Week 29: #52 Ancestors – Newsworthy By Eilene Lyon Newspaper articles feature prominently in my family history research, as I’ve amply demonstrated on this blog. There were the outrageous tales of Dr. William C. Ransom and Adoph Dills. The peek into the railroad career of Arthur L. Ransom. The sad ends of Clifford Cutting, postman;... Continue Reading →
A Twin For James
Week 28: #52 Ancestors – Multiple By Eilene Lyon [Note: the image above bears no relation to the story below, but it fits the theme of “Multiple”😁 Young violet-green swallows peer from their nest cavity the day before they fledged. E. Lyon 2020] This story is somewhat incomplete, because the discovery is quite fresh. It... Continue Reading →
Game Night
Week 27: #52 Ancestors – Solo By Eilene Lyon If the saying goes… “The family that plays together, stays together”…well, that didn’t exactly work out for us. However, I do have fond memories of our family game nights. We had a number of the standard board games, including Monopoly, Scrabble, Clue, etc. There were dice... Continue Reading →
Mid-Century Kids
Week 26: #52 Ancestors – Middle By Eilene Lyon This brief tale is about two cousins (to each other, as well as to me), who were both born in the year 1850, but whose lives turned out very differently. Both lived in the north and their early teen years were marred by the devastation of... Continue Reading →
Paintersville, Ohio
Week 25: #52 Ancestors – Unexpected By Eilene Lyon I’ve long known that there are pioneers of many stripes in my family background. But I didn’t expect one of them to have been the first settler in Cæsers Creek Township, Greene County, Ohio – a location that is less than 20 miles from where I... Continue Reading →
Erasing History
By Eilene Lyon “There are those who wrap themselves in flags and blow the tinny trumpet of patriotism as a means of fooling the people.” -- George Galloway I recently saw this meme posted on Facebook and felt it brought up issues regarding history that this blog ought to address. Taken at face value, I... Continue Reading →
The Doily
Week 24: #52 Ancestors - Handed Down By Eilene Lyon I have very few family heirlooms. My Army-brat upbringing taught me to let go of things. We could only take so much whenever we moved. It's been only recently that I've come to appreciate what little I have received and kept over the years. This... Continue Reading →
They Peel Right Merrily
Week 23: #52 Ancestors – Wedding By Eilene Lyon Ogden and Mary (Kew) Casterton of England immigrated in 1852, shortly after their marriage. They settled for four years in Illinois, then permanently relocated to Winneshiek County, Iowa, in 1856. In their long marriage, they produced a robust family of ten children. The Casterton holdings grew... Continue Reading →
Hyphens Matter
By Eilene Lyon Just in case you don't think hyphens are really necessary. I thought, "Gee, that man must have an enormous appetite!" Feature image: Guadalupe Island great white shark (Wikimedia Commons)