Why Writers Need Dogs

My ten year old yellow lab, Daisy, has been bringing in the San Antonio Express newspaper since she was six months old. When the paper hit the driveway, Daisy insisted I open the door, knowing the paper was important and getting it was her job.

A few months ago I noticed that Daisy lost interest in her job. I just attributed it to her age. I tried to train the younger lab, Lulubelle, for the job – taking her out, pointing at the paper. Lulubelle let me know “she didn’t do papers.” Frisbees, sticks, or tennis balls were her thing and she is quite good at retrieving them. I gave up and started getting the paper myself.

Easter weekend I went out of town. A friend stays with the dogs when I travel. When I returned, she mentioned that Daisy had brought the papers in. Surprised, I asked her how she did it. She said the same thing as always. When the paper is thrown, she looks at Daisy and with excitement in her voice, says “let’s get the paper.” When Daisy picks the paper up, she says “good girl” praising her and gives her a treat. Something I knew, but had not been doing.

I realized that in my efforts to make the deadline for book 3 of the Westward Sagas, I have neglected my dogs, not giving them the love and attention needed. We are back on track taking walks, throwing balls, giving praise and treats. I hope to soon connect with family and friends whom I have neglected the last few months.

Sometimes it takes a dog to remind us of the important things in life.

Scotch or Irish

Like most Americans, my DNA is a variety of nationalities and cultures. The Westward Sagas series describes the 100-year odyssey of the Adam Mitchell Family, Scotch-Irish ancestors who arrived in Pennsylvania ca 1720 and ended up in Texas during the Texas Revolution.

In both Book 1: Spring House and Book 2: Adam’s Daughters, there are numerous references to the Scotch-Irish. At book signings and speaking events, I am often asked the meaning of the word Scotch (pertaining to people). After being asked how one’s ancestors can be from a place called Scotch, which is the native whisky of Scotland, I started calling my ancestors Scots-Irish. Then a confused Irishman said to me, “You should check it out man. You’re either Irish or Scots; you can’t be both.”

I began to research the term and found that it is only used in America or by Americans abroad. Citizens of the U.K. are appalled by its use. Yet, Wikipedia says 3.5M Americans, 1.2% of the U.S. population, claim to be Scots-Irish. Many famous Americans—such as Andrew Jackson, Elvis Presley, Ulysses S. Grant, John McCain, Neil Armstrong, and George S. Patton—profess to be Scots- or Scotch-Irish.

Where did the word come from? What does it mean? One thing is certain whether it is Scots- or Scotch-Irish. The name was chosen by the two hundred fifty thousand Protestant dissenters from the Irish province of Ulster who immigrated to the thirteen colonies from 1710 to 1775. Most were Protestants (Presbyterians) from the lowlands of Scotland before being recruited by King James in a land scheme to propagate his Protestant plantation of Ulster.

The King of Scots failed to advise (or it was in the fine print of their forty-year lease) that the lands they were leasing were presently occupied by Irish Catholics who had lived there before them for hundreds of years. The Catholics were not going to give up their lands easily. Needless to say, the Scots were not met with open arms. During the Catholic Rebellion, four thousand Protestant settlers were massacred and thousands more died from illness and starvation after being driven from their homes.

Those Scots that survived became great warriors; their fathers had survived the border wars of Scotland and England. “They were born to fight,” says Senator James Webb in his book on the subject, Born Fighting. The Scots never felt at home on the Emerald Isle and when given a chance to leave, two hundred fifty thousand Scots jumped at the opportunity. They boarded overloaded vessels and sailed months at sea, many dying on board, indenturing themselves up to ten years for the opportunity to get out of Ireland.

Arriving in Colonial America, they were asked, “Where are you from?” They answered, “Scotchmen from Ireland,” which became Scotch-Irish. They were America’s first hyphenated Americans.

During the American Revolution and the War of 1812, these hyphenated warriors fought for independence and the lands that they owned. They fought side by side with immigrants from many nations, who afterward called themselves Americans.

Hopefully, all hyphenated U.S. citizens will someday drop the hyphen and call themselves Americans. That is my Memorial Day wish in this 235th year of our nation’s independence.

Spicewood Cemetery Photo Album

To all those that attended the Memorial Dedication of Austin’s First Daughter on April 23, 2011, we just received the pictures taken at the event in Spicewood, Texas.

To view or purchase the photos from the ceremony held on April 23, 2011, go into:
SeeYourPhotos.Net

Event Name:  spicewood ceremony
Passcode:  20060896
Press GO

Email address: Enter your email address
First name: Enter your first name
Press GO

This will take you into the site and you can view the photos as thumbnails or slideshow and purchase any pictures you want.

Sorry this has taken us so long to get the information to you.

Enjoy viewing the photo album!

20,000 Cousins

The family of Revolutionary War Patriot Adam Mitchell 1745-1802 according to statisticians (high paid mathematicians), has over 20,000 living descendents. That’s what I would call a good size family. The numbers at first blew me away and I had my doubts as to their accuracy.

I extrapolated the numbers myself just from my GGG Grandmother Rebeckah Mitchell Smith, the third daughter born to Adam and Elizabeth Mitchell b. 6 Jan 1782 in Guilford County, NC. Adam had twelve children that survived to adulthood, daughter Rebeckah and Thomas W. Smith had five children, their daughter Margaret and Lorenzo Van Cleve had five of which their first born, Elnora Van Cleve b. 14 Apr 1841 aka “First Daughter of Austin, Texas” and her husband Dan Brown had twelve children that lived to adulthood. Their youngest Lillie Brown, my Grandmother and Grandfather John W. Bowles had five.

Since I started the Westward Sagas Series of books about the Adam Mitchell family coming to Texas, four branches of Adam’s twelve children have been reunited. They are descendents of Robert b. 17 Feb 1767, John b. 4 May 1774, Rebeckah b. 6 Jan 1782 and Hezekiah b. 10 Mar 1792. Each branch holds their own family reunion. I try to attend all of them because I always learn something old.

The Granddaddy of all family reunions is the “Galbreath Reunion” which is holding their 105th Reunion on Sunday, 17 Jul 2011 at Walnut State Park, Oakland, IL. This family stems from John Mitchell and John Galbreath early settlers of Cole County, IL. Both are buried in the Mitchell Cemetery, Ashmore, IL. The Mitchell name over the generations has petered out as it has in my family, but they are as I am descendents of Adam Mitchell. Thankfully the Galbreath has done much research and maintained accurate records of their lineage. The Adam Mitchell Bible I refer to often in my work is maintained by this branch of the family. For more information on the Galbreath Reunion contact Ann Hinrichs at annewc615@aol.com

We have yet to locate any descendents of the following children of Adam and Elizabeth Mitchell. If you are from one of the Adam Mitchell children below, please contact us and join the ranks of 20,000 cousins.

William Mitchell b. 17 Feb 1771
Adam Mitchell b. 5 Apr 1776
Elizabeth “Ibby” Mitchell b. 15 Dec 1780
Jennett Mitchell b. 29 Apr 1783
Samuel Mitchell b. 29 Mar 1786
David Mitchell b. 4 Feb 1788
James Mitchell b. 24 Feb 1790

Happy Mother’s Day

I was fortunate to have had two mothers; both are gone but not forgotten. My birth mother Alta Puryear was born October 18, 1918. I never saw this picture of her in the “wild and wooly” attire until after her death on March 21, 1996. Seems she thought it was a bit risqué for her boys to see. My stepfather gave it to me after her death and it is my favorite picture of her taken in 1936. A life long friend of theirs thought the picture was made at the State Fair of Texas during the Centennial Celebration of Texas Independence.

My parent’s married November 23, 1935 and spent the first year on the family ranch near Spicewood, Texas. I remember stories she told of working with the livestock, which she didn’t enjoy, but, my father did. I assume that is why they chose to part ways after sixteen years of marriage.

On April 7, 1957, Ida Seaton became my other mother; she had to have loved my father because I came with the package. For forty years she worked beside my father, mending fences, tending to the livestock, and being a mother. I will remember two mothers on Mother’s Day.