This week's #family history challenge--What's Your Favorite Discovery--from Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors52Weeks sparked a vivid memory. In mid-January 2009 I discovered first hand what our nation's capital is like in winter. Washington, D.C.'s humid air wraps your body in a vise; a cold breeze off the river increases its grip. I walked briskly from the … Continue reading Grandma Serena Had A Cat
Serena white Sayles
Amanuensis: A Letter from Ira Sayles to brother James K. Sayles, 1869
Rushford, Allg. Co., N.Y., Saturday, July 24, 1869 My Dear Brother, James, Yours of the 18 inst[ant] came to hand, last evening. I need not say I was somewhat surprised: for I had lost all trace of you. My last to you was directed to La Porte, and was never answered. I received a paper … Continue reading Amanuensis: A Letter from Ira Sayles to brother James K. Sayles, 1869
Tuesday’s Tip: Don’t Climb Trees With Your Glasses On!
It all started, this tree climbing, with my grandmother's handwritten family history and my father's stories of growing up on the family farm in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. I scrambled up the lowest branches, then higher and higher into the tree; deeper and deeper into my past, discovering dreams and disappointments among the families' leaves. Blogging … Continue reading Tuesday’s Tip: Don’t Climb Trees With Your Glasses On!
Amanuensis Monday: A Letter From Ira
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to a blog-reading cousin, Sharon B., who contacted me after perusing this site. After a flurry of excited email, I received a packet of letters written from MY great-great-grandfather to HER great-great-grandfather. Today I transcribe the first of these brotherly exchanges. Thank you, thank you, Sharon! From Rushford, … Continue reading Amanuensis Monday: A Letter From Ira
Project 150: Ira and Serena Sayles in 1861
November 1861 The rolling hills of Allegany County, New York were studded with trees, bare-limbed but for the oak trees. Red brown leaves would be clinging fast to those branches until harsh winter winds pulled them into crunchy swirls. Ira and Serena Sayles would have been leading very full lives on the campus of … Continue reading Project 150: Ira and Serena Sayles in 1861
Shoots, Roots, and Leaves 