Dedications
To Hazel Brooks Corder who showed unfailing interest and appreciation for every new fact and find, no matter how small, who drove me to Richmond (before I could drive myself) and sat patiently in the archives hour after hour, perched on a stepstool and trying to make sense of spidery writing on moldy deed books, and for never getting tired of hearing about her ancestors. You are missed.
Hazel Brooks Corder with great-granddaughter Savannah Poston
To Pearl Sluss Corder. Thank you for treating me as if I was one of your own grandchildren. You asked that you not be forgotten and I made you that promise. Your memory will live on for all of us who knew you and love you still, and for generations to come.
Pearl Sluss Corder holding a red teddy bear she made for me when I was a baby.
To Zella Corder. Remember when I used to ask, "...and who was his grandfather? And who was his grandfather?" Well, now we know. Thanks for telling me what you knew, and for all the evenings in front of the fire, allowing a small child with sticky fingers have unrestrained access to a shoebox full of ancient photos (and to just about anything else she darned well pleased).
To Gladys Reed Montgomery. Thank you for breathing life into the memory of those long gone. I am so glad I found you before it was too late. We did not have long, but we sure did have fun! You showed me that only the body grows old - the spirit can remain forever young.
Acknowledgements and Special Thanks
I want to express special thanks to the following people who have helped me along the way with my research:
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Thelma Henderson Schoolfield - Thanks for the 40-plus years' worth of research materials you've shared with me, and for infecting me with the genealogy bug! Our trip to Scotland was a triumph...except for the part where you blacked out on the Royal Mile and ended up in the Edinburgh infirmary for the first three days of our trip. Time spent with Thelma...never dull.
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Plez Corder, my late grandfather - Who grumped that I "always had him into everything," and I should "just throw all that mess into the creek" -- but got his hat and keys and went along anyway to whatever obscure family history destination(s) I had on my agenda.
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Charles Henderson, my late grandfather - I've made a lot of discoveries since you and I used to drive the Carolina countryside of your youth. I've found things you would have enjoyed learning about. I wish you could be here to hear about them.
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Paul Corder - Thank you for realizing that a young person had limited resources, and that driving "all over creation hunting that stuff down" was draining to them. I very much appreciated all those twenties.
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Jim and Louise Hoge - Thank you for welcoming me to Burke's Garden and treating me to some of the most enjoyable and memorable moments of my genealogical career. I will never forget that winter afternoon spent in your company; time measured by the ticking of the mantle clock, softened by the crackling fire, sweetened by dear old Sam's head on my knee, made magical by snow falling like feathers outside the conservatory windows. Thank you for helping me preserve something for my family that would have most certainly been lost forever; the knowledge of the final resting place of Elijah Corder, Sr.
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Mr. James Sewell of the Guildhall Library, London - My sincerest appreciation for the assistance and guidance you provided to me on many subjects of 18th century English history, and for responding promptly to each and every inquiry.
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Dr. Horace Loftin - Horace, you are the best! I grin every time I see those Onslow County history books sitting on my book shelf.
And to all of you who have sat patiently through endless rounds of persistant personal questions and interviews, I thank you...and posterity thanks you!