This web site is about John Morgan Minter and his descendants. John Morgan Minter, whose ancestry has been traced back to early Virginia, was born in 1792 in Chatham County, North Carolina. He migrated to Georgia as a young man, married, and began a family. In 1855 he and most of his family moved to Texas.
When I first began this project in January of 1999, I thought it would simply just be a matter of gathering the information for this story and put it on the web site, and then sit back and fine tune it. As it turns out there is a lot more to it than that. It is more a process than a product. Walter Minter, a researcher of Minters, appends a little quote to his e-mail messages that says, "a small piece of the world's largest puzzle." And how true that is. There are many gaps and loose ends in the Minter story, but the story will go on so long as there are descendants.
Once I appreciated the magnitude of the effort, and that it was a ongoing project, I decided to change the format here to accommodate this realization. I have now recast part of the web site in a book form that is evolving. The other part of the site will be devoted to current happenings, pictures, and so on related to the Minters. Eventually almost everything will fold into the book. Once completed, one will be able to print the entire work beginning with the frontspiece and winding up with the complete genealogical record. The need for a better format was brought home to me when I promised a cousin of mine, who is 81 years-old, who doesn't have access to Internet that I would send here some information on the Minter family. In doing this the problem surfaced as what to send and how it should logically organized.
So as this project moves along you will see these pages take on the character of a formal book. In time, the history of Pine Forest and that of the Minters will be woven together, since both are so closely entwined. The Minters and life in Pine Forest from 1855 to 1945 needs to be fleshed out more. And still, a lot more needs to be learned and told about the first known Minters in Virginia and the historical/genealogical descendancy to the birth of John Morgan Minter in 1792. And the most ambitious, will be to set down the entire genealogical record, to the extent it is known, in the appendix of the book.
But the more complete telling of the Minter story involves more than just one person. In addition to what those doing genealogical research turn up, descendants and friends of the Minters can help in immeasurable ways. They can send me clippings and photographs. They can write their remembrances of Minters and events and pass them on. In doing this one shouldn't be too concerned about their grammar and spelling . . . just get things down the best you can and we will work together on the final product. Such little bits and pieces of information are important, for they are just as much a part of the larger story as tombstones, marriage licenses, and death certificates. If someone doesn't take the time to record them, they will be lost to eternity -- future generations will never know about them.
I have already had a lot of help from Minter descendants. Dennis J. "Jack" Robinson of Houston, Texas, collaborates with me on this project, and has generously supported the effort. Jack has done a lot of research on the John Morgan line, and has contributed numerous photographs and details about the Minters and has kept me accurate in my presentations. W. D. Minter of Texarkana, Texas, a genealogical researcher of his line of Minters from Abner Hill Minter, a brother of John Morgan, has freely provided me with information and encouragement. Jorene Orr of Birthright, Texas, and Mary Ann Pleasant of Pickton, Texas, have both supplied me with details about the Minters and have given me their support. Walter Minter of Pulaski, Virginia, a Minter researcher and president of the Minter Family Association of Caroline County, Virginia , has documented the link between his line of Minters of early Virginia and the John Morgan family. Dana Elliott of the Hopkins County Geneaology Society, who is married to a Minter descendant, has been very helpful, and pointed me in the right direction when I first started to inquire into my Minter background. To all these people I say thanks, and I solicit their help in keeping this project moving.
11-25-99
Thomas J. Minter
529 SW 123rd Pl
Oklahoma City, OK 73170
Telephone: 405-735-3818
