Exploring the Past to Improve the Future
Part 1 By Eilene Lyon The canal packet Indiana – designed specifically to fit in the locks at Louisville – arrived from New Orleans on Tuesday the 11th, pulling into the public landing, a sloping embankment on the Ohio River, alongside a dozen other steamboats. Though scheduled to depart the next day, obtaining a suitable... Continue Reading →
Week 50: #52 Ancestors – Witness to History By Eilene Lyon Introduction: This two-part feature is an excerpt from my book about the California gold rush. The Blackford Mining Co. left a farming community in eastern Indiana to seek their fortunes in 1851. The ten men ranged in age from Peter Liestenfeltz, the youngest at... Continue Reading →
Week 40: #52 Ancestors - Oldest By Eilene Lyon I believe the oldest document in my possession is this letter written by Henry Z. and Abigail Jenkins, dated October 19, 1855. The entire letter runs to over 1500 words, so I won't give a full transcript here - your eyes would be glazing over long... Continue Reading →
Week 33: #52 Ancestors – Troublemaker By Eilene Lyon Henry Z. Jenkins rose before dawn one morning in June 1827 in his single room in north Philadelphia’s Penn Township. His workday normally began at sunrise and ended at sundown – just like that of every other journeyman in the city. The master tradesmen dictated the... Continue Reading →
Week 1: #52 Ancestors - Fresh Start By Eilene Lyon To genealogists, the FAN acronym stands for Friends, Associates, Neighbors - people we should be researching alongside our ancestors to provide context and clues to family connections. My knee surgery rehab time on the exercise bike prompted me to start watching some Legacy Family Tree... Continue Reading →
Week 46: #52 Ancestors – Poor Man By Eilene Lyon He had to be desperate – it was such an insane thing to do at his age. Traveling to California and mining gold was for the young and strong, not for 49-year-old family men. But Henry Zane Jenkins made that difficult choice: to leave his... Continue Reading →
Week 39: #52 Ancestors – Map It Out By Eilene Lyon Note: This three-part series is adapted from my California gold rush book. Sources will be listed at the end of Part 3. Background The discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in January 1848 set off the largest mass migration to a single destination up... Continue Reading →
Week 29: #52 Ancestors – Challenging By Eilene Lyon David Jenkins is my 4th great-grandfather. Aside from knowing he married Ann Widdifield Zane and fathered Henry Zane Jenkins, facts about this man are hard to come by. Normally the uncertainty wouldn’t be such a big deal. However, Henry Z. Jenkins is the protagonist in my... Continue Reading →
Week 22: #52 Ancestors – At the Cemetery By Eilene Lyon There is a cemetery in New Orleans that I have not seen, and probably never will. Why? Because there are no grave markers, and the buried remains are merely a bony tangle in the delta silt. Still, it is hallowed ground. This is the... Continue Reading →
Every Family has a story to tell..........Welcome to mine
Writing, Blogging and Books
Navigating life through grandparenthood, chronic illness, dream work, and other inspirations
Passion for writing ignites my soul's momentum
“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” ~ Alexander Graham Bell
Thoughts about teaching and learning history
Live fully and have fun doing so...
everyone has a story
Buckeyes from all Directions : by Kathy Warnes
Home of Lukas Kondraciuk Photography
Family history site where I can share my latest discoveries.
"Nothing that happens to a writer -- however happy, however tragic -- is ever wasted." ~ P.D. James
Genealogy..a journey to the past present and future.
Exploring the Past to Improve the Future
Adventures in Genealogy
