Here are the messages sent to me from fellow researchers on Dr Herring. I met him about 4 years ago, while visiting my aunts who lived in NC. I was doing genealogy research. He had never seen or heard of us before and welcomed us into his home/library and gave us a tour as well. I shall always remember him. Then when we were leaving, he gave us a tour of his beautiful yard. He was a great man. He was having problems with his vision when I was there. Alice West Ferguson Greenbelt, MD. Duplin County has lost a wonderful person in Dr. Dallas Herring. I was greatly impressed by his personality and the size and and quality to his Library when I visited with him on a genealogy research trip to North and South Carolina in May 2003. I found many articles of value in his library. At that time and I am sure it was his tradition to visit with all and talk about Duplin County history and genealogy. He will be missed. Spencer Ardell Bullard Denver, Colorado We've lost a treasure! Billie Powell Was sorry to hear about Dallas Herring. I visited there and did some research. What happens to his collection now ? He helped me a lot. Christopher Howard Rowe You are so right about missing Dr. Dallas Herring. We all owe him much gratitude and respect for the work he did in his life time to perserve the history of Duplin County. Gayle I attended the funeral this afternoon. The church was packed. Our state has lost a great friend and educator in so many ways. Stephen Pearsall Losing Dr. Herring is truly a great loss. I was fortunate to have a brief meeting with him at his library a few years ago. Even though I did not find anything to add to my Dickson family research, I was quite impressed with the volume of materials on other subjects he did have. It sounds as though he made arrangements to leave his library in good hands so that his work and collections can be of benefit to future genealogists and historians. The day I was there, he had just gotten a new apparatus which would transcribe the written word to audio. He and an assistant were eagerly learning to operate it and gave my friend and me a demonstration. I was most amazed at his eagerness to learn about new technology in spite of his advanced years, as well as how eager he was to share. He will be missed by many... Elizabeth Dickson Golbach Bartlesville, OK I never had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Herring, but did speak with him on the telephone. He was such a sweet soul, so ready to share whatever he could. He enlightened me on many of my husband's family namesakes (my family is from up north) and made sure I knew I was pronouncing half the towns wrong. First thing he said, when I pronounced Albertson (I said it phonetically) was that I couldn't be from around here. It gave me quite a laugh. He will surely be missed but his research will fortunately benefit many for years to come. Heather I had the pleasure of meeting Dallas Herring twice. As I recall the years were 1976 and 1989. I am sure of the 1989 date. He was an absolutely fascinating man. On our last visit, he regaled my husband and son with stories of his ancestor who served in the Civil War and showed them the rifle that was mounted over his fireplace and used by that ancestor in the War. All of this while I researched in the collection. My son was just 14 at the time and when I told him of Dallas' death, he still remembered him vividly. My ancestors were also the Herrings of Duplin and Dallas was a very distant cousin. I am so glad that I had the pleasure of knowing this wonderfully knowledgeable man, even though the "knowing" was slight. He added so much to my understanding of the lives of our ancestors in Duplin two hundred years ago. Such small verbal tributes seem so inadequate for a man who contributed so much. Fran Bumann California While most people know of his love of genealogy, many are not aware of his love of flowers. He was of immense help to me in my family history research. My Duncan family left Duplin in the early 1800s and few descendents remain. When I first met him several years ago, he was immediately familiar with my family presence in the Goshen Swamp area and even pointed out where the Herrings and Duncan had a connection. He was an impressive gentleman. James B. Duncan, FAICP President Duncan Associates 13276 Research Boulevard #208 Austin, Texas 78750 Dr. Dallas Herring, was a true Southern Gentleman. We had the opportunity to spend time at his home/library on 5 different occasions starting in 1998. We had traveled east to do research on my North Carolina family. His help, was greatly appreciated, and his knowledge on the area, and people was just wonderful... Our last time there in 2001, we spent about 2 hours sitting with him in his office, during a terrible thunder/lightning storm and chatting about the area, family..and he and my husband enjoyed their talk about their Masonic affiliation. Our next trip to the area this coming summer will not be the same. He will be missed by all. Jackie and Mervin Purdy Shingle Springs, CA. Many years ago when first I began my NC WEST QUEST, someone told me of Dr. HERRING and his work/library. Unable to get to NC I phoned and spoke at length with Dr. HERRING. He made a few suggestions for further WEST research, encouraging me to continue the QUEST. About a month later, a package (box) from NC arrived. To my utter shock, inside was a very large collections of sources for information on WEST families of Duplin County and WEST families of southeastern NC. Along with those printed sources--many pages from various books included---Dr. HERRING drew up a suggested research plan for me. I called to thank him and offered to pay for some of the expenses of copies and postage. Dr. HERRING accepted ten dollars. Noteworthy is that way back then, the postage on the box came to more than nine dollars. I regret never having the opportunity to meet the man. Fran Powell In September of 2002, my husband and I attended a Shaw family reunion in Sampson County, NC. One of my Shaw first cousins and his wife also attended the reunion. The four of us had planned to do some family research while we were in the area. We are part of the Colin Shaw line - Colin came to North Carolina from the Isle of Jura, Scotland, about 1744. Other North Carolina lines "married into our Shaw line" are McCraney, Faison, Bannerman, and Robinson. We had been told to go see Dr. Herring in Rose Hill in Duplin County - that he was a treasure of information on families of the area. We got there after lunch and spent the next several hours with him. After we copied what information he had, he politely answered a zillion questions. Then he walked us over to Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church. He wanted to show us a photo of Rev. Colin Shaw that was in a showcase in the church. Rev. Shaw had served as pastor of the church from 1885 until 1895. He allowed me to take the photo out of the frame and take pictures of it. Next, he gave us a tour of the church. When we got back to the house, he loaned me a negative he had of a picture of Rev. Shaw. When we returned to Missouri, I had the negative printed and returned it with a letter of thanks to Dr. Herring. What a delightful and kind man! I was very sad to hear the news of his death. Billie Carolyn Shaw Powell |