Jennifer Parmelee [Alfred "Fred" Gray, Foster, William Goodell, Jared Henry, James, James, Phineas, Isaac, Isaac, John, John], spokeswoman for the United Nation's World Food Program, says the coupon-distribution program in Haiti is working to prevent strong young men from forcing themselves to the front of food lines after the recent earthquake. The agency, Jennifer said, "is aware of reports that our coupons have been resold, and we’ve also heard allegations of forgeries. However, all evidence from our cooperating partners who are managing the distributions ... is that this is not a widespread issue." Now, with hundreds of thousands leaving Port-au-Prince for the country, the program will have add distributions in the rural areas, requiring new assessments and strategies. "You can't just drive into a town and start handing out food," Jennifer said."

Church Anniversaries

New York City's Park Avenue Christian Church will be celebrating its 200th anniversary in October 2010, and would love the family's participation -- in person. In 1837, Dr. Eleazer Parmley [1797-1874; Eleazer, Jehiel, Stephen, Stephen, John, John] built the Primitive Christian Church of Disciples building. That congregation continues to meet today on the property he owned on Greene Street in Manhattan. For details on the celebration, contact the church at 1010 Park Ave., New York, NY 10028 (at 85th Street, two blocks east of Grand Central Park).

Celebrating its centennial this year is the Bethel Baptist Church near Parmleysville, Ky. Among the first nine members were John Parmley [1762-1848; Giles, Hiel, Nathaniel, Nathaniel, John, John] and his wife, Rebecca (Cross). For more information, contact the church at 3734 Bethel Ridge Road, Pine Knot, KY 42635.

Kenneth Parmelee [Kenneth Abner, Abner Augustus, Rufus Electus, Rufus Clark, Ebenezer, Oliver, Jonathan, Joshua, John, John] of Santa Fe, N.M., says he does not know how his father's World War I dog tags ended up at a woman's Texas home, but he is glad to have the items back. The tags were found while Jim Woods was cleaning out the Big Spring, Texas, estate of his maiden aunt. And the connection was made through our Web site!

Here we honor those family members in uniform, from Colonial times to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. More details are being added to those on the rosters for the Revolutionary and Civil wars. Pictures of Revolutionary War soldiers' headstones are also being added. And we're thankful for your submissions, like this one from Allan Ray Parmley [Randolph Hay, Roland Duvall, Miles, Emerson Bell, Garner, John, Giles, Hiel, Nathaniel, Nathaniel, John, John], who stands at the headstone of great-great-great-great-grandfather John Parmley (1762-1848), who fought in the Revolution.

UPDATED: Feb. 1, 2010

Almost 100 years ago, 24 million American men filled cards in a nationwide conscription program. Those cards -- all 688 under our families' name -- have been made public and I'm willing to share our family's with you. The data provide a nice snapshot of the family in 1917-18. You can check out great-grandpa's signature, learn how "your" spelling of the family name stacks up with the rest and find out just where your kids may have inherited those gray eyes.

We're pretty sure that one of the photos in this album is that of Robert Parmley (1789-1875), who was the father of 24 -- count 'em, 24 -- children! But just who the rest of these folks are has us stumped. Can you help us identify any of these people?

Who was Dr. John Parmele (ca1801-1844) -- and why is his tombstone sitting with another in the basement of a Milwaukee church?

Visit the Features page and Features Archives for other family stories, mysteries and legends.

The pieces are slowly coming together on the first generations to live in America and the last to live in England and continental Europe. The vast majority of the North American Parmelee families of all spellings trace their roots back to Johns Sr. and Jr. who arrived in Connecticut in the 1630s. These families helped found Guilford, where the Congressional Church now sits on the site of our family's first home. The rest of the families are related to those who came to Pennsylvania in the 1840s.

UPDATED: Dec. 1, 2007