Exploring the Past to Improve the Future
Week 49: #52 Ancestors – Winter By Eilene Lyon Well into the 20th century, my ancestors relied on horse power. The real thing. Here are a few images from the “archives.” This photo shows Chet Painter (a Halse cousin) on the Guy Halse farm in Dexter Township, Codington County, South Dakota. Though it’s cold enough... Continue Reading →
Week 40: #52 Ancestors – Ten By Eilene Lyon My great-grandfather, Sterling P. Davis, was one of ten children born to Sarah Rebecca (Livengood) Davis. Though many women gave birth to ten (or more) children back in those days, not so many can say they brought them all to a healthy adulthood. Perhaps the fact... Continue Reading →
Week 39: #52 Ancestors – On the Farm By Eilene Lyon My grandmother, Clare Ransom Davis, was born on the Davis family farm about six miles from Moscow, Idaho, in 1914. She was the second (and last) child of Clara Pearl Ransom and Sterling Price Davis. Grandma wrote a story about her father that I... Continue Reading →
Week 35: #52 Ancestors – Back to School By Eilene Lyon The ancestor that I most closely associate with schools is Clara Pearl Ransom. Education was the driving force in her life – her own and that of others. Her early life was marked by tragedy, but when she moved to Moscow, Idaho, it was... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon Since I seem to be on a roll with the Ransom family, I thought I’d follow up with a bit about one of Robert Ransom’s sons. He and Emma had four surviving sons: James Henry, William Randolph, Arthur Lemmon, and Albert Frederick (“Fred”). The first two were named for fathers and brothers.... Continue Reading →
Week 23: #52 Ancestors – Going to the Chapel By Eilene Lyon There’s no question that Great-grandma Clara was a staunch supporter of the Methodist Church. Her father (God rest his soul) had been a lay preacher in the faith, after all. She was abstemious, and thought everyone else should be, too. (I do hope... Continue Reading →
Week 19: #52 Ancestors – Mother’s Day By Eilene Lyon My grandpa, Laurence M. Smith, lost his mother when he was just nine years old. Though his family had known severe hardships in the early years, Laurence remembered the family’s better fortunes from the time of his birth in 1908 until his mother died. Mary... 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 →
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