Barbara's "Two Cents"! :) > ... My objection is the effort to make history politically correct ... -->> Yup. And for that matter - "who's politics"? Politically correct "to the left" or "to the right"? LOL Shoot - Lucy and Ricky couldn't sleep in the same bed on TV in the 1950s. And families "certainly" didn't have a divorce or an adoption in "their families"! LOL Times change - about what's "ok" and "not ok". The pendulum just keeps on swinging! (Almost - like "clockwork"! LOL) And now and again - we have "revisionists" about this or that timeframe of history. Again - by "some yardstick"! :) Of course, we could just go to the "certainties" of "death and taxes"! LOL Guess in the scheme of things - I'd rather just "know things" - and assess them for myself - rather than be "told them" as - er - "canon", you know? Or worse - only told "some things" with some kind of "magic filter" in place. If I happen to "embrace" what is "current canon" - fine - but it's choice, not default if that makes any sense? Deb (who can't believe she is replying to "this subj line" again! LOL But - think I'll go "change it" - right now - from "ashamed american history" to "musings on history"! LOL)

The very thoughtful e-mails about American History have been very interesting to read. What happened in the past always needs to be evaluated according to the times. It is fascinating to try to picture our ancestors in their time period and wonder how it was to live in those days. My objection is the effort to make history politically correct. On TV the other night someone was talking about a young boy who could not read a portion of a speech by Martin Luther King in school because in it MLK mentioned God. Are we to deny that he was a minister? Do we have to change what was said because someone might be offended? Some years ago there was a flap about Thanksgiving. We weren't supposed to celebrate that day because the Pilgrims took advantage of the Indians or some such nonsense. Well, that's my two cents. Barbara

Hi to all - Couldn't take using that same subject line! First of all - "all is well". Just goes to show you "never know" where a post will take you, you know? I thought we would find out if you, Vee, knew of the Swain family (and it turned out - you DO! LOL). Then - it might have headed into "peach growing" in Niagara County - or maybe even off to the side re: the use of the documentary form - to tell our heritage stories. Instead - that word "ashamed" - and the replies - my raised eyebrows - then felt like I needed to do those replies since I had brought up the subject (and the "word") in the first place! Mamma mia! Kathy? A second "all is well" to you. I'm ok over here - and hope you are too! Shoot - I hope we "all" are! LOL I know exactly what you mean about "this list". It's different than the rest - and it "is" more "conversational". Hope my "tone" came through on that last reply. I was trying to say that we agree on most - and where we're "side by side" - that we're in the same cart! :) I've seen things like what we just talked about go BONKERS on other lists or newsgroups - so guess I just wasn't "ready". I "could be", mind you - it just wasn't where I was at when I sent off the original message. I began to think that maybe I had offended YOU folks with my choice of words! Like I said - I was thinking Swain, peaches, documentary as the primary messages! Hard history lessons - but pulled out one of the positive "parts of the story" for "this list", you know? Run with the positive. LOL Little did I know! Just look at this message. I'm as 'wordy" as ever - so all must be "ok", right? LOL Hmmmm ... if some of you could have heard me earlier? I was thinking .. um .. I think maybe I'll just go listen to Roy and Dale again! LOL Deb (thankful for this list - and what we "each" write/say - as long as we get to have a cup of coffee before, during and after!)

Deb said: > > as long as we get to have a cup of coffee before, during and after! ---------------- May I skip the coffee please? I never have been able to stand the stuff! I even find the smell nauseating! But, hey, I'm also the wierd-o who loves cooked spinach (sans vinegar), as well as liver & onions. I have to wonder... From whom did I inherit these strange taste buds of mine? I love this list too. Leslie God Bless the USA

That's funny Vee - my brother says that at least once a week! (on the other hand..she wore a glove...) I always thought he had made it up!

Dear Folks, I'm getting a bit giddy here at this late hour but I feel compelled to tell you about a simple memory of mine that goes back into the 1950s when I was an inexperienced waitress in Morehead City, North Carolina. I worked in an Italian restaurant not all that far from the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station, NC. Not only did I wait on the tables, I also waited on the customers at the counter. Note, most of the customers were Marines from Cherry Point. There was one particular Marine that always sat up at the counter and after awhile we struck up a nice conversation. On occasion we would talk on a semi-intellectual subject but then he would take an "about face" and add something silly right in the middle of it. What he would say in all seriousness was, "On the other hand" and then pause for only a moment and add, "she wore a glove!" For some reason that cracked me up! There we were in a serious conversation and he had the sense of humor to add something to lighten it up. I can't even remember his name, but I still smile when I think of "on the other hand" and then remember the punch line, "she wore a glove." Just a memory of over 50 years ago. vee

Dear Folks, It's Wednesday again and that means take-out-the-trash day because tomorrow is when the garbage trucks come around and pick up the trash. My neighbor Dawn showed up as usual to haul my trash and recycle bin out to the road for me and tonight she brought along her daughter Heather who is 17 years old and her son Jamie who just turned 10. They all knew what needed to be done and took everything out to the road. We had our usual chat together. Dawn told me another chapter of her dismal past of being verbally and physically abused as a child and told me how she was still trying to cope with the aftermath of it. But at the same time young Jamie piped up and told me that he wanted to be a mechanical engineer when he grew up. Wow, to think that a kid that age would set such a goal for him. Then I turned to Heather and asked her what her goal is. She told me she wanted to be a director. Well, I had to prod her as to what that would entail. She told me that she had a taste of the theatre in high school and what she wanted to be was a director of a play or some such. Then all four of us got into the subject of what was being taught in the school system nowadays. Both Heather and Jamie were only too willing to tell me all about the subjects they were taking and of course Dawn put in her own two cents. Oh my what a marvelous experiencing listening to the children telling me about how they felt about teachers and what they were teaching them. Frankly, some of what Heather told me sounded like a horror story inasmuch as she was being taught about witches and covens and the dark side that goes along with it. Even Jamie piped up that by the same token, the school system had banned such books as the Harry Potter series. Go figure. After we had been standing around in my kitchen for awhile Jamie made himself comfortable sitting in my chair up at the kitchen table, then I had to sit in my motorized wheelchair because my legs were giving out and then Heather made herself comfortable in another kitchen chair. And we talked and talked some more. Dawn told me about what she and her husband had just accomplished regarding rearranging the wall between the bathroom and their bedroom. Both Jamie and Heather then added their own two cents regarding the small size of their own two bedrooms and Heather pitifully told me that she didn't even have a bed to sleep on. Well I didn't buy that for a minute and when Jamie and Dawn piped up about the subject, I learned that it was at Heather's insistence that her regular bed be removed and replaced with a futon plus computer desk. And when the subject came up about painting their rooms, Jamie piped up that he wanted his bedroom painted in purple, blue, black and white, his favorite colors. This evening was a very special one for me. I've never seen Jamie so animated and talkative and so was Heather. During all of our exciting discussions, every once in awhile Jamie would ask his mom if they could go home so that he could practice his viola. And then every once in awhile Heather would ask her mom whether it was ok if she skipped school tomorrow. Dawn could only pry out of her that the reason she wanted to skip school was because of her teacher. However, when I really pinned Heather down, she told me that her teacher was a substitute and the subject he was teaching was "Study Hall." She added that she really needed to take the time off because she had an exciting project ahead of her for her art class. It had to do with something about putting together a mobile and/or something about the Navy. Of course I let her know that I was here to help her. After they had been here for 1-1/2 hours they finally went home and I was left with such a warm feeling. I'm 73 years old and was born around the same time as Dawn's mother. Therefore I'm old enough to be the kids' grandmother. And that's the feeling I have about Dawn and her family. Maybe I'm a surrogate mother for Dawn what with my hearing her out about her personal problems and maybe I'm a surrogate grandmother to Heather and Jamie. Maybe a grandmother they had never known. I maybe Auntie Vee to my niece and great-Auntie Vee to my grandnieces and grandnephew and maybe a great-great-Auntie Vee to my gr-grandnieces and nephews, but at this time there is the possibility that I'm Grandma to Dawn's kids and Mom to Dawn. Such a great feeling. vee

Dear Folks, I've been making good progress putting together the stories for my book. I had remembered one in particular and knew I hadn't come across it on any of my ZIP disks. Then I remembered that I had put a lot onto a CD and so I found the CD under the label of "Stuff." And sure enough I found the story. However in the meantime I all found a whole bunch of other stories that I wrote and so far all of them have been just right for the book. So now the paper stack gets higher and higher and I'm afraid the book will be too thick. Oh, well, we'll see what I end up with. If I need to eliminate one or two or maybe even three stories that are marginal, that should solve the problem. Now, Vee, get back to work and print out those stories! vee

Kathy: > ... I was just trying to say that since I have no power over what was, and I wont ever know how it really was, only glimpses of how other people saw things, I can't bring myself to feel badly or proudly, about history. -->> Aaaaahhh - I think I see what you mean, Kathy. Guess you could extend that and say the same thing about "current day" people and having "feelings" about "current events". You're not only talking "context", but also "no control over the actions of others" and/or "likely we don't know the "whole story"? Hmmmmm ..... Yeah - guess I "am" over to the side of you a bit, then. Or - I'm just an emotional critter? LOL But - not to worry. Likely the buggy has lots of different seats in it! :) When I look into the past? When I look at things today? Yes, there's "context" - for a time - a culture - a country - etc. And no - likely there's not "certainty" as we're talking "people" where the only certainty in any timeframe is that we "don't" know the whole story! :) But - I carry on anyway. I "do" sift, sort, assess the times, the events, the people. I wonder about them. I "am" saddened by some things - joyful about others. I "do" admire some things - and not others. I do "connect" in that way. Please understand that once again, this doesn't mean I'm over at an extreme! Certainly doesn't mean I "condemn" or "boast", for example. For me - that's "too far over" on the scale. And yes - much of this sifting is purely "intellectual". That is - mental assessments. Like a scholar (except I"m not that smart! LOL). However, I "do" keep the emotional side as well and "feel" - for then - and for now. What can I say? LOL Kathy: > ... New word - horrified - I am horrified by ... <snip> ... And back to proud, I am proud to ... >> -->> Aaaaahhhh - again, I think I see where you're coming from? Ok. If I go to your words? Then - guess I would say that I share those - but don't seem to have it "by country". I come at it across the board - all timeframes - all countries - just 'In general" about "we humans" as we mosey about this planet of ours. To me - "life experiences" - historically - or now - are "on a spectrum". And yeah - I "do" have a connection to it - some more positive - some more negative. (Like I said way back - I just "prefer" to concentrate on the positive! LOL) Anyway -- think at the end of the day - we're now really talking about "values" & "sensibilities" - all very, very, personal things. Sure glad those buggies DO have lots of different seats for this life ride we're all on! :) And - I do appreciate "dialog" as we try to keep our buggy on the road and not in a ditch! LOL Thanks! :) Deb

Deb - I would hope I didn't offend you by what I wrote. This is just about the only list I am on, that I feel I can contribute my personal feelings to. I wasn't trying to say it was wrong of you to have your particular feelings. I was just adding mine, and giving reasons why I felt that way. Kathy

Deb, Don't worry about your "hitting a nerve." Your message brought out several positive messages in return. And I believe that in general we were all saying the same basic thing. vee ----- Original Message ----- From: <DebCA@comcast.net> To: <NYNIAGAR-FOLKS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2005 12:27 PM Subject: Re: [FOLKS] Ashamed American History > Wow - ashamed - proud. Powerful words. > > In some ways - wish I had just said "saddened"! Maybe it wouldn't have > "hit a nerve" out there. > > Certainly we all know about the classic stories of 6 people all at the > same place - at the same time - telling about "the whatever" afterwards - > and voila - you have "six different events"! LOL "We" then listen - sort > and sift - trying to get a bit closer to what really may have happened. > That's fine - and normal - and what I'd call "human experience". > > So also with my comments on history. Ironically, the main point of > sending the post to begin with was re: the local SWAIN connection! But - > given the power of the series, I "went on" about the "context" and my own > reactions. I wanted to point out the power of the documentary "genre" for > story telling - to include multiple points of experience - with both the > "big context" and the "personal letters/diaries". My "to the side" > personal experience was that we aren't "told" many of the things that > happened. But, that too, is a matter of history. It depends on how many > individuals decide to take the time/effort to write their particular > collection of facts - their interpretation - then put it out there for the > rest of us. > > Shoot - stories are only "out there" and told if folks like "us" write > them - about our families & ourselves. > > So - sorry if I stirred anything up out here. I do think Ken Burns is a > master at the documentary genre - from "The West" to his work on baseball > to many, many more. Just wanted to share. :( > > Deb > > > > Looks like I hit > >

Wow - ashamed - proud. Powerful words. In some ways - wish I had just said "saddened"! Maybe it wouldn't have "hit a nerve" out there. Certainly we all know about the classic stories of 6 people all at the same place - at the same time - telling about "the whatever" afterwards - and voila - you have "six different events"! LOL "We" then listen - sort and sift - trying to get a bit closer to what really may have happened. That's fine - and normal - and what I'd call "human experience". So also with my comments on history. Ironically, the main point of sending the post to begin with was re: the local SWAIN connection! But - given the power of the series, I "went on" about the "context" and my own reactions. I wanted to point out the power of the documentary "genre" for story telling - to include multiple points of experience - with both the "big context" and the "personal letters/diaries". My "to the side" personal experience was that we aren't "told" many of the things that happened. But, that too, is a matter of history. It depends on how many individuals decide to take the time/effort to write their particular collection of facts - their interpretation - then put it out there for the rest of us. Shoot - stories are only "out there" and told if folks like "us" write them - about our families & ourselves. So - sorry if I stirred anything up out here. I do think Ken Burns is a master at the documentary genre - from "The West" to his work on baseball to many, many more. Just wanted to share. :( Deb Looks like I hit

Just for you, Leslie - and anyone else who wants it ... :) I found this fellow's web site. Looks like he's a high school teacher and has put up a bunch of history stuff at his web site. (Didn't explore it all - just went directly to the following - on the immediate ...) Ready? Here's the url to go directly to the lyrics to "Happy Trails" & a photo of Roy, Dale and "Trigger". You can explore elsewhere on his site via the menu keys at the left. For me, I clicked on the "bar" just benealth the lyrics - and listened with pleasure to Roy and Dale SINGING! :) http://members.tripod.com/~mr_sedivy/happytrl.thml Btw - did you know that the pilot for "The Andy Griffith Show" was actually an episode first run on "Make Room for Daddy" with Danny Thomas called "Danny meets Andy Griffith"? Now that I've been researching - I've found several "radio first - then to tv" programs. Love all the 50s & early 60s tv stuff I've been doing. Must come from being one of the first "tv generation" folks - born in 1951! LOL I've now come up with some radio/tv questions I'm going to ask my mom about in our next phone conversation! Enjoy "Happy Trails"! :) Deb

In a message dated 3/9/05 12:28:17 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, DebCA@comcast.net writes: Wow - ashamed - proud. Powerful words. In some ways - wish I had just said "saddened"! Maybe it wouldn't have "hit a nerve" out there. Actually, it is the wording. I have come across those words so often in genealogy. For instance, someone sent me a bit of information on one of my husband's gr-gr-gr-grandparents, starting with the caution, 'not to be ashamed, but the person was a slave-holder'. In order for me to be ashamed, I would have to be schizo, because while this particular person fought in the civil war for the South, my husband's other gr-gr-greats fought for the North! None of my greats were here in time to be involved. And that is another thing I'm not ashamed of. Although my brother-in-law's mother seems to think I should be. HER relatives came here on the Mayflower! I was just trying to say that since I have no power over what was, and I wont ever know how it really was, only glimpses of how other people saw things, I can't bring myself to feel badly or proudly, about history. I'm just very glad people decided to emigrate to a new land. New word - horrified - I am horrified by some of the things people in other countries have lived through, and thank God, mine had the brains to leave. And back to proud, I am proud to live in the United States today. She may have her problems, but I will take them over any other countries problems. Kathy

The recent posting about 'being ashamed of American History ' struck a cord with me in a couple of ways: The book Centennial was a series where a young man from Pennsylvania who was shunned by his old world order religion and was made to leave the family home. He took his backpack and moved west (like many of our ancestors),. He had many adventures, learned about people and society outside his old world order religion. After many years and the successes he had, he returned for a visit with his family. When this event occurred there were two types of feelings happening to people in the room: his family that stayed back home felt sorry and ashamed that he had left their community. The young man looked around himself and was glad he left the community. He had learned and experienced many things "they" had not. He had a different outlook on life. I met a distant cousin several years ago and he really got on my case why I was not Roman Catholic. As it turned out in 1910 our grandparents were divorced. The grandmother had been brought up Irish Catholic. The grandfather was brought up Baptist. The couple married in the brides home because the groom was not Catholic. The distance cousin's mother, youngest of the children, was raised by my grandmother and of course in the Catholic Religion. The older children, although baptized in the catholic religion, did not follow it as adults and raised their families in the Protestant religions. Each could feel ashamed of the other, based on their own beliefs. There is someone in my very extended family, who has done parts of our family history. There was a "book" put together and is on file in Salt Lake. They sent me a copy. I know the documented history of the same people. I have read newspaper articles, vital records, heard older people talk of some of the people........ The picture story they printed for my own father is a "fairy tale". My sister and I can't believe they wrote that. I looked at a couple of others and sad to say I don't like their work. They wanted to depict the people as having a wonderful 'sunny' life. That is not the truth in several cases. Facts were left out or twisted. Should I be ashamed of the information that has been put out for others to read? I had no control of the producing of the 'book'. I don't plan on writing a duplicate book, to correct the impression they have made. That is the same as anyone writing an American History book, it is their creation and outlook on life. The United States is NOT the only country that had 'slaves', as we called the people who were owned by a landowner and worked on their property. Many landowners in Europe, no matter what their title, had peasants working and living on their land. If a person takes the time they can find this working situation is all over the world, maybe called by different names. Many of those 'peasants' left the landlord and came to the United States. We are still having people leaving their 'homes' and coming to the United States. Some legally and some illegally. History does not change. Susanne

Oh, Deb. Will you please tell us the URL of the website you mentioned? These memories are soooo much fun! Thank you, Leslie ----- Original Message ----- From: <DebCA@comcast.net> > This is a fun one, Vee! :) > > I remember the phrase "Dagnab it" being used - don't laugh - well, go > ahead (LOL) - in a kid's cartoon called "Deputy Dawg"! (usually followed > by "you varmit" when chasing after a critter) :) > > I've been doing a lot of journal writing these past few months. I've > found myself going down memory lane about "tv shows". I've been amazed at > how many "commercial jingles" are for some reason "still in my head"! LOL > I can still see that dog --- and the jingle ---- "N E S T L E > S ----- Nestles makes the very best ----- choooooooooc'late!" > > And - I have theme songs. I got excited the other day when I found a web > site where upon a click of a button - I could hear Roy Rogers and Dale > Evans singing "Happy Trails to You"! LOL > > So yes - expresssions - plus jingles - plus songs. Who knows how many > "pop culture" things we have living inside us! :) > > Fun though! :) > Deb

Dear Folks, Regarding the discussion of being ashamed of some of America's history, frankly I've been having difficulty deeling with that feeling also. First off, how can we condone what Americans did regarding slavery and their treatment of the blacks? Yes I it bothered me for a number of years but when the present blacks demanded money from the government to reimburse them for how they had been treated as slaves, I instantly disagreed with them. Yes they had been treated horribly but that was back in the 1850s, well over 100 years ago. The members of our present government may be sympathetic toward their demands but none of us us who are now living in the 1990s and 2000s, have anything to do with what our ancestors might have done. Regarding the Indians, in the past few years a local tribe here has gathered together and has demanded that the government went back on a treaty and that they were robbed of the land they had originally owned about 200 years ago. Again, I can agree that on many occasions the Indians had been treated badly regarding their lands, but on the whole in both cases of the slaves and the Indians, I agree wholeheartedly with what Leslie said, "I believe that it is important to remember that those things were the ways of the world for a long, long time. So, our ancestors were doing what history had deemed normal." vee

Dear Deb, et al, That reminds me of Dadrat the Dadratted. I seem to recall it was Fibber McGee who said that in the 1940's radio show called "Fibber McGee and Molly." Yes it's fun to remember what has stuck in your mind all these years about TV expressions and jingles and songs, but by the same token if you have any talent (or not) in writing down those innocent memories that date way back maybe into the ancient 1940s, write them down. You may be writing down some of the details of your life that would be an entire mystery that your children, grandchildren, etc., might eventually realize describes some little bit of the history of the times. vee ----- Original Message ----- From: <DebCA@comcast.net> To: <NYNIAGAR-FOLKS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 08, 2005 12:32 PM Subject: Re: [FOLKS] TV memorable expressions > This is a fun one, Vee! :) > > I remember the phrase "Dagnab it" being used - don't laugh - well, go > ahead (LOL) - in a kid's cartoon called "Deputy Dawg"! (usually followed > by "you varmit" when chasing after a critter) :) > > I've been doing a lot of journal writing these past few months. I've > found myself going down memory lane about "tv shows". I've been amazed at > how many "commercial jingles" are for some reason "still in my head"! LOL > I can still see that dog --- and the jingle ---- "N E S T L E > S ----- Nestles makes the very best ----- choooooooooc'late!" > > And - I have theme songs. I got excited the other day when I found a web > site where upon a click of a button - I could hear Roy Rogers and Dale > Evans singing "Happy Trails to You"! LOL > > So yes - expresssions - plus jingles - plus songs. Who knows how many > "pop culture" things we have living inside us! :) > > Fun though! :) > Deb > >

Leslie said, > That is what I called my parents. > Is it unusual? And then Lorraine said, > My Mom and Vee are the only people I've ever known who used those two > particular names for their parents. When I was growing up we called my > parents > "Mommy and Daddy" and then later "Mom and Dad." You girls' comments pleases me a great deal. I always thought I was in the vast minority in using such a formal name for my mother. No doubt in my very early years I called her "Mommy," but when I was in my school years I'm certain I called her "Mother." I'm certain that for the most part my parents and their parents always referred to their mother as "Mother." Now regarding Daddy, frankly almost all of my life I called him that until the day he died in 1958. But I must admit that on some occasions I MAY have referred to my mother as Mom and my father as Dad. But ever since they've been long gone they're still Mother and Daddy in my memory. vee

Deb said, > I've been watching episodes on DVD from the Ken Burns' documentary "The > West". Don't know if any of you saw any of this series when it > originally aired on PBS, but it's well done, IMO. I recently decided to > "start at the beginning" - and watch it all the way through. I've just > finished episode 3 and found I had to write to YOU FOLKS. :) Then she said, > > This episode picks up just as gold is being "discovered" in California. . > . . > >One of the individuals they selected for this episode was a fellow named >William SWAIN. He was an average fellow who decided to leave his wife and >brother in the east to make his fortune in CA. He ultimately becomes one >of the MANY who traveled as one of the "49'ers" to CA. They showed a map >of his trip by boat from LEWISTON, NY through the Great Lakes - up and >down - then meeting up with a wagon train group in Independence, MO. We >learn of their trip - in grueling detail. Dear Deb, When I read your message I wanted to jump up and down with excitement. Oh yes indeedy I know what an important part the William Swain diaries and letters played in the entire epic. In fact I'm certain that all of his story came from the book "The World Rushed In" by JS Holliday about the gold rush. It was published back in 1981. Of course everyone here in Youngstown rejoiced in its publication. Now I'm gonna be just as long-winded as Deb (like surprise, surprise!). I had already done serious research on the Swain family who settled on River Road, Youngstown, before there was a village of that name. Isaac Swain, his wife and children lived in a log cabin that they had built back in the very early 1800s. During the War of 1812 when the British and Indians came of the Niagara River and burned the Niagara Frontier all the way from Lake Ontario and south all the way to Lake Erie, the Swain's log cabin was destroyed by fire in 1814 but the family managed to flee eastward into Niagara County. Oh wow, I don't know how to keep this story short but trust me I'm trying. After the embers had cooled the Swains came back and rebuilt their burned out cabin. In later years their children grew up, got married and moved away. But there was one daughter, Rebecca, who turned her back on her Baptist upbringing. Rebecca, married Frederick Granger Williams, who was a counselor to Joseph Smith who was the founder of the Mormon religion and they followed Joseph Smith all the way to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. Isaac was so furious with his daughter for her choice of such a strange new religion that he all but disowned her. By that time Isaac and his two young sons George and William (from a later marriage) finally completed building a sturdy cobblestone house that still stands today on River Road. It was while they were living there (after Isaac had died) that George and William set out a vast young orchard of peach trees. They were both experienced farmers. William married Sabrina and then when their daughter Lila was only one year old, William caught the gold fever, left his wife, his baby and left his older brother George to take care of the orchards plus taking care of Sabrina, Lila and his/their mother Patience. When William returned back home to the cobblestone house at the end of his "Gold Rush Adventure," he went back to what he knew best. Growing peaches. When I wrote my book on the history of the Town of Porter I included a long chapter about "William Swain's Gold Rush Adventure." I skimmed over what JS Holliday wrote in his book and picked out the general story of his long agonizing journey from New York to California and back again and condensed it considerably to tell all of his story. Note: if anyone wants to read the story I'm certain that I can find it on one of my disks and I'll send it to anyone who is interested. Although there is soooo much more I'd like to say about the Swain family, I know when I've said quite enough for one email. To learn a bit more about the family and the book, check out http://webtext.library.yale.edu/xml2html/beinecke.SWAIN.con.html#a3 vee