Exploring the Past to Improve the Future
Week 8: #52Ancestors – I Can Identify By Eilene Lyon With the weather sort-of thinking along the lines of spring, I’m anticipating some camping trips around the state. It seems I’ve been a camper my entire life. My parents took us camping throughout the eastern states and in Oregon while I was growing up. For... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon Howard Adrian Halse (1897–1978) Howard was the first-born child of Guy and Mabel (Cutting) Halse. He came into, and left, the world in Dexter Township, Codington County, South Dakota. He inherited his size from Guy, standing nearly six feet and topping 200 pounds. “Mr. Halse attended country school near his home and... Continue Reading →
Week 9: #52Ancestors – Gone Too Soon By Eilene Lyon There’s no shortage of sad tales about infant/toddler deaths in any family tree. I’m more drawn to the tales of young people who had time to develop their personalities, who had an excellent chance at surviving to adulthood (or did), or of having long lives.... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon Loren Oscar Smith (1911–1974) “Loren was only six when his mother died.… I was often admonished during those years that I should look after my younger brother.… I don’t think at that age I could have accepted all that responsibility. In any event Loren ended up something of a juvenile delinquent.” While... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon Clifford Loyd Smith (1901–1977) Clifford was born in Cunningham, Washington. He was 17 when his mother died. He probably bounced among his married siblings, not staying long enough to be enumerated in the 1920 census. He had an 8th-grade education and a career as a lineman for the phone company. In 1924,... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon Leon Leslie “Bill” Smith (1898–1985) Leon “Bill” Smith was born in Sprague, Washington, where his maternal grandparents lived. He attended school to the 8th grade. His interests lay in hunting, fishing, and motorized vehicles. Bill drove a truck for his father’s delivery business and a gravel truck for road construction projects. Around... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon Dora Ada Smith Trout (1894–1978) After the Smith family moved to Cunningham, Washington, in 1898, they struggled to survive. “The years the family spent on the farm … left many emotional scars as far as Ada was concerned. She never tired of telling about how poor the family was on that farm.”... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon Harry Edward Smith (1892–1976) Born in Missouri, Harry traveled with the family to a hardscrabble farm in Cunningham, Washington, then to Meyers Falls near Colville, and finally, Moscow, Idaho. There he married Callie L. Trout in 1917. Harry and Callie had two sons, Don and Wes. Though both boys married, neither had... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon Clara Bell Smith Blaylock (1890–1954) Clara Bell was born in Lafayette County, Missouri. She married Floyd N. Blaylock, a farmer, in Colville, Washington, when she was just 17. Clara Bell and Floyd had only one child, Ruby. Sadly, Ruby had a heart defect and died before her 18th birthday. Her death nearly... Continue Reading →
Navigating the second half of my life
A history of the people of the Willamette Valley as revealed through their structures.
Doing the best I can to keep it on the bright side
You might think you understand what I said, but what you heard is not always what I meant.
A New Twist on the Old West
Author, Speaker, Family Historian
thoughts about parenting and life from below the surface
tiny histories
... stories of significant others in the Allery, Cutting, McCulloch and Robertson tribes ...
Celtic, Mythical and More ...
Illuminating the Ancestral Journey
Tracing The Faces
Uncovering Family Legacies One Stitch at a Time
Adventures in Genealogy
Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana Blog
visual stories: fine art, artist books, illustrated gifts
Night Thoughts of a Literary Agent
Family and local stories and history, favorite books
A History of the Famously Interesting and Mostly Forgotten
Myricopia 