Exploring the Past to Improve the Future
By Eilene Lyon This is the follow-up article to Science and Belief. Darwin’s Observations on the Natural World Charles Darwin formulated his hypothesis of evolution by natural selection based on observations he made during his trip around the world on the Beagle in the 1830s. Some of those observations: Island groups had wildlife differing from... Continue Reading →
"Seeing this gradation and diversity of structure in one small, intimately related group of birds, one might really fancy that from an original paucity of birds in this archipelago, one species had been taken and modified for different ends." - Charles Darwin Voyage of the Beagle (1839) By Eilene Lyon Just after completing my environmental... Continue Reading →
As genealogists generally do, I have put together a family tree detailing my ancestors. As a historian, though, I am diligently looking for descendants, hoping they may have pieces of a puzzle: a story, a photograph, an artifact. Perhaps YOU are one of the people I am looking for. If your ancestors lived in east-central... Continue Reading →
Week 52: #52 Ancestors – You By Eilene Lyon I am my ancestors’ future. Their legacies to me were their hopes, aspirations, and privileges…as well as their fears, anger, and disappointments. These things, passed down to me, shape who I am today. From my father, I learned the work ethic that came through generations of... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon Sometimes I like to imagine the ways our pioneer ancestors did things differently than we do today. Of course, the list is long. One tradition I ran across in several county history books comes from the late 18th and early 19th century. Practiced at “free schools” in rural areas at Christmas, the... Continue Reading →
Week 51: #52 Ancestors – Future By Eilene Lyon “The future” is a seemingly contrary topic for a historian. But the tagline for my blog includes the word “future,” because I believe history can teach us so many useful things. Preserving knowledge for coming generations is important in my view of the world. So what... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon This isn't a permanent departure. But I don't know when I will return. I went under the knife yesterday - yep, got a new knee. I assume all went well and I am getting a little snooze in before going home. At any rate, Job One for the next couple months will... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon A couple weeks ago I confessed to being an unreliable caretaker of family heirlooms. Fortunately, not everyone in the family is so irresponsible. In fact, it has recently come to light that a couple of my second cousins have some remarkable items. One of these cousins, Karen, brought a whole trove to... Continue Reading →
Week 50: #52 Ancestors – Tradition By Eilene Lyon I can’t think of too many traditions that have survived down to my generation, but one of them is age-old and nearly universal: marriage. When I look back through my ancestry, I find a surprising number of winter weddings. I think people were always looking for... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon The Slide Years is a series in which I select an image my dad took from 1957-1982 with Kodachrome slide film, then I write a stream-of-consciousness essay – a sort of mini-memoir. The year is 1967 and we’re celebrating Christmas at my Smith grandparents’ home in Little Rock, Arkansas, the city I’d... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon -- December 10, 2019 On this date 168 years ago, Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey (later shortened to Melvil Dewey) was born in Adams Center, New York, to Joel and Eliza (Greene) Dewey. He is credited with inventing the book-cataloging system that bears his name: the Dewey Decimal System. There’s a bit more... Continue Reading →
Week 49: #52 Ancestors – Craft By Eilene Lyon My maternal grandfather, Laurence M. Smith, was a crafty man in more than one way. He loved to play practical jokes. He used his wit in a cunning, sneaky way. But he also like to make things, especially in his retirement years. It isn’t surprising that... Continue Reading →
Adventures in Genealogy
If you love history, travel, and humor this blog site is for you!
The Martin, McGhee, Vining, Joy, Tower, Kennedy and other family lines. Sharing our photos and stories and history.
Historical Non-Fiction in Northern Ontario
Tales from the Annals of Crime
Louise Mabey
discovering the story it tells
Portraits from the first 100 years of photography
A Family History in Australia
A genealogical journey
Welcome to My Immigrant, Family Research, and Ancestry Blog
Sharing stories from my family history
Thoughts from the Inner Mind
A blog about my writing and the things that I care about
The less traveled paths
Stories from my family history research.
(Somewhat) Daily News from the World of Literary Nonfiction
A blog devoted to genealogical wanderings - dedicated to family near and far, through distance and time
