5 Points and a Confession - Let's Be Clear

                                                        The House on Harrison Street:

1. Stand Alone - Each chapter can stand alone. That makes reading two or three chapters at a time easier. No one should plan to read the whole thing at one sitting (208 pages - 8x11). There is no test! haha You can even read Part III first, if you are more interested in 1901 - 1959.

Red River Campaign

Rev.War Soldier Thomas W Gordon

2. History- I used US History (well-known events) to put family history into perspective. Think of the United States Centennial (1876) and you'll have the year C.T. Gordon wed Ella Jane Ritchie!

3. Conversations - Each of the three parts contains hypothetical conversations and stories that are, indeed, creative. It happened just that way in my imagination. The facts are there, creatively told. You'll read phrases that let you know it's supposition. The conversations are meant to breathe life into stale dates and names on a time line.

4. Three Parts -

Mildred G Horne & Susie G Ritchie

    Part I contains early family history relative to colonial America and the Revolutionary War, early years in South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.
    Part II contains references to family life in the mid-1800's, moves into Mississippi and south Arkansas. Arkansas during the Civil War is described and family life is highlighted until 1890 (approx).
    Part III begins at the Turn of the Century and contains stories relative to the Gordon-Ritchie family members on whom I could gather information.

5. Redundancy - As I began this project, I had difficulty keeping these family members correctly identified. Same names, same initials. Same names that skip a generation and use II and III to keep the child separate from the uncle or grandfather. J.C. Ritchie could be several different people.
I reiterated facts and dates within stories to provide clarity for me, hopefully for others. Now that I've lived closely with these folks for 18 months and read Parts I and II several times, I realize I belabored some points.

Jane

Bonus: Confession - I believed my parents had chosen "Jane" as my middle name because it was quick and easy after a long, complicated name like "Margaret." Then, I learned the story behind my name.  Betty Dale Willis and I began to use our middle names in a quiet rebellion in the 4th grade. I also used "Jane" because my mother was "Margaret." No one in the late 1960's was going to use the Camden-Southern-Double Name convention. You'll meet these women when you read The House on Harrison Street: Jane Elizabeth Tooke Gordon, Jane E McBride Campbell Ritchie, Ella Jane Ritchie Gordon, Janie Gordon, and Jane Horne.