"Just as I have told these."

After combining the research from Mother and Nana, after sorting photographs and digging deep into memory banks, I spent several days in Camden conducting research on different trips.

I've been the grateful recipient of treasured memories from cousins - archives carefully packed and mailed to me for insight. I returned the goodies after scanning and photographing the contents. What a journey! At least 18 months in the making, The House on Harrison Street is launching at the Camden Daffodil Festival.

I am retired after over forty years in public education as an English and journalism teacher and school administrator. My passion for education traces to my great-great grandfather, Thomas Bullock Gordon, and to his son, my great grandfather Charles Thomas Gordon.

The strength to navigate life reaches back to all the women named Jane: Jane Elizabeth Tooke Gordon, Jane E McBride Campbell Ritchie, Ella Jane Ritchie Gordon, and even to a little-known aunt Janie Gordon. Infant Jane Horne, too.

In Sunrise in a Lemon Sky which I self-published in 2014, I hoped for partial anonymity by choosing the pen name E. J. (Ella Jane) Gordon.That degree of privacy never materialized, so I embraced the events, summoned strength, and told my story with candor.

So also did I research the shaded details of the Ritchies and the Gordons. I finally learned the truth and it cemented my admiration for the families included in the family history The House on Harrison Street.

As I told my own story, I have also told this one.

The House on Harrison Street will be available at the Camden Daffodil Festival on Friday and Saturday, March 11-12, 2016. The cost of the 8 x 10 size paperback is $20. The 208 page saga contains a full bibliography, end notes by chapter, and an index. A CD to accompany the book will be available. It contains more pictures and documents. Cost of the CD is $10.