The Carey Album

Week 40: #52 Ancestors – Preservation By Eilene Lyon A blessing of this blog is that cousins find stories here about their ancestors and reach out to me. Suzanne is one, and we have enjoyed a couple visits here in Durango. Recently she brought her Carey family photo album for me to scan and hopefully... Continue Reading →

December 4, 2021 30

Honoring Their Service

By Eilene Lyon Today I am just going to share photos of a few veterans from my family tree. I've written about the service of some; others remain to be done. Feature image: Poppies from my garden this summer. (E. Lyon 2021)

November 11, 2021 20

No Mountain Too High

Hulda Hearn Shanks (1832-1885) By Eilene Lyon “She holds that true companionship between man and woman necessitates the possession and the exercise by both of equal rights, privileges and franchises, believing, as she does, that in nothing else is the civilization of any people apparent as in the closer and ever closer approximation of woman’s... Continue Reading →

August 12, 2021 34

Cold Harbor Comrades

Week 41: #52 Ancestors – Newest By Eilene Lyon “Cousin Orin Rhodes was shot through the head the first battle he ever was in. George Rhodes is in hospital. No more news this time.” – George L. Carey, June 26, 1864 My newest cousin contact, thanks to this blog, sent me on a research quest... Continue Reading →

October 10, 2020 40

Christina’s Challenges

Week 10: #52 Ancestors – Strong Woman By Eilene Lyon As I research my family history, it amazes me what trials and tribulations my ancestors went through. It’s a rare female in my tree I would not describe as a “strong woman.” These women were tough as a rule. (Just the clothes they had to... Continue Reading →

April 25, 2020 19

Did He Serve?

Week 6: #52 Ancestors – Same Name By Eilene Lyon When I put together the list of ten men who formed the Blackford Mining Company in 1851, two names made me groan: John K. Anderson and Samuel Jones. At least Anderson had a middle initial. But Samuel Jones, no middle initial? Argh!! How many men... Continue Reading →

April 4, 2020 21

The Slide Years: Brushes with History

By Eilene Lyon The Slide Years is a series in which I select an image my dad took from 1957-1982 with Kodachrome slide film, then I write a stream-of-consciousness essay – a sort of mini-memoir. Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that I became a history buff. In the heart of the slide years, my... Continue Reading →

March 12, 2020 38

Minnesota Pills

Week 47: #52 Ancestors – Soldier By Eilene Lyon When I recently watched portions of the film “They Shall Not Grow Old,” I was struck by how the young men (many just boys of 15 and 16), were eager to volunteer to serve in World War I. Even after all the horrors they experienced, the... Continue Reading →

November 23, 2019 16

A Widow Perseveres

Week 27: #52 Ancestors – Independent Perhaps it’s a bit perverse to write about the granddaughter of a Loyalist for this prompt, but I greatly admire my 3rd-great-grandmother, Mary Paulina Rowley Cutting. Widowed by the age of 41, Mary never remarried. Though she certainly had assistance at times, she clearly was an independent woman. Mary... Continue Reading →

July 20, 2019 19