Why “The Malevolent Matriarch?”
GREAT GRANDMA'S TONGUE WAS AS SHARP AS HER PENCIL. Afraid of no one, she let loose in hundreds of letters to daughter Bertha, sometimes twice a day. Her stern "disposition" intimidates (yet I adore that photo on the right. Notice her posture, her confidence. The hat and coat add to the "don't mess with me" ...
For our grandchildren's children
Get personal (but keep your distance) Document, document, document I've been tossing around a thought in the last week. I've wondered if there is anyone still alive that I know personally who lived through a pandemic. There is no one. My 91 year old mother did not live through anything like what we are now ...
Storytelling: A Ballad
The Ballad of Richard Bard (The Poetry may be poor, but the story is amazing.) I have found over the years in my genealogical searches that there are ancestors of whom I have become particularly fond. One couple, whom I admire greatly, both makes me laugh and makes me feel horrified by what they endured—Richard ...
Storytelling: Use vintage greeting cards
Hello. I've been gone for quite a while. Some of you know that my husband was diagnosed with brain cancer a while back. He passed in December. It's a journey I never dreamed either one of us would experience, me as caregiver or he with such a diagnosis. As he often said, "It just happened. ...
The Women Who Created Our World–Part 2
The Smith Family Women Building character The women in the Smith family were outstanding in the courage with which they faced life. They relied heavily on faith, honesty, love, and each other. In PART 1 of this post, we talked about Sylvia Bixby and her daughter, Maria Bixby Smith. Maria had six daughters who survived to ...
A journey from 1891-Post 5
Personal update I'm here Most of you know our family was hit with a devastating diagnosis this past year. My husband was diagnosed with brain cancer. That said, after two craniotomies, radiation together with low dose chemo, and now cycles of the highest dose of chemo, he is doing remarkably well. For this cancer, there ...
Storytelling: What might our ancestors’ health status reveal?
Great grandma, not such a mystery Proof is in the pudding I'd heard the stories. Most weren't wonderful. Orah was unkind, and while I wish dad was here to tell me more, he doesn't have to be. I have at my disposal the very best proof: great grandma's own words. What follows are excerpts from ...
The Women Who Created Our World, Part 1
A woman is like a tea bag — you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt Credit where credit is due A legacy to be proud of In the end, I think we don’t give enough credit to the women who made us who we are, not ...
A journey from 1891-Post 4
Signature number four A fly on the wall My mom has two, gold trunks in her apartment, and both are filled with genealogical treasures. In late August, she found something in the bottom of the smaller trunk. It was an autograph book once belonging to my great, great, great grandparents Charles and Maria Smith. To ...
Storytelling: Interpretations
Adding the dramatic effect When I read novels these days, I notice that the authors are writing their stories almost as if they are describing how they want it to look in a movie. With this in mind, I began to think about the “special effects” that could accompany some of the older letters I ...
The Art of Successful Letter Writing
A Letter from an Ancestor By Susan Phelps “In an age like ours, which is not given to letter-writing, we forget what an important part it used to play in people’s lives.” ~ Anatole Broyard On May 9, 1887, the Reverend Charles Smith sat down in his home in Plover, Wisconsin, to write a ...
The Malevolent Matriarch 