Every family has a "keeper of the old" who collects and preserves the family stories, photos, traditions, and keepsakes. They are always willing to share the knowledge they have collected. Among the grandchildren of William Rufus Durr, the keepers were Ludie Bell Cutright (d/o Robert Jackson Durr), Marie Williams (d/o Rufus Gilbert Durr), and Ollie Haskins (d/o Kelly Franklin Durr). They amassed information in the time before internet research and shared with whoever asked. We who are the keepers now have big shoes to fill.
I started research in 1972, shortly after both of my grandfathers died one month apart. At that time genealogy was an old person's hobby with very little information to be found outside libraries, courthouses, and cemeteries. I was lucky that so many of my grandmother's relatives were alive and able to tell me about the Durr family. I treasure the letters I got from Uncle Seth Megason telling me about the Michael Durr family. After the movie "ROOTS" came out many more information sources became available, but protestant church records were non-existent so much information was still only available in the courthouses, family bibles, cemeteries, and from the family itself. While I was busy being a mother in the 1980's & 1990's, my aunt, Connie Daniel, was doing most of the research and contacted Ludie Bell, Marie, and Ollie. She very carefully shared all the information with me, including failed attempts to find the parents of David H., Michael D., and Jim Durr. She has since turned all her research over to me.
I did not have the privilege of working with Ludie Bell, but have been in contact with some of her family that received copies of her work after her death. Ollie Haskins died before she and I could do the in-depth sorting of her information she had planned. Her nephew Randy received most of her Durr materials and has shared all the photos and papers with me. Shortly after Ollie died, I visited Marie. She was worried about what would happen to her research after her death and I told her that I would take care of it if she put my name on her boxes. She said she would if I promised to finish the book of descendants she had been trying to compile for years. Little did I know five months later she would be gone. There have been researchers from other parts of the William Rufus Durr family and descendants of his siblings whom I have shared information with. This website is the culmination of this knowledge.
Please do not assume that I know everything there is to know about the Durrs. I have posted this website in an attempt to allow family researchers work together and possibly develop new leads on the parents of David H. & Michael D. Durr. If you have information that you do not see posted here, please share it with me so that I might add it to the collection and share it with the others. I have, or know where to find, the documentation for everything posted on this website and will verify any new information before posting. I also have a lot more information of the families, especially living members, which I am not posting for privacy reasons.
Susan Laurent
| Susan Laurent Obit | ||
| Family History | ||
| Michael D. Durr | David H. Durr | |
| William Rufus Durr | ||
| Reunions & Homecomings | ||
| Gone But Not Forgotten | ||
| Home | ||
For more information on the Durr family, contact:
Susan Laurent
(Susan@DoubleDurr.com).
(Last edited: 3/23/2011)
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