I don’t have any clear memories of my maternal grandfather, who died when I was two. He was born in 1884, grew up in the small town of Paw Paw, Illinois, got a medical degree from Northwestern in 1908 and practiced until the 1950s, when he retired from his position as Medical Director of...
Category: Family History
Jennie, part 2: “She was my ideal”
What came in between the grim look on her face in the picture last time, and this triumphant grin?...
Jennie, part 1: The Defalcation
In the summer of 1892, my great-great-grandmother's first husband made the national news. ...
Diary 1862: The complete text
I hope you enjoy Catharine's voice as much as I do. ...
Diary 1862, Part 4: War, Words, and Silence
At first glance, only one entry - the last - makes reference to the Civil War. But looking at the word frequencies in Catharine's diary hints at another, more oblique, more personal story....
Diary 1862, part 3: Over the River and Through the Woods and Up to the Quarry and Over to Earlville
She makes me and V.I. Warshawski look like homebodies....
Diary 1862, Part 2: The writer’s identity
Whoever the writer is, it's certainly not Catharine's husband Amos, unless he's in the habit of referring to himself in the third person....
Diary 1862, Part 1: Who?
Through much of 2017 and 2018 I helped my mom pack up her house and get ready to move. In the process, we found this little diary among her mother’s things. Whose was it?...
Cleo’s roses (and other flowers)
Lately I’ve been helping my mom go through some of her mother’s things. I’ve learned that Gramma liked to take pictures of flower arrangements. Sometimes the flowers have some context. This one is labeled “Cleo’s Birthday 1981 from Joy” (Gramma’s name was Cleo), and I recognize Gramma’s dining room furniture. Others are in places...