Day Hike: Potato Creek State Park

Potato Creek State Park is located just southwest of South Bend, IN. It has facilities for camping, hiking, fishing, and horseback riding.

Despite the cold and rainy weather, I took the day to hit trails 4 and 2. Shortly after starting out, I disturbed a blue heron on the lake. The remainder of the train was uneventful. Some parts of the trail are paved or stone-covered. In spite of the wet weather, there was very little mud - only one spot about 6 feet long. There are also numerous lookouts built where one can observe wildlife (season permitting). Now that the leaves have dropped, much of the horizon and sky were various shades of gray. On the floor, however, there were numerous small ground cover plants which revealed a beautify green carpet for most of the hike.

Overall, It was a really nice walk, and I expect I will visit again in the warm weather to see the park in the warmer months.

 

Distance: 7.33km

Elevation Gain: 128m

Temperature: ~41 deg. F

Time: ~2 hours

"A History of Us" Released

After years of research, writing, and editing, the first volume of my family history is complete.

 

While having provided technical assistance to my mother when she was working on the Landers family history, I was more focused on work and social life to have taken up the cause. That changed when I attended a memorial service for my uncle, Jim Taylor. I realized that I had very little knowledge of my family's past, and that my children knew even less. I was also unhappy with some works produce on my maternal side. I decided that a well-researched survey was needed. This book is the beginning of that effort. The original plan was for a simple referential-style work that consisted of one page per person, with just basic facts about that person, their spouse, and children. Given the richness of the stories I was reading, I soon realized that format would not adequately portray our past. The book grew and developed along the way into its current form which is more narrative, and includes additional sections on "Further Research" and "Name Origins."

Additional contributions were made by Pat Taylor, Paul Hargrove, Paul Pomerleau, and Sydney Lohman.

From the back cover:

A History of Us: The Hargrove, Wright, Dalton, and Stroud Families documents the ancestry of Lynn Paul Hargrove dating back to 1474. Coverage includes 126 families from as far away as Fifeshire in Scotland, Yorkshire in England, The Palatinate, northern Switzerland, France, and Italy. Prominent surnames in the family include Basse/Bass, Cox, Hargrave/Hargrove, Lawrence, Seibert/Sibert, Stäffen/Stephens, Vasser, and Wright. In addition to family histories, the book describes general cultural notes and key historical events that shaped how the different families worked their way through history to the present day. Specifically, attention is given to the rise of the merchant class in England, various wars fought in the Palatinate, the Powhatan Uprising, the Fort Seybert Massacre, and the Flood of 1937.

The contents:

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Pedigree
FOREIGN ANCESTORS
    English Ancestors
    Swiss & German Ancestors
    Scottish & Irish Ancestors
    French & Italian Ancestors
THE IMMIGRANTS
    The Journey
    English Immigrants
    German Immigrants
    Scottish & Irish Immigrants
    French Immigrants
AMERICAN ANCESTORS
    Hargrave & Harrell
    Cox
    Basse/Bass, Griffin, & Harris
    McGehee, Watkins, & Wright
    Scarborough, Stewart, & Hobbs
    Carr, Kirby, Murphey, Perkins, & Vasser
    Stephens
    Sibert, Wright, Hobbs, & Stephens
    Dalton & Stroud
    Hargrove & Elmore
    The Contemporaries
Name Origins
Further Research
Name Index

A History of Us is available on Lulu.com, amazon.com, and bn.com.