Projects...

Because the weather hasn't been conducive to hunting (really windy or really raining) I've been working on reloading projects. I started by doing .45 Auto Rim, loading Mount Baldy 250 gr. Keith bullets over 7 gr. of Unique. Now that I've filled that brass, I've got another project, M1 Rifle ammunition for the Garand. I've got a lot of brass, 500 bullets, and enough powder to get them all loaded. Not certain if I've got space for the ammo though.

Frequencies for your scanner in the Staunton, VA area...

Staunton Fire and Rescue
453.36250
453.71250
458.36250
458.71250

Staunton/Augusta Rescue
453.18750
453.67500
458.18750
458.67500

Staunton Police
39.54000
39.88000
460.17500
460.37500
465.17500
465.37500

Augusta County Sheriff
39.7200
458.50000
471.25000
475.00000

Augusta County Fire and Rescue
460.55000 WPKQ976 B CSQ 1 Fire/Rescue Paging/Dispatch Only FM Fire Dispatch
453.75000 WNMW815 RM 156.7 PL 2/3 Fire/Rescue Administration (County-1) FM Fire-Tac
453.92500 WNMW815 RM 156.7 PL 4/5 Fire/Rescue Operations (County-2) FM Fire-Tac
451.07500 KDA670 RM 156.7 PL 6/7 Fire/Rescue Operations (County-3) FM Fire-Tac
451.02500 KDA670 RM 156.7 PL 8/9 Fire/Rescue Operations (County-4) FM Fire-Tac
463.00000 WZM674 M 156.7 PL 12 Fire/Rescue Operations (County-5) FM Fire-Tac
33.74000 KDA670 BM Fire/Rescue (for Rockingham County units on mutual aid) FM Interop
453.67500 WPLZ524 RM EMS and MVA operations in Staunton (SARS-1) FM EMS-Talk
462.95000 WZM674 RM Med 9, Channel Requests FM Hospital
463.02500 WZM674 RM Med 2, EMS to Hospital FM Hospital
463.07500 WZM674 RM Med 4, EMS to Hospital FM Hospital
463.10000 WZM674 RM Med 5, EMS to Hospital FM Hospital
463.12500 WZM674 RM Med 6, EMS to Hospital FM Hospital
460.40000 KNFY393 RM 065 DPL 1 Sheriff Primary FM Law Dispatch
460.30000 WPHE291 RM 065 DPL 3 Sheriff Secondary FM Law Talk
39.72000 KV1513

Shenandoah Valley Airport Security
453.4000

Augusta County STARS Repeaters
159.12000
159.41250
161.85000c
161.93750a
159.44250
161.83750
161.86250a
161.92500c

"Jokes"

All humor is based on truth.  Some humor is hard to take.  It is harder if you really get the point.

---

Curtis & Leroy saw an ad in the Starkville Daily in Starkville, MS. and bought a mule for $100.

The farmer agreed to deliver the mule the next day.

The next morning the farmer drove up and said,"Sorry, fellows, I have some bad news, the mule died last night."

Curtis &Leroy replied,"Well, then just give us our money back."

The farmer said,"Can't do that. I went and spent it already."

They said, "OK then, just bring us the dead mule."

The farmer asked, "What in the world ya'll gonna do with a dead mule?"

Curtis said, "We gonna raffle him off."

The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead mule!"

Leroy said, "We shore can! Heck, we don't hafta tell nobody he's dead!"

A couple of weeks later, the farmer ran into Curtis & Leroy at the Piggly Wiggly grocery store and asked.

"What'd you fellers ever do with that dead mule?"

They said,"We raffled him off like we said we wuz gonna do.."

Leroy said,"Shucks, we sold 500 tickets fer two dollars apiece and made a profit of $898."

The farmer said,"My Lord, didn't anyone complain?"

Curtis said, "Well, the feller who won got upset, so, we gave him his two dollars back."

Occupying... wherever

My dear grandchildren,

I don't want to discuss politics in this journal but let's face it, politics affects everything including our hobbies and our family life. It will be affecting yours and what is happening now, today (and for the past 3 weeks) is something I want to tell you about.

There's a "group" (which implies organization) that calls itself or is referred to by the propagandists as "Occupy Wall Street". They've been camped out in a private park in New York City effectively drawing attention to themselves through their general and diverse opposition to all things in our society and by their slovenly personal arrangements there. The "movement" is reported to have spread elsewhere in the USA and the rest of the world and in some cases the "demonstrators" have acted violently. Yesterday this "movement" came to Harrisonburg and they've already "demonstrated" in Staunton.

Many of these people strike me as being the useful idiots of others (often seen masked in the videos). Ignoramuses who demonstrate their ignorance of life through the words they use in the "interviews" conducted by the "news" reporters. Some are clearly youthful idealists blindly rebelling against their parents (whose income comes from investments in American businesses). Some, if not many, in some, if not many, of these "demonstrations" are self-admittedly paid agitators. Paid by whom? By socialist organizations such as MoveOn.Org and the Tides Foundation funded, quite ironically for the "protesters", by such as multi-billionaire George Soros. Even more ironically, and you simply can't make this up, George Soros has made his billions from the misery of others everywhere in the world. Whether or not he has orchestrated these circumstances, he has repeatedly taken advantage of and thus exacerbated economic problems in one country after another. It appears that he has also been taking advantage of the current economic problems and again seeking to lengthen or maximize his opportunity(s) by funding those others who would contribute to disorder and disfunction.

Sadly, in 2008 the American people elected as President a man seemingly dedicated to the destruction of this country. A man whose entire upbringing was by socialists, bigots, and false religionists and for whom this country is the epitome of evil which must be "fundamentally changed". Further, his campaign was funded, at least in part, by the same people who are funding these demonstrations. Not so surprisingly, this man has actually made official statements supporting this attack on our economic and governmental systems.

We can only pray that enough others will be as open to the truth as we are so as to throw him and his party of quislings out of power. It may be that you will never get to read this but I think that if you are reading it we might have succeeded. I pray that we do and that you know that we, your parents and grand-parents back many generations, worked hard to give you the very best opportunities possible.

PS - Today we discover, not altogether unexpectedly, that some of the "protesters" are thieving from their fellow "protesters" just as they desire to thieve from us.  We also discovered by means of a poll of the "protesters" that this is their hobby and that they are overwhelmingly socialists with 31% of them supporting violence in pursuit of their goals (and some have exhibited that proclivity).   

Notes from the gun shop...

Not much happening apart from sales of ammo, muzzle-loading stuff and guns (7 in the last two hours today!). The Marlin 1889 Deluxe .38 WCF is still in the shop. It is asking $1800+ but negotiation will bring the price down a bit. Very nice gun overall.

I have to ask, why is it that some folks will ask you a question but make it clear they don't really want/like your answer? They will either argue with you, with absolutely no background to know different/better, or ask the "other" guy working the exact same question. I love it when the "other" guy gives them the exact same answer and they say, "Well, that's what HE said!" It seems they expected a different answer. Some are so dumb that if they get the same answer worded differently they THINK it IS a different answer. Yes, you see (hear) these people everywhere not just in the gun shop. I wish I understood why they do this, then MAYBE I could help them along a little quicker.

By the by I came home to a good dinner. Nana is cooking more of these now that she's retired.

Local photos from some time ago...

Given the genealogical research I've been doing lately I thought these were interesting...

A mountaineer family poses in front of a cabin, Dark Hollow, Shenandoah National Park

Families were forced from the Blue Ridge so that the National Park could be established.  "Forced" is not too strong a word as some families or certain members of some families had to be physically removed.  Although farm life on the rocky slopes of the Blue Ridge could be hardscrabble and daunting to the extreme, many, perhaps most, residents were very reluctant to surrender title to land for the much tenuous life in the lowlands on either side of the park.  Many families today continue to harbor resentment over the removal.

Much of the building of the infrastructure was done by the Civilian Conservation Corps, sometimes with former residents of the park lands.  They had no choice, it was work or starve now that they had been removed from their land.

When President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated Shenandoah National Park in 1936, a novel experiment in public land use was begun. At the time, most national parks were being set aside to protect already-existing natural beauty, wildlife, and wilderness. Shenandoah National Park was an attempt to determine if 196,466 acres of damaged mountain land would revert to a pristine state if set aside and protected from further human alteration.

The land-use experiment would run counter to the traditional precept that land was to be used in ways most beneficial to man and that nature and wilderness were little more than impediments to be conquered. Long, narrow Shenandoah National Park—100 miles in length and ranging from 13.2 miles to less than 1 mile in width—was formed from mountain land that had been the subject of hard human use since the first settlers began trickling into the area in the early to mid-1700s.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, farmers had established agriculture, orchards, and grazing land. Loggers increased the cutting of the mighty oaks and chestnuts and dragged them off the mountains. Sheep and cattle grazed where bear, elk, and wolves once roamed. The thin soil was wearing out along the crest of the Blue Ridge range where Shenandoah National Park was to be located.

Weary of the hard scrabble life in the mountains, people were beginning to move out. More than half the residents had left by the mid-1920s. The rest sold their land for establishment of the park, or they were relocated with federal assistance.

Not everyone was ready to leave the mountains. The people whose farms and homesteads were condemned fought the legal seizure by the Commonwealth of Virginia for a dozen years. Though the federal government permitted a few residents to live in their homes for the remainder of their lives, among the descendants of the mountain families, resentment still simmers in little towns such as Elkton, Luray, Sperryville, and Stanardsville in the Shenandoah Valley and Piedmont Virginia.

Land acquisition for the park would take years. But a 100-foot right-of-way for the Skyline Drive was acquired quicker through gifts and special purchases. The highway along the ridge was planned as the park's outstanding feature. President Herbert Hoover, who had a vacation cabin on the nearby Rapidan River, urged the approval of funding for road construction. Local crews began work in 1931, and on August 29, 1939, Skyline Drive was opened.

By Deane and Garvey Winegar

Links:
- The Taking of Via Mountain
- Shenandoah secrets: Pork, propaganda, and the creation of a COOL national park

Dueling with wax bullets in 1909 New York

Why?  I don't know.  Looks to be a pair of Lepage pistols...

DUELLING WITH WAX BULLETS, NEW YORK, 1909

180

and you might want to read Hitler, God, and the Bible

Notes from the gun shop...

Mondays have got to be the slowest days of the week now. Too many periods of 15-30 minutes of down time, too few guns sold, too few people in the shop. I didn't do any background checks or lawaways on guns.

I had been gone over a week and so I missed a couple of things in that interim. Interesting things this week were a .38 WCF chambered Marlin 1889 Deluxe rifle with hooded front sight and vernier tang rear sight. It isn't all original but the price seems almost reasonable at $1869.00.

The shop had also gotten in a .38-55 Marlin Cowboy but it has already sold on Gunbroker. For those interested, it went for $882.00.

Most of my "down" time was spent re-organizing the revolver cabinet and going through the boxes of magazines. We do have an old model Bearcat in excellent condition but without the box. I disremember the price but believe it is over $400.00. We also have a Smith and Wesson New Departure Safety Hammerless, .38 S&W, with factory mother-of-pearl grips for a cash price of $250.00. The gun's finish is just about all gone but the grips/stocks are darn near perfect (at least I can't see any faults). We also have a Trijicon ACOG TA33R asking $800.00 (but I think Chris will negotiate a bit on this).

As I mentioned I went through the magazine boxes and did find 3 Weatherby magazines (2 5-shot and 1 10-shot) for the Weatherby .22 Autoloader. There was also a Colt Woodsman magazine (I think the later guns).

Had a good conversation with a local shooter who's getting into the 1000 yard competitions. John has shot over in Beckley and may have met Lynn H_______ there but he's not certain.

A good day with nice weather.

Leaves and Locomotives in New England

We just got home from a trip to New England. There was one planned trip but it changed after the tremendous damage done by flooding from Hurricane Irene. It rained 5 out of 6 days, but everyone coped with the weather.   Our itinerary was:

Day 1 * Friday * September 30
We’re left home at 7:30 AM for a great fall vacation with Shenandoah Tours.  First we rode north on the coach to Waterbury, Connecticut, for our overnight stay at the Courtyard by Marriott.  Dinner here wasn't as good as hoped for and on our own.  The trouble is that there isn't much we're aware of within walking distance of the hotel.  All we've seen is a Subway sandwich shop.  Also, the meals are usually better than what we had that first evening.  I should say that some in the group enjoyed their meal.

Day 2 * Saturday * October 1

Ticonderoga at Shelburne Museum

We moved on north through the small New England towns of Deerfield and South Deerfield for Yankee Candle Company. We were supposed to go to Bellows Falls and board the Green Mountain Flyer, Southern Vermont’s "authentic passenger train of yesteryear". Unfortunately, damage to the rail bed made that impossible.  It rained, and it rained every day of the trip except on the 6th, and we didn't get much time to walk through Deerfield.  Having relatives who survived the massacre I sated my desire for some connection by visiting the meeting house grounds and getting a "Deerfield descendant" T-shirt.  What we did do is go north through Montpelier to visit Morse Farm Sugarworks.

The Morse Farm was fun in that you took a tour of their actual, one-"room", sugar house and had a talk from the owner's brother.  He was a hoot.  Reminded me of all the fun folks I knew as a kid.  Very funny fellow and he had everyone laughing.  They also were set up to let you taste the various grades of syrup so that you'd pick what you like and, presumably, like it enough to buy more later.  ½ gallon is now about $33-35.  That's pretty intimidating but I'd pay that.  We only bought a pint...  

We spent the night at the Basin Harbor Club.  That was a retro experience with pretty good food.

About the Basin Harbor dining...  It was ok.  Not bad, but not great either.  There seems to be a tendency in Vermont to cook the bacon too long and the sausage too little and Basin Harbor Club adheres to that standard. 

A couple of words about the Basin Harbor Club:  We were told that the nightly rates went to $521 per night but we got in at night, and a rainy night at that.  All we could see was that we were hanging out over Lake Champlain with the water splashing up on the shore right under us.  It would have been great to see a little ways down the lake.  Our first night was very rainy, cold, and foggy.  Also, the food can be very good, but I think they aspire to the elegance of another time and try to produce not just good food but "fancy", i.e. more gourmet type food.  In as much as most of the accommodations are vintage (that's "old") camp style cabins spread across their 300 +/- acres, this seems a bit odd to me.  They will shuttle you about the widely (in some cases) separated facilities by van and the staff is very pleasant and accommodating.  We didn't have a problem with any of the staff at all any time we had to deal with them.   At the cabins, there was a main living room and bedrooms were on each end.  We thought we were sharing with a woman that was alone, and then in come a man and his girlfriend.  Oh, well!

Day 3 * Sunday * October 2

Rifle from Terry Tyler collection

Again, big changes as we were supposed to visit Vermont Marble, the world’s largest marble quarry, and then to Woodstock with its village green and on to Quechee Gorge, Vermont’s Little Grand Canyon. What we did do is go to the Danik Farm shop, (it sells hog products, and maple sugar, etc.), the Vermont Teddy Bear factory, the Shelburne Museum (where I saw the Terry Tyler collection of Vermont firearms), and then to Shelburne Farms (a large school that teaches about farming) and cheese tasting.  The barn looked like a mansion, and they spend 9 million dollars a year, and make 6 million on cheese products.   Then it was back to the Basin Harbor Club for dinner and a good night's sleep.  

We had a pretty good time at the Vermont Teddy Bear factory where we got to see how they make their bears, endure bearly, bearable puns, and buy a special bear for Linda to commemorate her retirement this year.  While we waited the embroidered her year of retirement (2011) on the teacher bear's smock.  Very nice.  We also got a special bag and box.  We both thought that all the details that go into each bear were very interesting. 

I really enjoyed the firearms collection.  There were a number of underhammer rifles as well as Jennings and Sharps rifles made in Vermont. For me, the underhammer guns were the most fascinating.  Most had aperture sights much like the rifle shown in my photo.  Elevation could be adjusted either by turning a screw or by moving a leaf under the sight to different notches filed into the top tang.  Some of the underhammers used a mainspring which served the secondary purpose of trigger guard but others had separate mainsprings.  There were various degrees of adornment as well.  Yes, there were more "conventional" side-hammer guns and breechloaders.   There were also a number of target rifles, both side-lock and underhammer.  

I also enjoyed the ship "Ticonderoga" on which my grandmother Janet Crawford Brodie Flint (as well as her sisters) had sailed.  Grandma Flint often talked about this boat and was happy that it had been saved and moved to the museum many years ago but we had never before had the chance to see the vessel.  Linda went to see the Circus u-Barn and enjoyed it.  She also took the van tour of the whole facility.  We just did not have enough time there.

We continued on to Burlington and our dinner cruise on the "Spirit of Ethan Allen".  The meal was ok but the view was on a dark rainy day and we saw next to nothing not even Champ, the lake  monster.   

Day 4 * Monday * October 3

Betty and Barney Hill Marker

We got up fairly early and departed for Stowe, VT.  Had a chance to wander about the town for a bit and I went behind City Hall to the cemetery and found an Asa Kimball.  On the off-chance he's related to my Grandma Parslow I took a photo of his and his wife's headstones.  Then we took our cameras, re-boarded the coach and headed up to Mount Mansfield, the highest peak in Vermont, for the Gondola Skyride at Stowe Mountain Resort. The scenery from this vantage point was spectacular but I'm scared of heights.  Linda and I still took the ride and was rewarded with some good views and a "free" Vermont apple. Lunch was to be included at Trapp Family Lodge, the Austrian-style mountain resort of the von Trapp family from the classic musical, "The Sound of Music" but apparently Irene caused damage to the facilities which prevented that. So, it was on to Lincoln, New Hampshire, for a two night stay at the Indian Head Resort.  Although it was still raining, we did take a moment to photograph a memorial marker for the alleged UFO abduction of Betty and Barney Hill in September 1961.  Linda kept ducking from those “UFO’s.”

 Then we left to board the Granite Eagle-Cafe Lafayette Dinner Train and "relived the romance of dining on the rails".  We were supposed to "dress" for dinner but that had gone by the boards due to our rapid transition from travel to dinner mode.  Most of us "ate" rather than "dined", wearing blue-jeans and some with sweat shirts!  Never-the-less the owner and staff were gracious, the meal the best of the whole trip (I had the beef) and our companions for the evening, Conrad "Connie" and Lorraine Dehaven, were entertaining conversationalists.  

Day 5 * Tuesday * October 4

We hoped that Mother Nature had touched the White Mountains with indescribable colors but the weather continued dark with showers and the fall colors, although the best sight of the trip, were muted. We traveled along the Kancamagus Highway and Franconia Notch with a stop at the Red Jacket Mountain View Resort for lunch, and it was one of the prettiest drives imaginable and lunch was very good.  Unfortunately, or not, we found that roast pork is a staple of these dinners/lunches. 

 We then returned to Lincoln and the Indian Head Resort for drinks, an excellent dinner (I had baked scallops), and live entertainment.  I should mention that there is a 55-inch flat-screen TV in every room and a large lake at the back.  

Day 6 * Wednesday * October 5

We enjoyed a scenic drive by Squam Lake (where the movie, "On Golden Pond" was filmed) before visiting Meredith, NH.  We had a bit of a walkabout to take up some time and aside from a lake view and a fairly decent bookstore there wasn't much to see except...

They have this marvelous mill sluice built in 1818!  

Here's a video of the sluice... 

At the turn of the century a young man named John Bond Swasey purchased or inherited most of the land on which Meredith Village now sits.  Swasey had inherited a 95 acre lot from his father Benjamin who had bought the land in 1777. The farm was located in what is now the core of Meredith Village.  Across from his homestead on Main Street, (which is now the home of Paul and Kristen Eldridge and the offices of Compass Rose Buyer Brokers and Eldridge Appraisals) Swasey owned the general store which supplied the many new settlers moving into Meredith Village. According to remembrances of early 19th century residences, however, the mills ceased operation sometime between 1810 and 1816.  Swasey then undertook a project that was to have great significance for the town of Meredith, a project that marked the beginning of the development of the present Mill Falls Marketplace site.  Starting from the frontage on Lake Waukewan that is now called John Bond Swasey Park, Swasey built a rock-lined canal over 600 feet in length channeling the water under the Main Street horse path to where the land drops sharply to Lake Winnipesaukee.  Water power was now concentrated into one fall of about 40 feet. The Waukewan Canal and the falls were probably completed by 1818.  Now Swasey was able to build a number of profitable mills for sawing lumber, grinding flour, combing cotton flax and weaving cloth. All these mills helped stock the shelves of the Swasey store. Swasey's man made waterfall was considered among the best mill drivers in the state.

Mount Washington approaching Weir's Beach

Later, we moved down the lake to Weir's Beach and boarded the M/S Mount Washington for a lunch buffet and cruise across Lake Winnipesaukee to Wolfeborough, NH. The food on the Mount Washington was pretty good, there was plenty of it and the crew had a system of moving the passengers through the chow line efficiently that worked quite well.  I had no complaints about any of it.  I do wish it had been better weather (it was still cloudy, cool, windy and sprinkling) but that's hardly the fault of the Mount Washington crew.

Heading south our travels continue back to Waterbury, CT for our final overnight stay at the Courtyard by Marriott.  Fortunately, our dinners in the hotel were much better this time.  

Day 7 * Thursday * October 6

We left Waterbury at about 8:15 to return to the Shenandoah Valley.  We stopped for lunch at the Cracker Barrel in Frackville, PA and then moved on.  Then we dropped people in Winchester, stopped in Strasburg for "dinner", and dropped more people in Harrisonburg and Staunton (where we got off at about 6:15) before the bus moved on to Waynesboro and Charlottesville.   

Miscellaneous...  

One of the things I stumbled on was this 3-inch ordnance rifle at Stowe, Vermont.  One can clearly read the data at the muzzle.  I thought perhaps that there is some fanatic researcher out there that would want to know about this gun so I took a photo.  I did leave the gum wrapper in situ as a comment on the general state of tourist towns.  You might note that the tube is mounted on a poured concrete pillar.  I'm certain that the concrete has proved so much more resistant to Vermont winters than the original gun carriage.  If you might notice the rifling at the muzzle seems to be in very good condition.

Indian Head

The Indian Head Resort is named for this geological feature across the road and up the mountain from the hotel.  Even I can see the resemblance.  Fortunately, this rock formation is not nearly as unstable as was the Old Man of the Mountain...

Yes, we visited the viewing sites for the Old Man of the Mountain and the Franconia Notch visitor's center showed us a film in which people waxed ecstatic about the Old Man and cried about his "demise".  Our various guides and docents had to tell us where they'd been when he fell and one had been one of the two who discovered what had happened.  

Remainder of Old Man of the Mountain

Winnipesaukee Scenic RR Engine

We went on the trip to ride the trains, expecting to ride the Green Mountain Flyer and Lafayette Dinner Train.  I wish they'd snuck this one in instead of the lunch cruise but due to the last minute finagling which resulted from Irene's downpour that may have been as good as we could get.  This looked very nice, with comfortable accommodations and views for everyone.  I had to include a photo of the engine...

Have been busy, more later...

Have been too busy to post, I'll let you know about it later.

Browning 1911-22

Browning 1911-22

I want one of these guns.  85% the size of the good old 1911A1 and in .22 LR.  I hear they shoot pretty well, too.  What's not to like?

Is it the same as the Llama .22 pistols?  No.   Could it be adapted to .32 ACP or .380 like the Colt Government Model or SIG 238?  I don't know.  I don't care if we get a .32 or .380, I really like the .22 rimfires.  Why wouldn't I, they are cheaper to shoot.  It will be a great training gun for the grandkids, too!  Yeah, kids.  I would have loved to have one when I was 12!

No, I haven't handled one or even seen one in the flesh.  I've read about it in magazines.  I've heard some rumors.  I've dreamed of it for years.  I want one. 

Notes from the gun shop...

Well, yesterday was a busy day. Although we only did 6 background checks we sold a lot of stuff. Hunting season(s) are almost here. The big push starts Saturday with archery and people will be, and have been, out and about preparing. This is good. We are still buying guns though. Some of those are some pretty good specimens, some not so much.

The boss man does have a blued 156 series 2-3/4" Ruger Speed-Six for sale. These are really nice guns. I was considering it but I think I have enough .38 and .357 Magnum snub guns. There isn't any box, but the gun is clean and tight with not much wear and the original wood stocks.

Also, we had a Ruger 10/22 in a unique configuration. Not quite the current Deluxe Sporter configuration, but almost, this one was a limited edition for one of the big distributors and has a more rounded forearm tip than the deluxe sporter. Nice gun with metal trigger housing.

We were actually so busy we didn't have much time for talking! Great day.

PS - I forgot to mention that I did get to handle a Chiappa Rhino revolver. The grip actually feels good in my hand. The gun seems to be correctly timed. It comes with a holster because you're never going to find one otherwise.

Genealogy Mysteries

Every once in a while a genealogist touches upon a questionable family line. Sometimes the answer is staring you right in the face but current "norms" don't permit you to see it such as with the many brides of 14 +/- a year (or two) in a bygone age. Sometimes it is just so odd and the information so unavoidably sparse that only a conversation with a knowledgeable family member can clear it up, as in which of two cousins with exactly the same name and birth dates only a couple of days different is the one that you're looking for. But then, one runs into a truly odd family history and doesn't know quite what to make of it. Here is such a story...

Once upon a time there was a man named Charles who married a woman named Maggie and they had several children before Maggie died. That isn't so unusual, as many women died as a result of child birth. Then Charles married a widow woman named Mary with whom he had one child. Then, Mattie apparently dies from complications arising from child birth. Again, not so unusual.

During this same time, in Charles' neighborhood was a woman whose given name was Josephine Bonaparte. Her fraternal twin, Joseph, seems to have disappeared from the written record. Josephine however, marries a local boy, William, and they have 3 children one of whom is a daughter named Maud. William unfortunately passes. So far so normal.

Then Josephine and Charles start a family and marry and live near all their kin in rural Virginia. This is about 1897. In 1898 a son, Blaine, is born. In the 1900 census they are all shown together, a sort of late 19th century "Yours, Mine and Ours". Then in the 1910 census Josephine, Charles and all the minor children are Portland, Oregon. But something has changed. "Suddenly" we find that Maud (yes, the Maud of Josephine and William) is listed in the census as the wife of Charles and Josephine is listed as the widowed mother-in-law of Charles! Further, Blaine has "become" the child of Maud!

Right away you see we have questions. When did Maud "marry" Charles? We find out it was on 30 Jul 1909, in Oregon. Was Maud really Blaine's mother at the age of 15, with her mother's husband? Did they move to Oregon to hide the scandal? Or, did Josephine become ill (mentally or physically) and Maud take over with the family moving to Oregon to cover that up? I don't know, we've now almost got a Woody Allen sort of situation.

The next two census, 1920 and 1930, don't do anything to clear up anything. Charles is still head of household, Maud is still his wife and Josephine is still the widowed mother-in-law after 20+ years. There have been no more children. Josephine never remarried despite living in a community with a high male to female ratio and having been, early on, fairly young. Indeed she still lives with her daughter and former (?) husband but is obviously concealing the full truth of the relationship by reporting as being widowed (strictly true) but using Charles' family name! Finally, in 1932, Josephine passes. What causes her death we do not know but she is 72 when she dies. And then...

At some point the family, now just Charles and Maud, move back to Virginia. Several of Charles' and Josephine's other surviving children live from 30 to 2800 miles distant. They must keep up with them and not be entirely estranged because when Charles dies in 1945 their locations are known and reported in his obituary.

Maud dies in 1972, she has never remarried. She and Charles are buried side-by-side in the same cemetery as his second wife with her first husband. Blaine apparently never comes east again, nor do several of the other children who die before 1932. What do you think happened?

Gun show at Expoland today...

I arrived at about 10:15 and paid my $6.00 (with discount coupon!) for entry. Saw Lewis, Vic, Mike, Ed, and several others at the show. Some greeted me warmly and some made every effort to leave me ASAP. No idea why. Looked at all the guns. Didn't see much I wanted or was interested in or much that I hadn't seen before. Several guns that I think are overpriced today are just as overpriced as they were last show with one .358 Savage 99 still on the fella's table after 2 years. I don't suppose he wants to sell it or perhaps hope springs eternal! Randy Clark of Roanoke wasn't there so I'm sure I missed out on some nice stuff. Hope he finally took a day off. Many folks who had modified guns, i.e. shooter grade, asking collector prices. Many nice NIB Colts and S&W revolvers with mostly elevated prices but within negotiable reason. However, there was one fella with a bunch of Lew Horton 2-3/4" N-frames of various chamberings all asking $1450, without boxes. Not that good a show I would say as I spent about 20 minutes talking with people and still left after 50 minutes. 50 minutes for a gun show and I think that counts time on the parking lot. I was home by 12:15 and that was after stopping for gas!