Esquire Coffinberry's Great-Grand-Niece

I created this blog to express my thoughts as the early days of online bulletin boards began to decline. Then my content at this blog diminished as Facebook became the primary mode of sharing thoughts (you can see it in the timeline... FB became a "thing" along around 2008, about when I quit posting). But FB is just not that pleasant a place to play anymore, and its algorithm shapes my bubble in ways I reject. I do not like that.     So, as I prepare to attend another conference with the StoryMakers Guild, I choose to re-establish this site as where I write and think about writing. However, all the old Esquire Coffinberry stuff will stay here. It is a reflection of where I was, and where my roots are. Indeed, a couple characters, Dan and Anna, in the current book received their first fleshing-out at this blog.  The Flower Woman of Salt Lake  is my current project, such as it is. I've been researching its title character for nearly 23 years. She is the gift that ...

  PART 6: The Young Ladies in the Back Young Adult Mennonite Group Attends  Farmington Chautauqua, August 1910 By Elizabeth Hervey Osborn Part 1  --   Part 2  --  Part 3  --  Part 4  -- Part 5 -- Part 6 -- Part 7 -- Part 8 The next three parts highlight each of the nineteen young people in turn, with a close-up [1] from the photograph and some basic information about their lives, and perhaps another photo or newspaper clipping for some event. If you knew these young people, or if you have additional information about their lives, please feel free to share in the comment section. In parentheses after each name are found identification numbers from publicly available genealogical resources. The first number given is the  identifier from Altleiningen Krebills  [2], as the vast majority of this group is listed in or married to someone listed in that book. Next, where appropriate, is the GRanDMA [3] ID number for the person. Famil...

  PART 1: Aunt Roberta's Treasure Young Adult Mennonite Group Attends Farmington Chautauqua, August 1910 By Elizabeth Hervey Osborn Part 1 --   Part 2  -- Part 3 -- Part 4 -- Part 5 -- Part 6 -- Part 7-- Part 8 July 2, 2022. Cantril, Iowa . — First thing in the morning Aunt Roberta waved me over to see a treasure she had brought to the family reunion: “A picture of my Grandma and Grandpa,” she beamed, “I knew you’d want to see it.”  Looking closer I saw nineteen young people gathered for an outdoor group photograph . T he dresses, Edwardian hair styles and bows, the ties and hats suggested the year might be somewhere around 1910. Who was this group? Turning it over and tipping it carefully in the light, my aunt pointed to names in careful pencil script on the back, then returning to the picture we found her grandparents, counting “First on the left standing… fourth from the left sitting in front.”   “Group attended Cha[u]tauqua at Farmington I...