Photo Credit: Neodesha Chamber of Commerce
I am privileged to be taking part in the Ultimate Blog Challenge to post everyday during the month of April. I must admit I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed with the thought, but I’m compelled to do it. I pray you will find my posts helpful as you take the time to discover your family’s story and hear a bit more about mine.
My goal is to provide a great question each day that you can use to ask your older family members, be it a parent, a grandparent, an aunt or an uncle. You can choose who to ask, hopefully it will be someone who has an interesting answer. Then, come back and share what you’ve discovered with us. It should be a fun and rewarding month as we purpose to uncover stories that may have never before been told.
Question #1
Where were you born, and what is your earliest memory?
My grandmother, Grace Stella Kirwin, was born in Neodesha, Kansas (pronounced Nee-oh’-deh-shay), located in the southeastern corner of the state, on March 2, 1889. Unfortunately, I can’t ask her what her earliest memory was, but I do know that when she was only 4 years old, her Uncle Charley took part in the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1893. He had a race horse named, Pigeon. I wish I knew why in the world he named his horse that–but one can only speculate. Not only was Pigeon a good horse, he was fast. Uncle Charley staked two claims of land for the family.
At precisely twelve noon on September 16, 1893 a cannon’s boom unleashed the largest land rush America ever saw. Carried by all kinds of transportation – horses, wagons, trains, bicycles or on foot – an estimated 100,000 raced to claim plots of land in an area of land in northern Oklahoma Territory known as the Cherokee Strip. There had been a number of previous land rushes in the Territory – but this was the big one. (Source: eyewitness to history website)
The claims ended up being in what is now called Noble County, Oklahoma. My Mom and I had the chance to visit the little town of Ceres, where we think the homestead was located. It looks like their land is now owned by the power company and is underwater of a man-made lake.
So, what have you discovered about your relatives earliest memories? Won’t you join the conversation?
“In all of us there is a hunger, marrow-deep, to know our heritage, to know who we are and where we came from.”
– Alex Haley
Write from the heart 
This is such a rich post. I love the stories of the early days of our country and of those land races and homestead give-aways. If I could choose a time period in which to live, I think that would have been it! I would have been on horseback, with my skirts flying behind me, with a saddlebag full of roots and herb starts to plant, heading for a spot near a creek and full of trees.
What a great picture you’ve painted in this comment. I hope you’ll follow along this month. I’ll be sharing lots more historical facts, AND helping you do the same.
Thanks so much for commenting. You’ve made my day!
Yee-Hah! 🙂
Debi
The more I learn about my family’s history the more I amazed I am that I turned out pretty normal…Well, normal by my standards. LOL
Haha! I totally get it! I hope you’ll come back to share some of your stories. Thanks for commenting!
Great idea to share a question to get us thinking, Debi.
It makes me think of my Omi (grandmother). She was born in 1900 – I have her china doll and doll dishes. I remember playing with them as a child, and looking at pictures of her when she was about 7, (playing with the same doll & dishes). She was a dark haired little girl with a big bow…
I’m so glad you like my idea for the challenge, Lori. Based on your comment you’ll enjoy tomorrow’s post. 🙂
Yup – just read the question & post… I DO!!! 😉
Oh good. I thought you’d like it, Lori!
This was a great post and question. It gives me an idea for scrapbooking! I could create a keepsake book of answers for my children about their grandparents and us. Then they have a starting point! Thanks.
Oh perfect! It’s going to be a great month!
Emily,
What a great idea.
Cool idea: nothing like building family relationships!
Thanks Lee. I’m looking forward to hearing everyone else’s stories too. I love a good story!!!
Oh what a great idea. This is a creative way to get to know family members. My grandmother is 101 years old right now and is full of stories.
Seriously? How wonderful. I hope you’re writing down or recording them all. Come back each day for a new question. Imagine…she was born in 1912…pre-WWI. Wow. I’m so glad you commented.
Genealogy and the stories that come from it are such eye openers of what those long ago had to endure in a lot of ways. Stopping by from UBC, good luck with the challenge.
Thanks, Karren. So excited to see what this series will reveal on many levels. The UBC seems to have a lot of great content this go round.
I’m not old but this question is something to explore to leave in a legacy journal to my children. What a great series!
MelAnn – absolutely. Our children don’t think to ask questions when we’re young enough to remember the answers. LOL. I’m so glad you had this idea. What a gift!
What a great topic! This could be an amazing year long project for some. I’ve often contemplated doing something like this because I was born in Kuwait but my father was Indian and my mother is Lebanese. We grew up with a lot of family around so I’ve been very curious about our history. Maybe I’ll start with one relative at a time. Thanks for a great article! 🙂
Dina, Wow. Now there’s some stories waiting to be discovered. I hope you’ll share some of what you learn with us this month. Thanks so much for taking the time to chime in. I’m grateful!