The
Rawlin(g)s Rollin(g)s Family History Association
Volume 1 No. 1 March 1988
Dear Rawlin(g)s/Rollin(g)s
Cousins:
Welcome to the Rawlin(g)s/Rollin(g)s Family History Association Newsletter, the newest in the field of family history publications which number in the hundreds throughout the United States and Canada. So far as we know, there is no other family history association of this surname, which is surprising when you consider that a recent publication indicated that at present there are over 1800 heads of families bearing this name in the United States alone.
We are all familiar with the various spellings of this surname ... from RAWLINS to RAOLINGS, and every combination of letters in between. But no matter how one spells it, the name is a proud one to bear, noted in world history back to the 9th Century, a name which played a part in government, exploration, industry and the arts, active in peace and war. There were Baptists and Quakers, Episcopalians and Roman Catholics, Methodists and Presbyterians. There were slaves and slaveholders with this surname, small farmers and huge plantation owners, city dwellers and frontiersmen, actors and writers. There were privates and officers, men cashiered out of the army for desertion or malingering, and those decorated for heroic acts during wartime, all bearing this name. Cousins fought cousins in the Civil War with this name, and there were both loyalists and rebels in the Revolutionary War. And this name was found in the rosters of World Wars One and Two, the Korean action and Viet Nam, and I know of one marine by that name who serves today.
It is our hope that this first issue of the Rawlin(g)s/Rollin(g)s Family History Association Newsletter will offer proof of our intention to produce an interesting, informative, and hopefully enjoyable presentation of this family's facts and history, both in general and in specific as to particular lines. I have been told that there are over fifty lines registered with the Mormon Library in Salt Lake City. You would think that would make it easy to trace one's own, but not so. There are mysteries and mix-ups, misinformation and mistakes. With the help of this Newsletter and family association it is hoped that many of these inaccuracies will be corrected and clarified.
We also hope you will consider joining with us in this work. We look forward to hearing from you with contributions to the Newsletter, and with suggestions for its improvement.
THE EDITOR
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"If a man is fortunate, he will, before he dies, gather up his civilized heritage and transmit it to his children. And to his final breath he will be grateful for the inexhaustible legacy, knowing that it is our nourishing mother and our lasting life. "
W. & A. Durant