Exploring the Past to Improve the Future
Week 18: #52Ancestors – Close Up By Eilene Lyon Being an Army brat, I didn’t grow up close to my extended family. But I always had a special affinity for my paternal grandmother, Reatha (Gusso) Halse. Her home was in Corvallis, Oregon, and she worked at Oregon State University in the chemical lab supply room.... Continue Reading →
Week 17: #52Ancestors – Cemetery By Eilene Lyon This may strike you as a strange project, but I never claimed to not be weird. There is this little cemetery in Dexter Township, Codington County, South Dakota, where I am related to a vast majority of the “inhabitants” in one way or another. Note that the... Continue Reading →
Week 16: #52 Ancestors – Storms By Eilene Lyon Stella Gusso didn’t ordinarily let the farm dog in the house, but something didn’t feel right. The building clouds were ominous-looking. Stella’s husband and the other men of the family were not home that evening, so Stella brought the begging dog indoors. The noise of the... Continue Reading →
Week 14: #52Ancestors – Maiden Aunt: Catharine “Kate” Rowley (1826 – 1912) By Eilene Lyon When I saw the prompt “Maiden Aunt” I immediately thought of Catharine “Kate” Rowley. She was one of eight or nine children born to Erastus Rowley and Mary Annable (4th gr-grandparents), and she outlived all her siblings, despite the handicap... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon My 5th great-grandfather, John Annable, was born in Derbyshire, England and baptized in the village of Kirk Ireton on 28 July 1751.1 His parents were John Lewis Annable and Catherine Clark. In 1774 John sailed to America at age 23.2 A few years prior to John’s arrival in the colonial Province of... Continue Reading →
Week 13: #52Ancestors – The Old Homestead By Eilene Lyon This is the story of four homesteads for four generations of Halses (my maiden name), going back to my immigrant ancestors, my 3rd great-grandparents. First Generation Robert H. Halse and Eliza Jane Drake immigrated in 1850 and eventually settled in Winneshiek County, Iowa. Samuel Drake,... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon DNA is not necessarily destiny. But recent studies have found genes that can, when combined with environmental and mental health factors, lead a person to have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. I drink almost daily, but I do not have to drink; I just happen to really like it. It might be... Continue Reading →
Week 4: #52Ancestors - Invitation to Dinner By Eilene Lyon “Which of your ancestors would you like to invite to dinner?” asked Amy Johnson Crow. I’d like to turn that around and be the one invited to dinner by my ancestors. Specifically, the Springers in Heidelsheim, Germany, in 1853. That would be the year before... Continue Reading →
Week 3: #52Ancestors - Longevity By Eilene Lyon Part of me is convinced that my DNA is really up-to-snuff, at least as far as longevity is concerned. Cancer is exceedingly rare in all my family lines, for example. Both my parents are still living, now in their 80s. But my brother fell victim at 55... Continue Reading →
Human Created Content - Creative Writing - Australia
What I Wish I Knew Before I Retired
Life is a series of transitions, and so is the retirement journey.
Creative, non-monetary forms of payment
Random musings on style and substance
Where the locals go, because the locals know!
Internet home for Marie Zhuikov: Blogger, Author, Poet, Photographer
Reflections of an inquiring retiree ...
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A Blog of Retirement and Related Thoughts
I write about genealogy on this site. Come see what's going on!
Fun With Genealogy
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Navigating the second half of my life
The people, places, and things that make the Willamette Valley shine
Journeys Through the Second Half of Life
Doing the best I can to keep it on the bright side
Quips, Quotes; How To and How Knot To
Author, Speaker, Family Historian
thoughts about life from below the surface
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