The Found Photo Project

By Eilene Lyon A New Project Nothing thrills me more than finding photos of ancestors I’ve never seen -- the photos or the ancestors! Many are posted on Ancestry.com by distant relatives I do not even know. There are also angels out there who rescue abandoned or discarded family Bibles and photo albums, in hopes... Continue Reading →

The Huntington

Week 5: #52 Ancestors – At the Library By Eilene Lyon Before she died, my great-grandmother, Clara Ransom Davis, made a priceless (at least to me) donation to the Henry E. Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Why she chose the Huntington -- not the Bancroft Library at UC-Berkeley, the California Historical Society, or the... Continue Reading →

I Want Answers, Dammit!

Week 4: #52 Ancestors – I’d like to meet… By Eilene Lyon First off, my 4th-great-grandmother would probably not be pleased with that title – she was a deeply religious woman, after all. But I do know she had a sense of humor, which I’ll share with you later. Ann Widdifield Zane was born in... Continue Reading →

A Frontier Hostess and Midwife

Week 3: #52 Ancestors – Unusual Name By Eilene Lyon How my great-great-grandmother, Meltha Lucinda, came by her name is a mystery. There is a place name “Meltha” in the Domesday book. It’s located in West Yorkshire and now known as “Meltham.”1 It’s not a particularly common name.2 One thing is clear: Meltha Lucinda Painter... Continue Reading →

Crossing an Ocean with Kids

Week 2: #52 Ancestors – Challenge By Eilene Lyon Meet Eliza Jane Drake Eliza Jane Drake was the daughter of Samuel and Eliza Drake (b. 1792, b. 1794). The Drakes were of English descent and lived in the village of Killyleagh, County Down, Northern Ireland. Eliza Jane was born in 1822.1 Eliza Jane fell in... Continue Reading →

A Photographic Mystery

Week 52: #52 Ancestors – Resolution By Eilene Lyon I suspect this is a problem with no resolution to be found. But I decided to pitch it on the blog in hopes that someone, somewhere, has the key. Ten men left Trenton, Indiana, on March 10, 1851 to seek their fortunes in California. Only nine... Continue Reading →

Phrenologically Kind

Week 51: #52 Ancestors – Nice By Eilene Lyon “…one who is still frequently upon our streets, the fruits of whose labor all of us are reaping more or less, one of those by whom the world is more benefited than is by the world acknowledged…” Don’t let that stern countenance fool you. William Painter... Continue Reading →

No Pocahontas

Week 48: #52 Ancestors – Next to Last By Eilene Lyon Note: This post is more about the research process than storytelling. Yes, there really is a John Smith in my family tree. And, no, he isn’t that John Smith, of Jamestown and Pocahontas fame. Fortunately, I’ve been able to trace my mother’s paternal line... Continue Reading →

Solving a 166-Year-Old Crime (revised)

By Eilene Lyon Introduction I posted the original version of this story on September 13, 2018. Briefly, it involves the 1851 – 1852 partnership between Elias D. Pierce, William S. Good, and Paris S. Pfouts in Siskiyou County, California. Pierce suggested that William Good took off with the company’s assets worth $40,000. I didn’t believe... Continue Reading →

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