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03/26/2010

Where to start, where to start?

I'm so excited that I'm already getting such good feedback!  Of course, I think these stories are amazing; it's my own family after all.  The idea that they're interesting to other people is rather...awesome.  I can't wait to tell you all of them - it's so tough to figure out where to start.

In truth, there are TWO books.  One is Jess Lord's autobiography (my great grandfather) and the other traces our family's roots back to 1555 to a man named Richard who was born in Northhampton, England.  Richard's grandson sailed to America in 1632 and settled in Newton (Cambridge), Massachusetts. 

His father, Thomas, followed three years later in 1635 and formed a new settlement with 100 other men, women and children.  Their only guide was a compass and "no cover but the heavens," while they traveled nearly 2 weeks and more than 100 miles.

Those 100 people founded the city known today as Hartford, Connecticut and you can see Thomas Lord's name listed as one of the founders at the Society of the Decendants of the Founders of Hartford.  (My goodness, that's a mouthful.) 

Richard (the one who sailed over first) became a ship owner and there is a section of the seacost near New London called "Lord's Point" that is probably named after him.

Jess wrote that book as well; it outlines our family over more than 250 years and 15 generations. (I'm the 15th, which makes Claire the 16th!).

It's been years since I've read both books, (truthfully, I think I was a teenager) and this little bit was just on pages one and two.  I had completely forgotten it.  I'm impressed and sort of open mouthed that seriously?  There's a part of the coastline named after one of MY ancestors??  For real?!  That's kind of cool!

I can't decide if I want to start from 1555 with Richard or from 1911 with Jess.  It might be confusing to bounce around.  Also, Beth had a fantastic idea of a family tree to help keep relationships straight so I ought to get on that.

Jess' book definitely has more interesting anecdotes, but the book that goes back to 1555 has interesting quips as well.   There are stories about someone writing a catechism in Indian language for the "natives,"  a veteran of the American Revolution, plus far more stories about "Pop," Grandma and Grandpa Harvey and their parents.  There are also way more pictures and even scans of love letters.

Where to start, where to start?

Posted at 07:36 PM |

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Exactly what is this site about, anyway?

  • I'm transcribing my great-grandfather's autobiography in small parts.

Jess Lord; 1911 - 2006

  • Jess was born in the small town of Silverdale, Kansas. He began working just as the Great Depression set in and painted houses, hung wallpaper, managed a paint store, and was a scenic artist on a building at the Texas Centennial Fair in Dallas in 1936.

    He also manufactured and distributed Lord's Cracked Wheat Cereal, built houses, and did architectural work.

    He became an American Airlines pilot who flew the first blood plasma into Paris after it was liberated in World War II.

    After seven years with the airline, he became a masonry contractor and owned and operated an oil-drilling business until, at age 45, he went back to college, earning B.S, M.S. and Ph.D degrees, and then taught sociology at three universities.

    More important than his roles, however, Jess was a gentle, honest man of explicit integrity whose only intolerance was of those who took unfair advantage of others.

    He was a strong advocate for the poor and disenfranchised, and his words of encouragement and material support changed many lives. Jess' spirit of humility bore testimony to his faith in God and his gratitude for life.

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