this point, Rex decided to start an online version of the newsletter -- formerly "Silver Notes II Online" but now called "Silver Threads". Kay will continue the original newsletter until August 2003. Rex continued editing the online newsletter until December 2004 when John Silver took over. John served as editor and researcher for three and a half years, until his passing in June 2008. After a six-month hiatus, the newsletter came around full circle as John Silver Harris, the man who started all this, returned to take over the editing duties. |
Updated 11 August 2013, Barney Kaufman |