Tiny Overton Nebraska

Overton Nebraska has just under 650 people. It's the kind of place where one can serve as the librarian, church secretary AND work in the village clerk's office. It is indeed small-town America. We had hoped to gain access to church records, but our appointment with the secretary fell through. She was in the middle of sewing NINE bridemaids dresses. It's just that kind of town.



The Methodist church our great-grandparents once attended.



Two of the oldest buildings in Overton.

What........... Me Worry?

We took several short hops on very small planes. It's one thing to have clear access to the cockpit, quite another to see the co-pilot hanging on for dear life!

Kansas City

We met nearly twenty family members in Kansas City. Cousin Anita hosted a lovely, relaxed dinner party for us. Divine! It was wonderful hearing family stories, viewing photo albums and a film made for PBS about the family we never knew. Cousin Katannah drove all the way from Minneapolis to meet us, while Jessica drove in with her babies from St. Joe. We could have used several more days there for visiting.

The Sandhills

My sisters and I recently returned from our trip to the Great Plains. We wanted to see for ourselves the places where our ancestors had lived and died, to get a feel for what it must have been like living in the sandhills. Although we could stand in those places and imagine, we can never know what their lives must have been like as homesteaders living in a sod house in the middle of nowhere in the 1880s. I cannot imagine the hardships they endured. I do know they were strong and determined people!


Photo: Detail of Conestoga wagon - Scottsbluff NE.

I drove from NC to my sister Sue's home. We flew to Kansas City the next day, where we met our oldest sister Sharon. From there our journey began.

I know I'm almost there when I cross the Illinois line into the Land of Lincoln.

It was prime harvest time in central Illinois when I was there. Corn and soybeans are the primary crops.

For my three sisters and me, detassling corn for DeKalb Ag was our first job. The icon, the winged ear - which we've always called the "flying cob" - is still everywhere along the fields in Illinois.

The light on the corn across the road from my sister's was amazing my first night there.

Imagine how much fabric could be stored in these bins on my sister's farm! She and her husband rent them out for grain storage.



The expansive farm has a lovely orchard, reminiscent of the one we had on our farm growing up.



The white birch is one of my favorite trees.

Proud Soddies

I take great pride in the fact that my ancestors were early settlers in the west. I cannot imagine the difficult life they endured on the plains. This tribute to Soddies stands in Gothenburg NE.

Click on any image for a closer view.

A sod house much like the ones in which my great-grandparents and their children lived. This one is at the Sod House Museum, Gothenburg, NE.

Detail of sod house.