Exploring the Past to Improve the Future
Week 40: #52 Ancestors – Harvest By Eilene Lyon My great-grandfather, Charles Edward Smith, never had much success as a farmer. He began in Missouri, then moved to eastern Washington. The farm in Washington entailed dryland farming, because water was scarce. Once the family moved to Moscow, Idaho, around 1910, he engaged in other businesses... Continue Reading →
Week 38: #52 Ancestors – Cousins By Eilene Lyon I have a scarcity of first cousins – exactly five. Even though I rarely see them, I would know them instantly if I ran into them anywhere in the world. I’ve met a number of my dad’s cousins since taking up the family historian role. I... Continue Reading →
Week 24: #52 Ancestors – Dear Diary By Eilene Lyon So far I’ve only come across one true diary in the family, which I wrote about last year in Reatha Gusso, 1932. For an entire year, my grandmother kept a daily journal without missing a day. To our knowledge, it’s the only one she ever... Continue Reading →
Week 50: #52 Ancestors – Naughty By Laurence M. Smith (May 7, 1985) At times there are unusual experiences involved in being an Electrical Engineer. It was the time of World War II. I had just transferred from Portland to Spokane, Washington, to work on the design of the Spokane Army Air Field. It was... Continue Reading →
Week 48: #52 Ancestors – Next to Last By Eilene Lyon Note: This post is more about the research process than storytelling. Yes, there really is a John Smith in my family tree. And, no, he isn’t that John Smith, of Jamestown and Pocahontas fame. Fortunately, I’ve been able to trace my mother’s paternal line... Continue Reading →
Week 44: #52 Ancestors - Frightening By Eilene Lyon My grandfather, Laurence M. Smith, was apparently a bit of a prankster, so it's no surprise he enjoyed Hallowe'en. My mother told me a story about how her dad gave her a noisemaker made from a spool and told her to run it along the window... Continue Reading →
It’s been a while since I shared one of Smitty’s stories with you. This was written on May 24, 1991, in Portland, Oregon. My grandparents got married about the time Clare was graduated from the University of Idaho. It was in the depths of the Great Depression. Smitty had graduated earlier with an electrical engineering... Continue Reading →
This undated story by my grandfather, Laurence M. Smith, is part of his collection of memoir writings. Smitty, born in 1908 in Colville, Washington, was clearly of the automotive age. Though his father’s delivery business started out with horse-drawn wagons, they soon switched over to trucks. This event took place when he was 18 years... Continue Reading →
Smitty knew how to tell a tall tale. I find it interesting that when this story was written, it was set well into the future, rather than in the present or past. I thought it might be a typo, but he mentions the “great city of Moscow,” which it certainly wasn’t in 1926. I’ve added... Continue Reading →
The Martin, McGhee, Vining, Joy, Tower, Kennedy and other family lines. Sharing our photos and stories and history.
Rescuing what might remain of the grey matter.
Tales from the Annals of Crime
Louise Mabey
discovering the story it tells
Portraits from the first 100 years of photography
A Family History in Australia
A genealogical journey
Welcome to My Immigrant, Family Research, and Ancestry Blog
Sharing stories from my family history
Thoughts from the Inner Mind
A blog about my writing and the things that I care about
The less traveled paths
Stories from my family history research.
(Somewhat) Daily News from the World of Literary Nonfiction
A blog devoted to genealogical wanderings - dedicated to family near and far, through distance and time
My Family Stories
Finding the facts behind the legends!
Formerly Fading, But Not Forgotten 🌸 Zoe Krainik Blogs about Old Hollywood and Genealogy
