Sometime in the early 1990s, maybe '92 or '93, I used a software called Tapcis, which was an access program for the Compuserve Information Service. Tapcis was an automated utility that sped up access to and management of CompuServe email accounts and forum memberships for PC users. Through Tapcis, I participated in several forums, the first being the Law-SIG under which the court reporters forum was hosted until it grew large enough to have its own SIG (special interest group) area. Branching out from the court reporters forum, I learned there were many others, such as the medical-SIG, travel-SIG, and then located the genealogy-SIG, which was my favorite.

Through that SIG, I found a Robey/Robie/Roby Family Association and learned that they were planning to have a reunion that fall in Durham, New Hampshire. It piqued my interest because my ancestor, Agibail Amanda Robey was born in New Hampshire, married John Mason, also of New Hampshire, and they migrated to Buda, Bureau, Illinois in the 1840s by way of the Great Lakes, landing in Chicago when it had wooden sidewalks, none of which I knew until having done some genealogical research. (My line is: Douglas F. Mason>Stephen H. Mason>Wilbur John Mason>Dr. Stephen Robey Mason>John Mason.)

I always felt a closeness to my Mason ancestors, although I never met my grandfather, Stephen H. "Dick" Mason. He died when my father was about eight years old. But as a child, every time my Mom and Dad took me to their hometown, DeValls Bluff, Prairie County, Arkansas, to visit my paternal grandmother, we would go through the town cemetery. I learned from Daddy that Stephen H. "Dick" Mason, worked for the railroad, contracted TB, and died at the age of 40 years old. As we drove through the cemetery and to the Mason Family Plot, Daddy would always say, "This is my grandpa's whole family buried here," and then, of course, he'd go over the names and who they were, as best he knew. After my grandfather's death, my grandmother, the former Miss Mary Pearl Garrison of Searcy, White County, Arkansas, married John Robert Mince.

On another visit to Prairie County, Arkansas, when I was a teenager, I visited my first cousin, Harry Mason, Jr., who had an interest in family history, and I already was interested in it, so he showed me a handwritten page of information that his wife had hand copied about John and Abigail Amanda Robey Mason that appeared in a book on the library shelf in the high school library in Brinkley. I went to the school during the summertime when classes weren't in session, saw the book, and copied every page by hand for myself. Copy machines had not been invented yet, or at least I did not know about them, and there were none around. The book was what we today call mugbooks, and the people written about in the book had paid to have their history recorded in it. The book was entitled Goodspeed's History of Northeast Arkansas, and I am so happy they paid to be in the book, for without that information, I would never have known about either John Mason, Abigail Amanda Robey Mason, John's wife, or their children and place of nativity.

My first cousin, Harry Mason, Jr., shared photos with me that he took when he visited Buda, Illinois, but as of 2011, I still have not visited that region of Illinois myself. I hope to someday. But the information above is just the lead-in for what I believe to be quite an amazing story.

Sometime around 1990-93, after reading on the forum about the Robey Family Reunion, I decided to go. Naturally, there was no one who could go with me as it was summertime, and my husband, mother, and aunt were busy working in our seasonal business, North Bay Shore Campground in Virginia Beach, and I had no Mason kinfolk to go along, so I just went alone. After making airline reservations, I flew into Newark, New Jersey, changed planes and flew to Manchester, New Hampshire, where I rented a car and drove to the University of New Hampshire at Durham, the location of the reunion. I didn't know a single soul planning to attend the reunion or even anyone in New Hampshire for that matter.

After checking into my room, I moseyed down to the lobby and met some Robeys. They invited me to the basement of the hotel to have a snack with them, and there I sat talking to FIVE Bill Robeys. We had to distinguish them by where they lived. One, I specifically recall now, was from Las Vegas, and he joked and said he was from "Lost Wages." Of course, we all talked genealogy talk and shared stories and our ancestral lines. I recall lots of laughter as we had a grand time.

The following day, the bulk of people showed up, and there was a room in which we had a show-and-tell. One family brought ephemerato show, which had been brought home from a voyage with Admiral Perry. There were genealogical charts on the walls, and I found not a soul who knew anything about Abigail Amanda Robey. She wasn't even listed on anyone's family tree chart hanging on the walls. Somewhat disappointed, but figuring no one would know of a "woman," since women's names are rarely mentioned in historical documents, I decided to just enjoy the rest of my time there.

Saturday evening, the group went to Kingston, New Hampshire, to the Kingston 1686 House for dinner. It was a large restaurant that had been added to the old historic home of Ichabod Robie, whom I learned was a collateral line ancestor of mine. As the group was entering the restaurant, myself among them, I saw faces turning and peering at me and heard someone say, "Mason? We've got a Mason here," and a couple was guided in my direction.

The couple, a large man with white hair and a petite lady walked in and said, "We're looking for information on John and Abigail Amanda Robey Mason." You could have knocked me over with a feather! I was in such shock, as were they, that we had a common ancestor!

The couple, Russell and Ruth Mason of Dunbarton, New Hampshire, had read in their local newspaper that there was going to be a Robey Family Reunion, and they wanted to attend but could not due to family obligations during the daytime. The article happened to mention that the group would have dinner at the Kingston House that night, so they decided to ride over just out of curiosity.

We had dinner together that evening, and we talked and talked and talked! They had no idea that the Masons were originally from New Hampshire. They only knew of the family in Illinois. I had never met a Mason other than my dad, his brother, and my two first cousins who carried the surname, and it was amazing to see the family characteristics.

Following dinner, we had a tour of the center of the restaurant where the old home of Ichabod Robie was surrounded by the restaurant. It looked like an old-fashioned keeping room with a fireplace, spinning wheel, and its Indian shutters still intact. You felt as though the family might walk in at any time. It was truly amazing!

The next morning on my return trip to the airport in Manchester, Russell and Ruth invited me to stop by their house. So I wouldn't get lost, Russell parked in his white pickup truck on the side of the road so he could lead me to his residence. Their home was lovely, a story-and-a-half Cape Cod with a brick fireplace in the kitchen and an awesome display of stuffed birds in an aviary or large glass enclosure in the living room.

From their home I called my mom and dad and told them they wouldn't believe where I was, and they were as dumbfounded as Russell, Ruth, and I were at finding one another. After our initial meeting, Russell and Ruth visited us in Virginia Beach several times over the years. They had a timeshare in Virginia Beach, so it was convenient for them to come see us. Momma, Nena (my aunt, Mom's oldest sister) and I had them for several meals, and we had great times.

Russell and Ruth always enjoyed hearing me talk with my southern accent, and I got a kick out of their yankee drawl. Ruth did a little genealogical research in New Hampshire, but because she had had polio as a young woman, it was hard for her to get around, yet she never complained or acted as though she had any type of impairment.

Since our meeting in Kingston, New Hampshire, one of Russell and Ruth's four sons passed away from multiple sclerosis, and Russell and my dad passed away within a couple of years of each other.

I am so happy I made that trip alone to Durham, New Hampshire, that year to attend the reunion, because meeting Russell and Ruth in that restaurant was one of the highlights of my life.

Addendum:

I just returned (14 Dec 2011 ) from visiting Pat & John "Jack" White in Columbus, Ohio, this weekend, and when sharing the story above with them--along with Tom and Christine Cormier--Tom said when he was in the wooden sign-making business, he made the sign for the Kingston 1686 House restaurant.)