Did you ever think that doing genealogical research might save your life? I have a genealogical chart that enables me to put down the cause of death for each ancestor.

Learning about your ancestors' maladies can help revive your research and even improve your own health.

Vital information about health problems in your family can help you take better care of yourself. One family discovered that the females of the family carried an enzyme that hindered coagulation and there was a four-generation history of strokes in the family.

It might be a good idea to ask family members which illnesses run in the family and what great-grandmother died of. Do members of your family develop adult-onset diabetes? If so, it would be a good idea to limit your intake of sugar early in life and possibly avoid this problem.

Often death certificates give cause of death, but the cause that really bothers me when given on a death certificate is "senility." This is certainly a problem, but was NOT the cause of death.

If there is a history of heart problems that run in your family, it would be a good idea to limit your intake of cholesterol before you develop this problem.

Funeral home records will sometimes list of cause of death in their records. Check and see what you may locate on your family!

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I am trying to find information about my paternal great-grandparents: James Monroe Colr and Alcy Wrdy. James was born in 1842 in Louisiana and died 4 June 1919 in the Confederate Home in Austin.

He was buried in the Texas State Cemetery, but I cannot find the grave site of Alcy West Cole. The family came to Texas in 1877 and are listed in the 1880 census of Nacogdoches County, the 1900 Census of Shelby County, but were back in Nacogdoches at the time of the 1910 Census.

When and where did Alcy die? I suspect she was buried in Nacogdoches county, but I need to know where. Would like to hear from anyone information about the family. Marilyn (Cole) McKay, marilynmckay2@yahoo.com.

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Seeking information on my great grandmother, Emma Alabama (KING) Teague, born in 5 July 1868 Sumter County, Alabama, married to John Bartley Teague 19 November 1885 Hill County, Texas, and died in Yoakum County, Texas 4 September 1939. She was buried at Dublin, Texas.

The only thing I have discovered about her ancestry is that her father may have been a D. K. KING. I found in the 1860 Census of Nacogdoches that there was a D. King in Nacogdoches at that time, a male, 22 years old, born in Alabama approximately 1838. Was he her father? Any help will be appreciated. Vivian Petrea, Iuka, Illinois, viz_49r@yahoo.com.

Editor's note: The exact dates of birth and death are from her death certificate.

According to what I found on the Internet, her parents were John S. and Mary Jane (Tate) King. Further research may definitely prove who her parents were.

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Another early Nacogdoches obituary:

Monday, November 14, 1904

"Broke His Neck

"Fred Abernathy, thirteen year old son of M.C. Abernathy, who lives near Corine, was killed Tuesday morning at 11:30 while driving a wagon loaded with sugar cane. No one saw the accident, but it is supposed the horses became unmanageable and the wagon struck a tree, thereby throwing young Abernathy out on his head and breaking his neck. The boy's cries attracted the attention of some persons nearby, and they found him suffering intensely from his injuries. He lived only two hours after the accident." Jacksonville Reformer.

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Saturday, November 19, 1904

"Neck Broken

"While returning to his home near Clawson late Monday evening, Mr. J.B. Walker, a prominent and highly respected citizen of this county, happened to an accident that cost him his life.

"Mr. Walker had been spending the day in Lufkin, and from the best information obtainable, while enroute home he attempted to alight from his horse and his foot hung in the stirrup. The horse became frightened and ran and when found by the roadside Mr. Walker was dead, his neck having been broken. He was a brother of R.P. Walker and Mrs. A.M. Denman of this city and his untimely death is universally regretted by all who knew him. His remains were laid to rest in Walker grave yard. Lufkin Tribune.