This piece was one of my first efforts for the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks program by Amy Johnson Crow. I completed three full years and did a smattering for a fourth year. Now I'm just randomly doing my family history posts among other topic. Originally published January 27, 2018. EL Week 4: #52Ancestors -... Continue Reading →
No True History
I still feel the sentiments expressed here. I often wonder just how far off I am when I write about people from earlier centuries, people I never knew. Originally published January 15, 2018. EL By Eilene Lyon We recently watched The Abolitionists, by American Experience. It is an excellent and high-production-value 3-part series about the... Continue Reading →
Killed by Lightning
By Eilene Lyon My new book, What Lies Beneath Colorado Pioneer Cemeteries and Graveyards, officially publishes on Tuesday, but it is available now! See link at bottom of the post. In the course of finalizing the manuscript for publication, I had to omit some material to meet my word count goal. The book contains 24... Continue Reading →
Too Early for OSHA
By Eilene Lyon Though my great-grandmother, Clara Ransom Davis (1877-1953), passed down a lot of family history, she made a glaring omission: her own birth family. She wrote a brief story about her father, Robert Ransom, who died when she was six. But she left no tales about her mother or siblings. Everything I know... Continue Reading →
Where He Wound Up
By Eilene Lyon My 3rd great-grandmother, Abigail “Abby” (Bedford) Jenkins (1801–1882) had seven surviving siblings and one who died as an infant. I’ve written about several of them, as well as about her father. I’m still searching for her maternal family line (Thompson). Researching the Bedfords is somewhat complicated by the fact that they lived... Continue Reading →
Parrish Skies
By Eilene Lyon My Colorado home experiences exquisite sunrises and sunsets on a regular basis. It takes only a few clouds to add rich hues to our morning and evening skies. Whenever I find startlingly deep cyan set off with billowing cumulous clouds in a vibrant pink-orange glow, I’ve taken to calling them “Maxfield Parrish... Continue Reading →
Shameless Self-Promotion
By Eilene Lyon (of course) I normally keep all my book-promotion-related material on my author website. But I do have some news to share. I hope (ahem) that you won't be terribly put out. My first book, Fortune's Frenzy, was a finalist for a Spur Award from the Western Writers of America. It has also... Continue Reading →
Researching Found Photos
By Eilene Lyon A Place to Start I shop at antique marts looking for 19th and early-20th century photos. We have only one antique store in Durango, which I’ve thoroughly gleaned, so this usually happens when I travel. I look for images that have a name inscribed somewhere on them, first/last or at least the... Continue Reading →
The Company Player
Found Photo Project #8 By Eilene Lyon This portrait of actor David R. Young was taken in Boston in 1896. He inscribed it to his mother, who lived in Connecticut (as did he). How it wound up in an antique store in southwestern Colorado—in the unincorporated, wide-spot-in-the-road known as Gem Village—shall remain a mystery. David... Continue Reading →