I scanned an entire notebook of old letters and research notes that were collected by my great-grandfather Andrew Hartley and his son Elton Hartley (my grandmother's brother). Total pages scanned was about 200 sheets of paper.

My favorite letters were the ones written in response to an ad in the local newspaper for Bradford, Yorkshire, England. The ads were placed by Elton Hartley, looking for cousins who descended from the same ancestral families, the Hartley, Richards, or Wadsworth families. I think it's amazing how quickly people responded to queries in the newspaper about the search for his ancestors.

Written 14 Aug 1951

Autobiography of Grace Fincher Curtis

An autobiography of Grace Fincher Curtis, titled, "The Winding Trail", was published in 1991 by Diana Dekoeyer.

The dedication states, "Diana, bless her, has always been so good to old Grandma Grace. She is making a book out of my life. That is, if she can make heads or tails of my crazy writings."

Grace Amy Fincher was born 9 August 1895 R Manfred, North Dakota. She married Sherman James Curtis on 7 April 1915 at Harve, Hill county, Montana. Sherman was born on 3 June 1892 in Preston, Idaho, the son of Oscar Benjamin Curtis and Esther Mary Thompson. Sherman died 25 January 1970 and Grace died in 1998, both in California. The book is 147 pages and includes:

• The children of Herbert and Liza Fincher
• Michigan to Canada 1910-1914
• A Short History of Sherman James Curtis
• Boy Meets Girl 1915-1922
• Journey to Idaho 1923
• Coeur d'Alene
• On to Washington
• Orient, Washington
• British Columbia to Yakima then to Spokane 1925-1926
• Big Timber 1927
• Caliente, Nevada 1928
• California 1929
• Antelope Valley 1930-1944
• Burbank and Vista 1945-1948
• Aguanga 1950-1955
• Vista 1956-1957
• Grapevine 1958-1960
• Sonora 1961-1963
• Vista 1964-1990

I do not have a copy of the autobiography and I believe the book is out of print. If anyone knows where a copy can be obtained or viewed, please add comments to this post. Thanks so much!

My Friend Passed Away

 Yesterday I was thinking about a friend of mine, Lois Scott. She was older than me and I never had the chance to meet her in person. I've talked to her on the phone a few times and we wrote a few letters to each other several years ago. Originally I found her while doing some research to find the descendants of Benjamin Kingman Curtis. Her name was Lois Scott. She was so kind and helpful in sharing all that she had on her side of the Curtis family. Before I met Lois, I knew almost nothing about that side of our family. Anyway, while thinking about her, I was hopeful that she would still be alive, so I decided to check the Social Security Death Index. Sadly, I discovered that she had passed away a year ago last Christmas. I felt so sad about her passing because I had recently found a new picture of some ancestors on her side of the family and I wanted to share that picture with her. Now I will never have the chance to share the photo with her. I was thinking that sharing the photo with her would be a good way to pay back (at least in part) all the kindness she showed me in sharing her genealogy records with me. I will have to try and contact her children to see if they would like a copy of the picture that I wanted to give their mother.

Stitches

He was hurt when a board fell on his head. He needed stitches, but the doctor fixed his wound with a staple instead. He only had one staple, but the head wrap made the injury look much worse. He was a brave boy.