Herman, You come by your talent (writing prowess) legitimately. It's in your genes! This is one of the rewards of genealogical research, finding out who are ancestors were, and what they did. We ARE what we WERE. ...As a comparative, my German maiden name translates to "scribe" which means 'writer' and here I are! ...One German Great-Grandfather brought the first printing press to Mount Sterling, OH, and started the first newspaper there. It is a joy to read his Editorials, poetry, etc, and know all of those old newspapers are preserved in the Archives of Ohio History. ...Another Great-Grandfather had a 1,000 acre cotton plantation in Louisiana, which I learned about here recently. I began recalling the year I had the impulse to grow COTTON in my backyard Ohio garden and was the laugh of the neighborhood. The 12 plants grew magnificently to the point someone asked if I were going to buy a cotton-gin for harvesting? (To save money, I bought a bottle of Gin and brought in some friends to help out.) ...One Great-Grandparent started the first bank in his town. ...A Grandfather was President of BankOhio in Columbus. It all translates that this granddaughter LOVES the smell of money! If we had the misfortune of having any train robbers or horse thieves in our ancestry, we would have to kick-in with...we shall overcome? Barbara Jean ----- Original Message ----- From: HERMON B FAGLEY <hermfagley@juno.com> To: <OHCLERMO-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2001 5:21 PM Subject: My grandmother ,Ruie Ely Brown, speaks > She died before I was born. > She wrote,in the 1920's, a family history in my lap. > She taught at Bantam,Anti-Bantam,and Bethel from age 15,after being schooled in New Richmond. > 50 years,she taught Sunday school at the Bantam Presbyterian > > But,the thing that makes her stand out-60 years she wrote a Bantam column for the "Clermont Sun "newspaper. The week she died,at 78,she > wrote her Bantam column,"and" read two books. > > 60 years worth of her Bantam columns are on microfilm at the library in Batavia.