A bit of background… I’d venture that most folks have parents that are – more or less – 20 to 30 years older than themselves. Most grandparents I’d also venture are 40 to 50 years older than their grandchildren. I’m not typical in that sense. My mother was ~ 41 ½ years old when I was born. Daddy? He was 22 years older than Mom. All I can say is that it was a cold, snowy winter in 1949-1950 with little else to do… Needless to say I am an only child of from this parentage. An oddity – I had a ½ brother that was actually 11 months older than my mother. One niece is 9 years older than me. The other niece from my ½ brother’s first marriage is 19 years older. An uncle at birth – how about that! Regardless, my father’s birthday was August 12, 1887. His name was Leo E. Hill. For some now mysterious reason, Mom and I were – and my ½ brother and his 2nd wife were never sure of his middle name. Best they could come up with was either Ellis or Elsworth – but never sure. Now… Dad was born near Golden Missouri and they apparently migrated to Washington in 1888. Leo E’s father – my grandfather - apparently died sometime in 1889 – we believe of an accident. Granny Perphene, re-married after my Hill grandfather died – She married a Herbert Dart. But, ass-u-ming that granny and grandpa hill were close to the same age - ± a few years – that means that Grandpa Hill was born sometime between 1855 and 1865. Now, here’s the point of this wandering tale… For nearly 56 years I have never known what grandpa Hill’s first name was. I was completely stymied in my search. Mom didn’t know. My ½ bro didn’t know. No family bible. No pictures. No clues to be found. Serendipitous – “come upon or found by accident; fortuitous.” Google is an amazing tool. I’m in the market for a new laptop and was doing some research for that at lunch yesterday. Just for giggles and grins I searched for “Leo Hill” as I have some postings to other groups and I wanted to see what turned up. Well… Near the bottom of the hits were these three: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/wa/cowlitz/cemeteries/lonepine2.txt and http://www.lewisriver.com/pt2-page2.html and http://www.lewisriver.com/pt2-page4.html So here is the key passage – and since this is a text only list, I can’t bold and underline so I’ve used >>and<< for highlighting the pertinent words. “STRAIT, ELI Eli and Mary Strait with their children and grandchildren settled on Lewis River, where Woodland Park now stands, in 1889. They bought the place from Charley and John Page. Their children were Homer, Eugene, >>Perphene (Aunt Attene)<< and Laura. Homer and Louisa Straits children were: Alvin, Amos, Clemetine, Alf, Addie and Vesta. Eugene (Gene) never married >>Aunt Attena married >>>>Elvin Hill,<<<< their son, Leo, {my father} now lives in Woodland and is married to Thelma Eaton Hill, {my mother} daughter of Courtney Eaton.<< >>Aunt Attena Hill later married Herbert Dart.<< Laura Strait married Benjamin Hannah, brother of Mat and Hanson (Hank) Hannah. Their granddaughter Flossie Taylor Davis supplied much of this date. Leo Hill and William Hannah also helped. William is Hand Hannah's grandson and Jack's son. William says that Aunt Attena was a favorite among Ariel neighbors for her many kindness'. She not only raised her own family, but took her nephew Eli Burton under her wing and raised him.” So there it is. My grandfather’s first name. Now, I don’t play the lottery, nor am I a betting man, but I’d lay a dollar to a donut that my father’s middle name was Elvin – not Ellis or Elsworth. What do ya’ think? Most of this list seems to be a lot about “I’m looking” and not so much of the “I found”. So here’s an “I found” story that I hope brings a bit of a smile to your lips – ‘cause my mile-wide grin hasn’t subsided yet! Best, Leo Carl Hill Veteran. Patriot. Democrat.