Monday, November 25, 2013

Hometown Monday - P is for Paul, Penny and Peter


Hometown Monday - P is for Paul, Penny and Peter



We are continuing this series of posts of excerpts from the novels, novellas, and short stories of "The Homeplace Saga" family story-telling, with a new twist. We have adopted a format from the: "Blogging From A to Z Challenge." Each week we will share a published except related to a person whose name begins with that letter. 

This series of posts is to provide an insight into the story lines that may not be clear from other promotional pieces about "The Homeplace Saga." These will also be coordinated with the content of the developmental Wiki, "Beyond the Books" - to expand the information available there, as well. [Links in the text, below, provide more information on that person or entity]

Today we look at names beginning with the letter P.

For P, we have (with two excerpts, below):

Paul Gates - first husband of Beverly Bevins

Penny Nixon - Part-time reporter for the Oak Springs Enterprise in 1987

Peter Bevins - Youngest of the 4 Bevins siblings


Our excerpts today are from the novel, "Christmas at the Homeplace," recently released, now available at Amazon.com… for Christmas purchases:


This excerpt is from "Christmas at the Homeplace" is from Chapter 12, Tuesday, November 19, 1996:

Paul went up to the Big Thunder Lodge Tuesday afternoon to meet with Julie Barnes and others involved in the changes they discussed earlier. He had had discussions with Karen, Christopher, Lyle, Harry and Bart and they had developed a list of questions for which he hoped to get answers before the trustee’s meeting the following week. Timing was the primary concern. They also wanted Paul to get further details on the commitment sought from the Bevins Trust.



Since this was Paul’s first visit to Big Thunder, Julie gave him the grand tour. He was very impressed with this lodge set back off the road in the woods. It was much larger than he had expected even though he had heard about it. They also walked out on the east balcony where they could look at the lake that had been created by the earthen dam that they were now proposing to remove. 

From the position on the third floor balcony where they were viewing the lake, Paul could look to the north and see, at the edge of the woods, where the stream of Oak Creek was entering the lake. It really wasn’t a very deep lake, and he wondered to himself why they had chosen to dam up the stream at all. To Julie, he said he was anxious to see the plan for flow of the stream following draining the dam. She said that was a good place to start and they went to a meeting room in the administrative area where several planning charts were on display. One of the planners was also there to interpret the charts and drawings for Paul.

Julie showed Paul the architectural drawing of how the stream would look following the planned changes. The drawing ran from the north end of the property in the woods to the south end of the property where the stream reentered the woods heading south through the National Forest toward the Mill a few miles away. The charts along side the drawing also showed how the dam fill would be redistributed to create a float stream with several curves on the property. They were planning to install an entry point near the north end and pickup and re-entry point near the southern border of the property.

The planner said the intent was to give guests the opportunity for a short float, by canoe or kayak, on the property (north to south). For more adventurous floaters, the entry would be at the south edge of the property to float south to the Mill, if all went as planned. This would include the pickup point north of the Mill as well as some improvements along the creek in between in cooperation with the National Forest Service. A proposed plan to do this had preliminary approval of the Forest Service, subject to a number of conditions, including the approval of the Bevins Trust of the work needed along the creek on their property. 

After some further discussion, Julie and the planner each agreed to attend the trustee’s meeting with Paul the following Tuesday to bring these charts and make a brief presentation.


This excerpt is from "Christmas at the Homeplace" is from Chapter 17, Saturday, November 30, 1996:

Peter and Bart had agreed to meet this afternoon for a couple of hours at Bart’s office at his house to go over their maps of the individual pieces of land currently held by the Bevins Trust. Bart had already marked the lands that were currently involved in agricultural activities. That was the easy part. Most of the wooded areas were fairly easy to identify, as well. They each would, sooner or later, go into the McDonald Conservancy. The areas with pasture land and transitional areas were a bit more difficult. 

Future use plans as well as possible improvement projects in these areas would help determine their distribution. Those were marked for further consideration, a bit later, along with a tentative priority for each.

The big ridge where the caves were located was also fairly easy to identify and assign to Conservancy land. The land surrounding Oak Creek would generally be assigned to the Conservancy, but the issue they generally faced was how far from the water’s edge to include, moving up and down the creek, on each side. A closely related area was points of possible erosion and where the channel of the stream might change over time. They marked each of these with their questions for further consideration.

They both enjoyed this review process and were a bit surprised how many questions they raised. It was quite a bit more complicated than they had realized it would be. They agreed it was good they were getting an early start so that questions could be addressed.



"May each of us have a Homeplace to hold onto, if only in our minds."

Bill  ;-)



Monday, November 18, 2013

Hometown Monday - Three "N"s but No "O"s


Hometown Monday - Three "N"s but No "O"s



We are continuing this series of posts of excerpts from the novels, novellas, and short stories of "The Homeplace Saga" family story-telling, with a new twist. We have adopted a format from the: "Blogging From A to Z Challenge." Each week we will share a published except related to a person whose name begins with that letter. 


This series of posts is to provide an insight into the story lines that may not be clear from other promotional pieces about "The Homeplace Saga." These will also be coordinated with the content of the developmental Wiki, "Beyond the Books" - to expand the information available there, as well. [Links in the text, below, provide more information on that person or entity]

Today we look at names beginning with the letter N.

For N, we have (with two excerpts, Nicole in both, below):

Neil Harms - intergenerational consultant

Nicole Evans - grand-daughter of Doc Evans in 1996 - worked at Big Thunder Lodge - married Christopher Ogden in Oct 1996



Norma (Hartman) Kirk - deceased - wife of Don, mother of Brian

[Click on image to go to Amazon.com]

Our excerpts today are from the novel, "Christmas at the Homeplace," recently released, now available at Amazon.com… for Christmas purchases:

This excerpt is from "Christmas at the Homeplace" is from Chapter 14, Sunday, November 24, 1996:

Nicole returned home from her 2-10 p.m. shift on Sunday night just as Christopher was finished watching the evening news on television. Christopher noticed immediately that she had a big smile on her face and was nearly bursting to share her good news.
“Just one more week of this strange shift I have been on. Starting Wednesday, December 4, I will be on a normal 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule. How do you like that?”
Christopher gave her a big, long hug, and asked: “How did this happen? You hadn’t mentioned it at all.”
“No, I really didn’t know. I think you know they have been going through some reorganization, and even personnel changes, up at Big Thunder.” Nicole looked to Christopher for confirmation.
“Yes, Paul has mentioned that recently, from his talks with Julie Barnes.”
“Well, unknown to me, they had been looking at my background, having worked in all aspects of hospitality between here and my time in Springfield since college, but still young. They asked me if I would work on a new team with a techie person and an administrative person to develop a new Internet presence and strategy for the Lodge. I liked the idea, and I love the opportunity to be on a normal work week and normal work shift.” Nicole was still almost breathless, just talking about the change and the opportunity.
“Well, needless to say, I’m very happy about it, as well,” Christopher said. “Do you have any idea how long this project team will continue?”
“I really didn’t ask. It sounded like an initial task that might take several months. That was good enough for me. And, it is the kind of special assignment that would normally lead to a pretty good placement on the other end, if the task is completed successfully.”
“Yes,” Christopher agreed. “I can certainly see that possibility. I should be a really interesting project.”
They continued to talk about the new possibilities.  



This excerpt is from "Christmas at the Homeplace" is from Chapter 24, Sunday, December 22, 1996:

As Bart and Diane left the United Methodist Church service on Sunday, they came across Christopher and Nicole with Linda Ogden. After a few minutes of conversation, Diane said to Linda, “We didn’t know what you were doing for Christmas day or Christmas Eve, but we’d really like to have you join us at our place if you don’t have specific other plans.”
Linda smiled, and replied, “Thank you, Diane. You are very kind. We were just talking about that, actually. Melanie, Richard and Kim are staying home for Christmas this year but will be coming down for New Year’s Day.” Looking to Christopher and Nicole, she continued, “It might be nice to spend Christmas day with all of you.” 
“Yes, Mom, I think that would be a good thing to do. Jennifer, Brian and Don will be there, too. We had a good time at the Thanksgiving dinner, it would be nice to be together again out at Bart and Diane’s place for Christmas.”
“We’ll plan on it then, Diane. Thank you each for asking me.” Linda smiled at Bart and Diane, then at Christopher and Nicole. “Its pretty cold out here today. We should get in the car.”
“Good idea, Mom.” Christopher offered, and they moved in that direction. 
Bart and Diane watched them get into the Lincoln, with Christopher driving and his mother in the back seat, Nicole beside him. Bart said, “She is holding up pretty good, but she looks a good ten years older the last couple of months.”
Diane nodded, “I can see that as well. It is really important for her to keep getting out and getting on with her life; as hard as that must be at a time like this.”
“I’m really pleased that she accepted our invitation. I was afraid she would decline and just stay home,” Bart added.
“Yes,” Diane agreed, “This was a big step in the right direction for her. She is still young. After all, she is the same age as we are. She needs to be doing things to quietly remind her of that.” 
They left the conversation at that, with each of them carrying out their own set of memories that those words had invoked in them.



"May each of us have a Homeplace to hold onto, if only in our minds."

Bill  ;-)



Friday, November 15, 2013

The Founding of the Homeplace - Summer 1843, Progress Report, Part 4 of 4


The Founding of the Homeplace
Summer 1843, Progress Report
Part 4 of 4


"The Founding of the Homeplace" stories will continue here on every other Friday during August and September. This is a serial presentation of the story, beginning in 1833, when four families decided to settle the land, the valley, that would become the setting of the first two books in the The Homeplace Saga: "Back to the Homeplace" and "The Homeplace Revisited" and subsequent series stories, set in 1987 and 1996, to date. The underlying premise of this series is the desire of the family matriarch to retain the family farm in the southern Missouri Ozarks in whole and in the family. 



Characters in this series become actively involved in the study of their family history and snippets of that research appear, from time to time through the series (one example). This serial presentation begins to share that ‘research’ in Story Form, and, some of the Stories represent 'writings of the family' that were ‘discovered’ in the process of that research. Each Story is an essay or report of the activities of the initial four families and their descendants that settled the Homeplace – the farm and the surrounding valley.


Summer 1843, Progress Report

In this episode, we share "Part 4 of 4"



           Jake Patton applied for a Post Office shortly after the Oak Creek Township was organized. In October of 1842, a post office was approved, with the name “Oak Springs” – Oak Creek was already taken. The new post office would be located at the Patton General Store, with Jake Patton as Postmaster, and Kate Patton as Assistant. It actually began operation in March of 1843.  Henry McDonald earned the first mail contract from the Big Piney lumber camps to Oak Springs on a weekly schedule, which he would carry out along with his regular freight runs.  By the summer of 1843, Jake Patton, seeing the success of Donagan’s Tavern, also began construction of a two-story hotel immediately to the north of the Tavern. The north-south path between the Blacksmith Shop and the General Store was taking the form of a street, as he had hoped, and the hotel was built on the east side of the street making three buildings in a row, facing across the street to his Blacksmith Shop, and cabin, set back from the ‘street.’
In other social news of the community, Harry McDonald and Sarah Baldridge had married in June the previous year and were expecting their first child come August, to become the sixth McDonald in the household. As the wedding was being planned, the McDonald family had made the decision to add on to their house rather than build a new one.  Harry McDonald’s younger brother, Daniel, was now an active 5 year-old.
Hugh and Victoria Truesdale were parents a second time, a year ago, a son, Lewis, to join sister, Jane, now 6.            
In the spring of 1843, Frances and Elizabeth Holt, a young newly wed couple down from the north, purchased 160 acres and settled into their new house just west of Center Creek and on the north side of the East-West road. About a month after the Holt’s arrival, Jacob and Patsy Pryor bought the 160 acre farm just east of the Holt’s and built their house on the east side of Center Creek.

            Following the formation of Oak Creek Township and the election of the three trustees, in 1842, upon their recommendation, the County Commissioners appointed George King as Justice of the Peace. He was responsible to the Circuit Court Judge who came to hear any cases that might arise early in the first month of each calendar quarter. The county paid for use of the community building on a daily basis to be used as the courtroom.  There was little activity in those first couple of years.


[...to be continued... on Dec 6, 2013, with Part 1 of Summer 1848 Progress Report]

Thursday, November 14, 2013

"Christmas at the Homeplace" - Book Blog Tour Upcoming


"Christmas at the Homeplace"
Book Blog Tour Upcoming

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Homeplace-William-Leverne-Smith/dp/1493510401/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384372871&sr=1-1&keywords=christmas+at+the+homeplace
[Click image to go directly to Amazon.com]

See what people are saying about this new Christmas book, based on our family history research and life experiences. It is historical fiction in "The Homeplace Saga" series, but you very well may recognized some folks from your own family and the world around you as you get involved with these family activities.


Here is the tentative schedule for the upcoming tour, running from November 15-25:

Thursday, Nov 14 - Tour Schedule at The Homeplace Saga blog

Friday, Nov 15 - Tour Schedule at Dr. Bill's Book Bazaar blog

Monday, Nov 18 - Interview with Jessica at Literaryetc.com 

Tuesday, Nov 19  - Guest Post with Lisa DuVal at I Feel So Unnecessary

Wednesday, Nov 20 - Review with Lisa DuVal at I Feel So Unnecessary

Thursday, Nov 21 - Guest Post with Kayla Emerson at Green Mountain Couple

Friday, Nov 22 - Review with Julie Goucher at Anglers Rest

Saturday, Nov 23 - Review with Mindy Wall at Books, Books, and More Books

Sunday, Nov 24 - Guest Post with Brandee Price at Bookworm Brandee

Monday, Nov 25 - Tour Wrap-Up at Dr. Bill's Book Bazaar blog

Hope you join us on the tour, each day!

Monday, November 11, 2013

Hometown Monday - M is for ...


Hometown Monday - M is for ...




We are continuing this series of posts of excerpts from the novels, novellas, and short stories of "The Homeplace Saga" family story-telling, with a new twist. We have adopted a format from the: "Blogging From A to Z Challenge." Each week we will share a published except related to a person whose name begins with that letter. 


This series of posts is to provide an insight into the story lines that may not be clear from other promotional pieces about "The Homeplace Saga." These will also be coordinated with the content of the developmental Wiki, "Beyond the Books" - to expand the information available there, as well. [Links in the text, below, provide more information on that person or entity]

Today we look at names beginning with the letter M.



For M, we have (with two excerpts, below):


Mark James - husband of Erin Winslow

Matt Winslow - oldest son of Jason and Karen (Bevins) Winslow

Melanie (Ogden) Stone - sister of Christopher Ogden

Mildred (McDonald) Bevins - deceased - left the video will in "Back to the Homeplace"

Mike Gardiner - road construction engineer

Mona (Cunningham) Evans - mother of Laura and Nicole; daughter of Lyle; wife of Jack


Our excerpts today are from the novel, "Christmas at the Homeplace," recently released, now available at Amazon.com… for Christmas purchases:


This excerpt is from "Christmas at the Homeplace" is from Chapter 3,  Thursday, October 24, 1996:

Matt Winslow returned to his Bevins & Winslow Internet Service Provider (ISP) office near City Hall after lunch to find a note asking him to return a telephone call from a familiar name with an Arizona number. Raynor Crimmons was a long time family friend who was now a professor at Central Arizona University. Raynor had been a financial planner with Matt’s father, Jason, first in Springfield, MO, and then again, a few years later, in Tucson, Arizona. 



The two families had been very close and spent much leisure time together, over the years. Raynor still made annual visits to Missouri, in late May or early June, to a few clients he continued to service in the area, and always stopped by to see the Winslow family in Oak Springs on those trips. He had actually been visiting that summer in 1993 when Jason died in the car accident returning from Columbia, and had been a great comfort to Matt’s mother, Karen. Raynor had been in Oaks Springs in late May, earlier this year.

Raynor answered immediately when Matt returned the call. After exchanging pleasantries, Raynor got to the reason for the call. He told Matt that his teaching load at the University was now all graduate business courses, but beginning this fall, they were also all on-line courses, and would continue that way under new school policies. That meant, he continued, that he could live anywhere he chose, so long as he had an adequate, high-speed Internet connection readily available. He wanted to confirm with Matt the current and future status of high-speed Internet service in Oak Springs. He was seriously considering moving back to the Missouri Ozarks if he could be assured of reliable Internet service.
Matt, of course, was pleased to be able to talk with Raynor about progress they were making in providing high-speed Internet service to City Hall and the rest of the down-town portion of Oak Springs this fall. In fact, it was a bit ahead of schedule. He added that they would be extending service into the residential portion of Oak Springs in the spring.

Hearing this, Raynor asked if Matt knew of any office or apartment space available now, or in the next month or so, in that part of the downtown already being provided with high-speed Internet service.
Matt was surprised to hear the excitement in Raynor’s voice at his positive response. His news for Raynor was that there was both an apartment on the level above and an office at the end of the hall in the very building where Matt was sitting – both were vacant and available for immediate occupancy.
Raynor asked if Matt thought “they” would hold both spaces for him to look at in a week, when he could come look at them and make a decision. To Raynor’s surprise, Matt said that he was the “they” and he would be happy to hold it. His company had purchased the entire building, and was subleasing certain areas not currently needed, pending future expansion. He would look forward to Raynor’s visit in a week. As they closed their discussion, Raynor mentioned to Matt that the reason he was thinking of moving back to Missouri was to be closer to his daughter, Randi, who lived in the Washington, D.C., area, and that the only other family he had left still lived in Iowa. Matt knew that Raynor’s wife, Rachel, had been killed in a Tucson, Arizona, auto accident, like Jason, several years earlier. He had not remarried and lived alone.

As soon as he hung up from talking to Raynor, he called his mother. “I just found out that Raynor Crimmons is coming for a short visit from Arizona toward the end of next week, Mom. I thought you would want to know.” They chatted a bit with Matt essentially sharing their whole conversation with Karen.

Karen concluded the call by saying: “It will be nice to see him again. He is always pleasant company.”



This excerpt is from "Christmas at the Homeplace" is from Chapter 5,  Friday, November 1, 1996:

As Mona Evans walked out to their mailbox, like she did nearly every day, she thought about what might be in the box. Her daughter, Laura, wife of Travis Inman, and their two children had lived with them all this calendar year while Travis was overseas in the service. It had been an interesting experience that would soon be coming to an end. She wondered how things would actually change.

Mona, and her husband, Jack Evans were active in Oak Springs community life. Mona had cut back on some of her activities this year to spend more time with her grandchildren. Jack was the local State Farm Insurance Agent, current President of the Chamber of Commerce, and the son of Doc Evans, long-time Oak Springs veterinarian. Mona was a daughter of Lyle Cunningham, operator of the local auction house and sales barn. Lyle was a Trustee of the Bevins Trust, as well. 

Nevertheless, it had been a busy year. Jack and Mona’s other grown daughter, Nicole, had moved back to town, and just married Christopher Ogden, the young attorney. 

Mona knew that Travis’ parents, Grover and Hedda Inman, who owned and operated Oak Springs Realty, were anxious to have him home, as well. Would the news be in today’s mail?

Mona pulled three envelopes out of the mailbox and her heart skipped a beat as she realized that one of them was from overseas. She went back inside, immediately, to find Laura without even looking at the other two, which she recognized as routine bills. Laura was in the laundry room, sorting kids clothes for a load of wash. Laura opened the letter from her husband, Travis, with high anticipation and some trepidation. She read it to her self a first time through. When she got to the part about his return, she read it out loud for Mona to hear, as well.

“He says here, ‘Our unit has received word that we will ship out on schedule so as to be back in Missouri for us to be home by Christmas, unless some unforeseen incident occurs to prevent our return.’ He goes on to mention that other support units, like his, have begun moving out, so it appears likely his will do likewise. Oh, Mom, it will be so nice to have him back home.”

“We all look forward to his return. We’ll keep planning for a Christmas return, but be happy whenever it is. That is for sure. It will be wonderful for the little ones to have a father again.”

“And,” Laura said quietly, “We can get a place of our own and let you and Dad have your house back.”

“You don’t need to be even thinking about that issue. We love having you here. Once he gets back, you can begin to think about what comes later.”



"May each of us have a Homeplace to hold onto, if only in our minds."

Bill  ;-)



Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Find "The Homeplace Saga" stories in several venues


Find "The Homeplace Saga" stories in several venues


[Down the Road image courtesy of Don Wills; Greene Co IA Trail]

Most you know I close my articles published in the In-Depth Genealogist digi-mag with the Tag Line "See you down the road..." Dr. Bill... [that I borrowed from an Emporia, KS, neighbor, the western novelist, Don Coldsmith, from one of his columns], and, I'm continually looking for images like this that convey that thought. Thanks to each of you who have provided me with one I could use - and those who may do so, now that you know I'm looking for them!

Use of this concept has also reminded me to "travel down several roads" in sharing "The Homeplace Saga" series of historical fiction family saga stories that this blog represents. I have added some venues, so this is an attempt to update the newer places to read these stories, if you've missed other references to them... and care at all about the different stories that are available.

The latest is HubPages.com. The link will take you to my series of essays that relate to "The Homeplace Saga" stories in a little different vein or a different light. These area 1250 word essays, with three photo images, that provide background, new insights, a different slant on the stories of Oak Springs, the Oak Creek Township and valley, and the various characters, especially the early years. These are shorter than short stories, they are longer than blog posts. I hope you enjoy them. There are just five, as I write this. I assume I'll add more. Comments are always welcome, of course.

I continue to create "lenses" at Squidoo.com that related to my stories. The latest is "Will they be home for 'Christmas at the Homeplace'" - a product recommendation lens for the recently released novel, on Amazon. Again, each of these writings provides a somewhat different "take" on the product or story being presented. [Note: I make a point of this, because these writing venues now have computer programs that automatically compare what is being written with what is already posted on the Internet - if you try to write the same thing over again, it is rejected, and you must start over. Therefore, I must come up with something new and fresh each time. How about that?]

Of course, you know about the four novels, the published short stories, and the wiki (see right side bar). Many of you have been reading the short stories, in serial form, every other Friday. These will be published next spring in the collection of short stories, along with new ones. Tentative title: American Centennial at the Homeplace: The Founding (1833-1876). Watch for it! ;-)

Comments welcomed! ;-)


"May each of us have a Homeplace, if only in our hearts!"

Bill  ;-)



Monday, November 4, 2013

Hometown Monday - L is for ...


Hometown Monday - L is for ...



We are continuing this series of posts of excerpts from the novels, novellas, and short stories of "The Homeplace Saga" family story-telling, with a new twist. We have adopted a format from the: "Blogging From A to Z Challenge." Each week we will share a published except related to a person whose name begins with that letter. 

This series of posts is to provide an insight into the story lines that may not be clear from other promotional pieces about "The Homeplace Saga." These will also be coordinated with the content of the developmental Wiki, "Beyond the Books" - to expand the information available there, as well. [Links in the text, below, provide more information on that person or entity]

Today we look at names beginning with the letter L.

For L, we have (with one long excerpt, below):

Laura (Evans) Inman - sister of Nicole; dau of Jack and Mona Evans

Linda (Winters) Ogden - mother of Christopher Ogden; wife of Carter

Lisa Flanders - daughter of Harry Flanders 

Lori Winslow - oldest daughter of Karen and Jason - lived in LA, airline flight attendant

Lyle Cunningham - outside trustee; has auction house; father of Mona, grandfather of Nicole and Laura Evans




Our excerpt today is from the forthcoming novel, "Christmas at the Homeplace," recently released, now available at Amazon.com… for Christmas purchases:


This excerpt is from "Christmas at the Homeplace" is from Chapter 5,  Friday, November 1, 1996:

As Mona Evans walked out to their mailbox, like she did nearly every day, she thought about what might be in the box. Her daughter, Laura, wife of Travis Inman, and their two children had lived with them all this calendar year while Travis was overseas in the service. It had been an interesting experience that would soon be coming to an end. She wondered how things would actually change.
Mona, and her husband, Jack Evans were active in Oak Springs community life. Mona had cut back on some of her activities this year to spend more time with her grandchildren. Jack was the local State Farm Insurance Agent, current President of the Chamber of Commerce, and the son of Doc Evans, long-time Oak Springs veterinarian. Mona was a daughter of Lyle Cunningham, operator of the local auction house and sales barn. Lyle was a Trustee of the Bevins Trust, as well. 

Nevertheless, it had been a busy year. Jack and Mona’s other grown daughter, Nicole, had moved back to town, and just married Christopher Ogden, the young attorney. 

Mona knew that Travis’ parents, Grover and Hedda Inman, who owned and operated Oak Springs Realty, were anxious to have him home, as well. Would the news be in today’s mail?

Mona pulled three envelopes out of the mailbox and her heart skipped a beat as she realized that one of them was from overseas. She went back inside, immediately, to find Laura without even looking at the other two, which she recognized as routine bills. Laura was in the laundry room, sorting kids clothes for a load of wash. Laura opened the letter from her husband, Travis, with high anticipation and some trepidation. She read it to her self a first time through. When she got to the part about his return, she read it out loud for Mona to hear, as well.

“He says here, ‘Our unit has received word that we will ship out on schedule so as to be back in Missouri for us to be home by Christmas, unless some unforeseen incident occurs to prevent our return.’ He goes on to mention that other support units, like his, have begun moving out, so it appears likely his will do likewise. Oh, Mom, it will be so nice to have him back home.”

“We all look forward to his return. We’ll keep planning for a Christmas return, but be happy whenever it is. That is for sure. It will be wonderful for the little ones to have a father again.”

“And,” Laura said quietly, “We can get a place of our own and let you and Dad have your house back.”

“You don’t need to be even thinking about that issue. We love having you here. Once he gets back, you can begin to think about what comes later.”



"May each of us have a Homeplace to hold onto, if only in our minds."

Bill  ;-)



Sunday, November 3, 2013

Farms and Trails are compatible


Farms and Trails are compatible

[Bike Trail in nearby Greene County; Photo courtesy Don Wills]

I really enjoyed this article in the Des Moines Register: Swapping corn seed for bikes.

The Whiterock Conservancy near my hometown of Coon Rapids, Iowa, is the model I have used (along with some others in both Kansas and Missouri) for the "McDonald Conservancy" that is a "key player" in "The Homeplace Saga" series of historical fiction stories, especially in "Christmas at the Homeplace."

Best wishes to the Whiterock Conservancy and the people of Coon Rapids! ;-)


Friday, November 1, 2013

The Founding of the Homeplace Summer 1843, Progress Report Part 3 of 4


The Founding of the Homeplace
Summer 1843, Progress Report
Part 3 of 4


"The Founding of the Homeplace" stories will continue here on every other Friday during August and September. This is a serial presentation of the story, beginning in 1833, when four families decided to settle the land, the valley, that would become the setting of the first two books in the The Homeplace Saga: "Back to the Homeplace" and "The Homeplace Revisited" and subsequent series stories, set in 1987 and 1996, to date. The underlying premise of this series is the desire of the family matriarch to retain the family farm in the southern Missouri Ozarks in whole and in the family. 



Characters in this series become actively involved in the study of their family history and snippets of that research appear, from time to time through the series (one example). This serial presentation begins to share that ‘research’ in Story Form, and, some of the Stories represent 'writings of the family' that were ‘discovered’ in the process of that research. Each Story is an essay or report of the activities of the initial four families and their descendants that settled the Homeplace – the farm and the surrounding valley.


Summer 1843, Progress Report

In this episode, we share "Part 3 of 4"


During his travels out of the valley in connection with the County and Township formation discussions, two separate interests wanting to locate very different ‘businesses’ near the General Store had approached Jake Patton.  One was an individual by the name of Ace Donagan who had just sold his tavern operation in Eminence and offered to build a new one near Patton’s General Store if he could get a long-term lease. It would include four rooms for rent on a second floor for visitors and travelers passing through and provide limited meals along with drinks on the main floor.  The second interest group wanted a church or community building, south of the General Store, for community meetings when the weather was not good and for occasional church services when circuit riders came through town, which they continued to do on an irregular basis. Early in the fall of 1841, Jake and Kate Patton decided to meet each of these needs at the same time. They entered into a lease agreement with Donagan for a piece of land just north of the General Store for a tavern, facing west as well, with a second floor with four rental rooms upstairs and a kitchen and bar downstairs. They also arranged a building contract for Donagan. Before winter arrived, they also built a modest ‘meeting hall’ just to the south of the General Store, with community help and donations, to be made available for community activities.
Earlier in the year of 1843 it was learned that the country to the west, including the lumber camps, had been established as Ashley County. The increasing population along the road in that direction had continued to contribute to the development of improvements in that road.  Most of the new families in the valley had come along that road.

What had been a trail, along Oak Creek to the southeast, was now developing into a road as well, toward the county seat of Eminence. A road to the north was developing about a quarter of mile west of the mill, through the Baldridge place. A few farmers several miles to the north were bringing their grains through the woods to be milled here in the valley.

[...to be continued... on Nov 15, 2013, with Part 4 of Summer 1843 Progress Report]