Lisa,
    The Brisbane link is shown at the top of the WHOIS link that Amy provided.   As I have stated before, the false claim in the Mason Simmons messages, to being from Florida, when the e-mail address is shown to have originated from Brisbane is the obvious pointer, but also the fact that Mason is Gray's middle name.   I am not very Internet savvy, but thankfully Amy is, and she was able to locate the connection.   I had to look twice before I saw the Brisbane link to the e-mail address of Mason Simmons.   Another factor is that several of the facts about my heritage, and the photo (and the title of the photo placed by Mason/Gray), have been off the Internet for sometime now, but it is very obvious that Gray had looked at that page and decided to save it, with intentions of using it to make some sort of comment about my heritage.   I had suspected, within hours of receiving the Mason Simmons e-mails and comments from a large number of persons around the world, that Gray was quite obviously involved in it, in some way, but I had also, at first, thought that Gray and Simmons were colleagues in e-mail exchanges.   Then, several of my research colleagues, mainly in the United States (and some of these are ex U.S. ARmy and Navy personnel) began to suspect that Simmons and Gray were one and the same person, but this was unconfirmed until Amy confirmed it, just a few hours later, last Saturday.
     LIsa, have you been to Amy Hedrick's web site, ROBERT FARMER FAMILY FROM AUSTRALIA, and seen the massive amount of e-mail exchanges, the passing around of a faked document by Gray, and other matters relating to his so called "research"?   If not, you may get a clue as to the nature of the man, and how he works.   NOte how, at the very end, despite his so called research being proven to be very unreliable, he has still not removed his web site on Robert Farmer, and claims, in the biography, that it was all our "meddling and interference" despite the fact that much of the final investigation was done by the Sons of Confederate Veterans group in Georgia, the Veterans Administration and the National Archives, both in Washington, and which investigation proved that a fake document was being passed around, and which document was used by Gray to obtain the grave marker, which was a total waste of U.S. taxpayer's money, and which marker had to be returned to Washington to be melted down.   Besides, this is not the first such occasion of Gray wasting tax payer's money, as it has happened before (read all the accounts in my own web sites, where I show full and thorough evidence, through documentation, etc.: http://www.tfoenander.com/litany.htm).
     If you really want to know how all this started, I advise you never to believe the accounts as stated often, by Gray.   The fact is that, in early 2005, Gray contacted several of us (including Mr. Barry Crompton of the American Civil War Round Table of Australia; Mrs. Virginia Crocker, who had published, in 2000, a book on the Civil War veterans buried in Australia and New Zealand), to ask us to provide data on the veterans that we had originally researched.   We, thinking that he was genuine in his claims to want to assist us, provided some of the data, including actual copies and photos of the veterans.   At not time, I repeat, at no time, despite what he may have stated to many persons, did we ever give him any permission to publish this in any form whatsoever.   In the first month or two after he first contacted us, I began to notice that his queries were often repeated, and he kept making basic errors in some of the actual details that we had provided.   I began to suspect that he was not very competent in his so called "research" and I actually stated, directly to him, in an e-mail message, that I thought his work was rather shoddy, at which time he sent me a vulgar and abusive message.   AT this early stage, it had nothing whatsoever to do with any of his "research" on a claimed veteran named Edward Mosby, though Gray likes to constantly claim that the feud originated because of this main factor, which it did not.   I only stated, at a later stage that belief in the Civil War service of a person should not rely solely on oral history, as claimed by the descendants, because this could not be verified unless there were documents to prove such claims, which, in the case of Mosby, there were none at all.   In the meantime, about June or July, 2005, Gray suddenly put up a web site, with all the information that we had provided him with on the veterans, despite our never having given him the permission to do so.   I immediately contacted Mrs. Crocker and Barry, advising them of the fact that Gray had placed this web site on the Internet, obviously trying to garner some glory for himself.   Much of the data he placed on the Internet was very obviously taken, in many cases word for word, and sometimes even whole paragraphs directly from Mrs. Crocker's volume, CIVIL WAR VETERANS IN AUSTRALIA.   Even photos were taken from the volume and placed at the web site.   When Mrs. Crocker sent her one and only message to Gray (thereafter she corresponded only with the group he belonged to,and indirectly with him, because he was found to be untrustworthy and a compulsive liar), asking him to remove it, he protested vigorously, stating to her that he was doing her and her volume a favour.   Also,  we were informed by one or more other members of the American Civil War Round Table of Queensland, to which group Gray belonged, that he had been, since about late 2004, been borrowing a copy of Mrs. Crocker's volume from someone who owned a copy, and making notes about the veterans, which is now obvious that he was to use at his web pages.   At a later stage he had kept insisting that he had not seen her volume until he purchased a copy, many months after first contacting us in early 2005, but this was obviously a very dishonest statement.
     Anyway, after he tried to ingratiate himself to Mrs. Crocker, by claiming that he was doing her a favour, and that he was attempting to do us all a favour in our research, and after Mrs. Crocker, through the ACWRTQ, refused to accept his explanations, he removed the web site, but only briefly, as, some three or four weeks later, it re-appeared on the Internet, with the claims that he had researched this all himself, and that it was all his own work.   Yet even a child could see that it was just about all the very same words and photos that he had up previously.   Some of the biographies were my own work, and, when I myself had ordered him to remove my hard work, all he did was remove my name, and still use my own work and photos and documents, claiming that he had purchased them all himself.
     One other thing that I need to mention is that the name of Roy Parker, (who is Mrs. Crocker's late father, and whom we had originally assisted in all this research) was used at Gray's web site, together with a biography of Roy, which contained many errors and inaccuracies.   Gray had never known Roy Parker, who had passed away in Sydney in 1998.   I had known Roy, and had often corresponded with him and spoke to him on the phone, and had also met him a couple of times, both in Sydney and at Puckapunyal, when he dropped in once to visit, and I respected him highly, as he was unlike any other American that I had met, treating every one as his equal (Gray, as you may have now realised, is at the opposite end of the spectrum, being very arrogant, obnoxious and still living in the past).   Mrs. Crocker refused to allow Gray to use her father's good name at his web site or anywhere else, and advised him, about three times or so, to remove it (first directly, but thereafter, as I stated, through the ACWRTQ).   Mrs. Crocker refuses, after her first and only message directly to Gray, to have anything contact with the man, as we all know what he is like, and the dishonesty that he is capable of.   He only fools those who are gullible enough to listen to his rubbish.   Anyway, Gray constantly kept using Roy's name, and biography to legitimise his "work", and I do believe that, to this very day, he does include the name of Roy Parker in some passages at his web site.   He has stubbornly resisted all our pleas not to use any of our work.   After he kept on using what little work I myself had done, without my permission, I have, ever since, kept up a fight to have this charlatan and crook sent packing, and will continue as long as he keeps using our material without any permission.   His methods have become more and more blatant as time goes on, but what we all know about him is that he is just a compulsive liar, and has been ever since his days in Florida, from way back in the 1970's.   In other words, he has never changed his fabrications and scheming.   Yes, I know that I have been very vicious, but it takes such viciousness when confronting a very dishonest person who will stop at nothing to get his own way.
     Lisa, I can tell you right now that I will never stop going up against this charlatan, no matter what it takes, because I know, from fact, and from evidence provided, not only by his former colleagues, and many individuals and institutions, that he makes absolutely fabricated claims and so many dishonest statements.   If there is one thing I cannot stand is a person who is a compulsive liar, and then tries to lie even further by stating that I myself am a liar.   I have commendations and references from the military, when I retired, showing that I was very honest and a very good soldier, etc.   Yet, even in this area, Gray had tried to imply that I was kicked out of  the military for an unstated reason.   I still have that Message Board statement of his, in case he tries to deny that he ever made such a statement.  
     But enough of me, and back to the main account.   As you may have noted, by now, Gray has made many, many spurious claims, and several of us have investigated these claims, and found just about all of them to be false, and many are made to big name himself.   If you were completely aware of the full scale of it all, you would know full well and understand why I will never rest until I see this fraud brought to heel, and shown to be the person he really is.
     He himself started all of this by stealing our work, and refusing to remove it, then slowly using our very own sources, as included in what we sent him, to try and claim it as his own research, and to also legitimise his work, even to the point of using named sources, some of persons who have been dead for years or decades (and thus could never have provided him with the data he shows), and some of persons who have actually contacted me, asking how come he has their names up at his web sites, even though they have never contacted him, or do not know him at all.   All I can say, finally, is that his dishonesty knows absolutely no boundaries!!   Everyone of the addressees listed above can fully confirm the facts about the man, as can so many others, and they will gladly do so.   The only ones he has managed to fool are those gullible enough not to be able to see through his fabrications and fiction.
     And, I repeat, once more, I will not rest until this man is brought to heel, and until he removes completely all our work that we took years to research and work on, and until he has placed a permanent apology on the Internet, for all his dishonesty.   So it looks like I will be at it until the day I die, but so be it.   I have never been one to sit idly by and let others spread so many fabrications, and this man certainly takes the cake.
     Regards,
     Terry.
P.S.   Sorry that this has been so lengthy, but the whole detailed account would cover several volumes, for sure.   Maybe one day I should actually write several volumes about this man.   He has made his name famous only by being the dishonest person that he is.   I would have also liked to have included a copy of this message to the culprit himself, but I wanted your words to be private amongst those who know the man himself.
 
 

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From: waitemata@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 7 Dec 2009 08:19:35 +1300
Subject: Re: FW: Other email

To: tfoenander@hotmail.com

Hi Terry,

Sorry, that link doesn't tell me much at all -- only that an Australian IP was put into the Whois, and resolved to an Australian site. No record there that I can see of the path from the email to Brisbane.

I have said firmly to Jim Gray before now that I think that a Down Under "Civil War" is unfortunate, damaging to that particular research field, and pointless. This is all sounding like very nasty turf fighting to me.

Jim was very quick in his Saturday morning denial email to me after I cc'ed the Mason email I received and my reply to you both. I don't doubt you, Terry -- but I'm looking at all the evidence here. I've also said to him that as far as research done by both of you is concerned, I will take it at face value, assess it where necessary, then make my judgement. I have your site still linked at Timespanner -- not his, as I still have my doubts.

He's told me what he thinks kicked off the nastiness between you two. Out of interest, what started it in your opinion?

Lisa

 

On Mon, Dec 7, 2009 at 7:53 AM, Terry Foenander <tfoenander@hotmail.com> wrote:
 

Lisa,
     Sorry I forgot to send it earlier, but here it is, appended below.
     If you peruse the original messages sent by this "Mason Simmons" you would note that he gives his address as Crystal Springs, in Florida, but Amy has shown (and the URL link she provides, indicates that the e-mail address of Mason Simmons is really from Brisbane, where Jim Gray lives) that he is none other than that usual rogue.
     Note how sarcastic towards Mason Simmons/Jim Gray Amy's message is, and she has also included her findings direct to the Simmons e-mail address.
     There were a couple of other clues in the messages that Mason/Gray sent, anyway, such as the fact that the photo, and the title of that photo, indicate that he had saved it, as it was on the Internet, at one of my web pages, but that has not been there for some short period of time.   Furthermore, not one person anywhere, had ever sent any exchanges of messages to a Mason Simmons, and the name and e-mail address had suddenly appeared on the scene.   It was a clear fake, just like all the other fakes that Gray has constantly passed around to many around the world.
     I have sent a message to report his abuses of the Yahoo e-mail address to the web site, and have included his two messages for them to see, and to take some action.
     He may deny it all he wants, which is what he would do, anyway, but all the proof and evidence already point to that one person.   He is already known for being someone who is "not very bright" anyway, and often gets caught out, not only with his large number of scams, but also in his failures of research.
     Everyone knows that a crook will never admit to his nefarious activities, and will stringently deny it, even if the evidence is overwhelming, and as he has done to you, and no doubt several others.   Unfortunately for them, some will still believe him, despite all the evidence.
     At least my son has seen the funny side of it all by placing an altered photograph of me on his desktop.   He has altered this photograph by showing me in the uniform of a U.S. Navy person!!!
     Regards,
     Terry.
P.S.   I have never ever "passed" passed myself off as an Australian.   Everyone who knows me well knows that I was born in Singapore, but that I have resided in Australia since December, 1973, and have been a citizen of this country since 1976, which is much more than a quarter of a century before Gray ever popped into the country to try and scam and dupe the citizens of Australia, after being exposed as a fake in Florida.   He has obviously succeeded in Brisbane.   The activities of that rogue  are well documented, not only in my various mails and web site (www.tfoenander.com/litany.htm), but also at the web page of Ms Amy Hedrick, on "ROBERT FARMER FAMILY FROM AUSTRALIA" as well as the various Florida Police and Court records listings, and even in a revealing message I received from one of Gray's former research colleagues, who still resides in Florida.   Even the various messages from the Florida Department of Archives shows that his claims have been false.
P.P.S.   As you will note,  I have included this message to the rogue himself, to let him know that the vast majority of us are not fooled by his fabrications and scams.   He should definitely be sent packing, back to where he came from, at which point he will, no doubt, have run out of people whom he is able to fool into believing his self satisfying claims and fabrications. 


 
 

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Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2009 16:42:45 -0800
From: glynnhistory@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Other email
To: tfoenander@hotmail.com
CC: simmonsmason99@yahoo.com; a.lange@clear.net.nz; asmith@sos.ga.gov; aj@findagrave.com; glynnhistory@yahoo.com; archives@dos.state.fl.us; bqkscv@yahoo.com; amylyn@glynngen.com

 

As you know, Mason is Gray's middle name :-)

 

And, take the IP address from the emails, and you will see it orignated from a computer near Brisbane, Australia before it came through Yahoo's servers in California:

 

http://whois.domaintools.com/121.208.72.110

 

I guess "Mason" does not realize EVERYTHING via the internet can be traced!

 

I don't care where you are from, Terry, or what you claim, your research speaks for itself no matter where you are from or how you live your life.  Through my own research I have proven Gray to be a hack without you having to tell me (my web pages were online discredting him before you ever contacted me) and anyone can investigate the claims you have made against Gray and do their own research and come to the same conclusions (after all the U.S. Veteran's Administration did).  Gray doesn't seem to understand this concept.

 

I guess Gray doesn't realize that I am the one that researched his family history and found that he was not who he claimed to be :-)  I'm also the one who did the public records research on him and found all the lawsuits against him in Florida.  Not only that, finding the publications he claims as his own that were really authored by other persons, like his ex-wife (and one under an alias that I believe he has also used in these "attack" emails).  All of this info is available online for free, as you already know.

 

You see people like this on TV shows, never dreaming that they can be like this in real life.  Instead of admitting he made a research mistake like any competent researcher, he attacks those who are trying to help his research by providing correct and true information.  Very odd behavior.

 

Not to mention "Mason" sent this to my Yahoo address that is not readily known by many.  The reason?  Because my old address was closed out so Gray doesn't know the new one which is easily found if you research it, but that's something Gray, oops, "Mason" isn't capable of.

 

Take that "Mason Simmons".
 

Amy Hedrick
GlynnGen.com Webmaster
Hedrick & Allied Families

 

 

---

From: Terry Foenander <tfoenander@hotmail.com>
To: glynnhistory@yahoo.com
Cc: simmonsmason99@yahoo.com
Sent: Fri, December 4, 2009 7:04:35 PM
Subject: RE: Other email

Amy,
     A large number of the persons who know me have already responded, and passed on these messages that Mason is passing around, and yes, I do believe that it is either Gray or one of his henchman doing all this dirty work.   It shows the nature of these persons, whether they be minions of the main culprit, or anyone else.
     Some have already sent responses to Mason, and many of those with any intelligence at all, which I doubt is available in the Gray camp, already know that I was born in Singapore.   Gray, Mason, and their ilk are obviously still living in antebellum times, and think that everyone who is not Caucasian is not capable of proper research work.   I also challenge Mason (the name sounds like Manson to me!!) to show me where I have supposedly been "passing myself off" as an Australian.   No doubt there will be no further response from this rogue.   Everyone who knows me well knows that I was born in Singapore, and obtained Australian citizenship in 1976, after residing here some three years before that.  
     Strangely enough, from all the great responses I have been receiving in the past few hours, from the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and even New Zealand, it is fairly obvious that Mason Simmons' fabrications and messages have done much more to further the cause against Gray and his minions, than has ever occurred before.   So I should actually be thanking this fool, Mason Simmons.   He has helped to show what Gray and his fellow fabricators will get up to, when they are caught spreading their numerous lies, assumptions, and fabrications.
     I think I did inform you that, in September last, Gray tried to use a false identity, using the name Brett Stevens, to obtain some of my research work, but I was not fooled when I saw the e-mail address he was using.   This latest charade may be, as some of my correspondents have suggested, another one of his foolish attempts.   The man is obviously totally worthless, as is Mason Simmons.  
     Regards,
     Terry.