Uncle Jim’s Letters

Week 48: #52 Ancestors – Gratitude By Eilene Lyon Even in this very trying year, there are many things to be grateful for. First, I appreciate those of you who read this blog – I know my subjects don’t have broad appeal. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment. I’m extremely grateful... Continue Reading →

Top This Coincidence!

By Eilene Lyon Little Brother, who lives in the Cleveland area, sent me this image many years ago. It seems that some friends of his decided to take a vacation trip to Vancouver and Seattle back in the early 1990s. Little Brother jokingly asked them to look up his relatives who live in the Northwest.... Continue Reading →

Misperception

Week 45: #52 Ancestors - Bearded By Eilene Lyon I don't recall when I first saw some version of the image above of my grandfather, Everett Halse, but as a child, it stuck in my mind that he was a bearded man. This, despite the fact that every other photo of Grandpa showed him clean-shaven.... Continue Reading →

The Other Son

Week 43: #52 Ancestors – Quite the Character By Eilene Lyon It can be difficult to find personal anecdotes about people who lived even just three generations back. I’ve found quite a bit about my great-grandfather, Guy Halse, but very little for his one sibling. Hillard LeRoy Halse was also born in Winneshiek County, Iowa,... Continue Reading →

The Successful Farmer

Week 42: #52 Ancestors – Proud By Eilene Lyon The prompt brought this photo to mind almost immediately, though it seems an odd choice. No one looks particularly happy in this image of the Halse family taken about 1912 in Codington County, South Dakota. Back row: Inez, Everett (my grandfather), Hazel, Howard, LloydFront row: Mabel,... Continue Reading →

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 →

The Rise and Fall of Trenton

Week 38: #52 Ancestors – On the Map By Eilene Lyon I confess to being a bit of a map geek. I even minored in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) when I attended Fort Lewis College in 2004-7. Maps are excellent for visualizing the context of events in our family history. They can help us understand... Continue Reading →

The Cutting School

Week 37: #52 Ancestors – Back to School By Eilene Lyon Today, schools are frequently named for presidents, famous politicians or war heroes (more often than not men). Back in frontier days, naming a school was often a prosaic affair – if you built a schoolhouse on your property, it generally became known after you.... Continue Reading →

The Engineer

Week 36: #52 Ancestors – Labor By Eilene Lyon My grandfather, Laurence M. Smith, has made many appearances on this blog. I’ve shared a couple stories he wrote about his work in A Short Load and A Secret Mission. Laurence was a 1931 graduate of the University of Idaho with a degree in electrical engineering.... Continue Reading →

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