The Tavern

Week 8: #52 Ancestors – Family Photo By Eilene Lyon Rather than a standard group portrait, I will share a trio of images recently added to Ancestry.com by my 4th cousin, Twinkycat. She and I met in Wisconsin in 2012. As we got acquainted over drinks, she showed me a hardbound, professionally printed copy of... Continue Reading →

The Stepmother

Week 6: #52 Ancestors – Surprise By Eilene Lyon The Surprise My grandfather, Laurence M. Smith, wrote many stories about his life. I’ve already shared some on this blog. But there’s a big gap between the death of his beloved mother, Mary Lila Reams, and the beginning of his engineering career. All he said was,... Continue Reading →

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 →

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