My Portfolio

A Visit to a Spook Easy                   The Tennessee State Fair was in its infancy when I got a chance to go to this much talked of place.  Once inside the gate, I stood awe stricken and wondered if it could be possible.  After touring the midways and seeing the...

A Trip to the Molasses’ Still  The smell of wood smoke filled the air.  It seemed to have some peculiar drawing power, which caused my curiosity to be aroused.  I gave in the urges to find where it was coming from.  Finally, I spotted the place and on arriving at this...

A Haunted House                   It was just after dusk one night early in the fall that I made a call at an old dilapidated, uninhabited dwelling house located in a deep forest.  This house was said to be haunted.  The air was cool crisp and the fog hovered over the...

A Dime or a Tooth               A little red hen was in the yard very busy finding food for her large brood of baby chicks.  Her presence caused a thought to race through my father’s head as to how the little red hen could find some quick food and at...

    This old guitar has taken me to many unusual places. It's one of the most special keepsakes I own.

As I typed in the heading for this topic, I stopped and pondered over it for a few minutes. Was my greatest achievement the swimming trophies, medal and prizes I won as a teenager?Was my greatest achievement my nursing career; gaining my General , Psychiatric and Theatre qualifications while still working...

For the most part my family ancestry is a mystery to me. Having missed the opportunity to ask my father about his side of the family and then also having missed the chance to later ask my mother, I found myself feeling lost and unable to tell my own daughter much...

. FAMILY HISTORY: Adolph Christian Ferdinand Moll immigrated to America from Germany in the early 1850s and settled in St Louis where he started a retail grocery store. In 1858 at the age of 24 he became a US citizen. On Feb 2, 1861, Adolph married Hedwig Balleseau who had been...

LEGACY STORY PROMPT MY ANCESTORS ANSWER THIS LEGACY QUESTION: What information do you know about your ancestors that impacts your life today? MEMORY TRIGGERS- Use these memory triggers to help kick start legacy stories about your ancestors. Or, add your own. Where did your grandparents and/or great-grandparents come from? What did...

It's been quite a journey since returning hone and being discharged. Like any life story there is too much to include in any one story. The highlights are, among other things, my 10 year career in a rock band with my brothers in the 70's. To see a slide show of...

  Annie Payne is an Australian personal historian, who founded her business, History from the Heart, in 2006. She first commenced interviewing people about their life stories in 1988 as a Bi-centennial project and hasn’t stopped following her passion. Her love of family stories was ignited as a small girl, begging...

Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Mine is made of corrugated green glass and it has been a fixture on the kitchen bench all of my life, in Brisbane, Adelaide and now in Perth. I’m not sure exactly when Mum bought the butter dish, or perhaps it was...

   Russell's son Charles Gregory with son's wife Celia Gregory   Russell Gregory   Russell Gregory was my great-grandfather four times removed, who settled into Cades Cove after 1818.  The American government removed the Cherokee Native Americans and made the cove available to white settlers.  Russell started his farm and family of eight...

           Moving Out of Cades Cove                   It was the day of our first move and everyone was busy getting their belongings together.  My few homemade play things were fondly stored in a badly worn black satchel.  The main articles of household furnishings were already gone in...

Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The once-smart red and white gingham oilskin cover is battered and shabby now, with splotches and mysterious old stains on many pages. Mum’s treasured recipe book has a special spot in my early memories and has been a constant companion all of...

Remembering the importance of having a place outdoors that was our special place. Up in a big tree.

This journal contains events and stories about Stacy, my third child and daughter.

You can't have a family gathering without food!

A pile of dirt! That's all my brothers and I needed to create weeks and months of amazing entertainment. Dad was one of the most creative fathers ever. He would dump a pick-up truck full of topsoil right in the middle of the back yard. With a 99 cent bag of...