Visit to lucas and Sylvan Grove,KS

I finally got a chance to visit in Lucas and Sylvan Grove,KS...they are the towns in the old pictures from 1923 shown below in this blog.  I have had those pictures for many years and felt a connection with the people and place,so it was wonderful to visit there. We got to see
The Garden of Eden and also the Grass Roots Museum in Lucas and see a house I think was where the Ward family lived in Sylvan Grove.  Here are few views from our visit.

We left our cousins and headed for Red Cloud,NE to visit the home of Willa Cather and also the museum about her life. Very well done!  Here are a few pictures from our visit.

Visit in Hebron with Carla Beth Frye and reunion with cousins.

Valerie and I met our cousin,Carla Beth Frye. We had never met in person before this visit. She was a gracious hostess and arranged for some other cousins to come for a dinner. My cousin,Dean Pressnell from Wichita.KS and his son,Brian were there. Carla's brother Chris and wife Rhonda came  and two girls who are daughters of another first cousin,Vern Frye. Tracey and Trish.. So wonderful to meet new members of the family!!

Looking at old photos. Grandmother Emily Witter Smith as a young woman. I was given her dress by Anita Harms and Nancy Green.

Summer Trip to Kansas and Nebraska
Valerie and I went out to visit with cousins in Nebraska and reconnect with the places and people from our family. It was a wonderful time together.  We also visited in Red Cloud to see the home of Willa Cather and the museum. We listened to an audio book of--"song of the Lark" on the way home. We also visited Lucas,KS. The town is pictured in the old photographs on this page. We saw "The Garden of Eden and the Grass Roots Museum. I gave a cloth book with pictures of the Browns and the Wards from the area back in 1923.  It was great to finally see this place I have adopted because of this old album.  I will add pictures here of our trip.

These photos are from Hubbell,NE. My Grandparents, Emily and Milo Smith lived here. Also I read a book about "A Piece of Kansas Soil" with several chapters on a blacksmith in town named Harry and his shop is still there!  Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for my Grandparent's house. It has fallen in and no longer recognizable.  We did visit the cemetary to pay our respects to our Grandparents that is up on a hill above the town.