Exploring the Past to Improve the Future
Week 3: #52Ancestors – Out of Place By Eilene Lyon My grandfather, Laurence M. Smith aka Smitty, was the only one in his family to attend college. He earned his degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Idaho in 1931, which eventually led to a very successful career with the Army Corps of Engineers.... Continue Reading →
Week 2: #52Ancestors - Favorite Photo By Eilene Lyon Before I began researching my family, I knew nothing about my great-grandmother, Clara P. (Ransom) Davis. She died in 1953, well before I came along. I had never been to Moscow, Idaho, prior to 2013, even though three generations of my ancestors are buried there and... Continue Reading →
Week 41: #52 Ancestors – Passed Down By Eilene Lyon There’s no question that my favorite family to write about is the Ransom family. What a great name! The Ransoms loved to stand out: ambitious, adventurous, tragic, a bit crazy at times. Never dull. This is probably one of the more sedate stories, but a... Continue Reading →
Week 25: #52 Ancestors – Broken Branch By Eilene Lyon Family branches become detached from trees for a variety of reasons. In many cases, a member decides to migrate from the ancestral home, either within a country or to a place far away. The migrant may remain in contact with the stay-at-home relatives, but their... Continue Reading →
Week 20: #52 Ancestors – Nature By Eilene Lyon You’ve met my great-grandmother, Clara Ransom Davis in several earlier posts. Clara moved to Idaho as a teen and attended Moscow High School, becoming a teacher at 16, while still in school herself. She attended the University of Idaho, and graduated with the third class in... 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 →
Week 12: #52Ancestors – Misfortune By Eilene Lyon By all measures, my cousin Orville Bodtker was a very unlucky young man in World War II. But I think for sheer, unrelenting misfortune, I have to turn to the story of my great-great-grandparents, Robert Ransom and Emma Jenkins, the parents of Clara Pearl Ransom. Robert was... Continue Reading →
Week 7: #52Ancestors – Valentine By Eilene Lyon I think it’s probably rare for anyone to have just one romantic interest in their lifetime. Many of us can probably relate a story about someone we’ve loved deeply, but the relationship did not work out for one reason or another. We rarely get a chance to... Continue Reading →
Week 2: #52Ancestors - Photo By Eilene Lyon Sterling Price Davis (1867 – 1933) and Clara Ransom Davis (1877 – 1953) – wedding portrait (1905; Collection of the Latah County Historical Society) Historical Societies and Libraries Though I’ve been engaged in the genealogy hobby – okay, obsession – for a couple decades now, it was... Continue Reading →
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