Family Trails' First Guest Book-Reviewer

This is an exciting week for me as your writer of our Family Trails. I am pleased to announce that our family blog has a guest writer…. our own cousin, Alice.

Alice will tell of her connection with Connie Lapallo, the author of the two books pictured here in this post.  Take note as you read Alice's description of the books that in talking with Connie for the first time, Alice actually inspired Connie as she wrote the second book, When the Moon Has No More Silver.

In Alice's own words….

"Most of you have heard me talk about the well written and researched books, so I will try to be brief in this review. I would suggest you check out Connie's web site at Connie Lapallo.com. It tells how she became interested in telling the story of the women and children. You may be surprised by her educational background.

Bob and I first met Connie and her daughter, Sarah, in 2007 at Henricus Historical Park not far from Jamestown. I noticed her sitting at a table signing books while we stood in line waiting for a shuttle bus to take us back to our car. Getting out of line I made my way over to see what book she was signing. Interest mounted when I saw the title, Dark Enough to See the Stars in a Jamestown Sky, that was based on the true story about the women and children at Jamestown. We started a conversation and of course, I mentioned our Pace connection. Her connection with the early settlers was Joan Peirce (correct spelling in the 1600's) who came in 1609, Connie's 13th great-grandmother. 

Since not much if anything is written in history books about the women and children of those early days, this was one reason these books were written. Their story needed to be told. It took eight years of research and hard work to complete book one and five more years to issue the second. Connie's aim was, as mentioned in the author's notes, "...that information be historical and genealogically accurate. I have not played fast and loose with the facts."

I emailed Connie, after reading the second book, to tell her how much it was enjoyed and hoped for more to come. While reading, I felt the characters were saying, "Listen to our stories. You need to know what it cost us to establish a colony in the New World." 

It was especially exciting to see the name of Isabella Pace mentioned several times. Connie wrote me back to say that as she wrote about Isabella, she remembered our conversation in line at Henricus.

We were happy to see Connie and her daughter, Sarah-who designed the cover/painting and content design- again last June at the Pace Society Reunion, and we introduced them to our family there. 

Now we look forward to the third book, The Sun is But a Morning Star (1620-1649) and the fourth book, In Search of Sir Thomas Gates: A Biography.

If interested in ordering books, go on line to her website, and she will be glad to sign them. 

Good reading!

Alice

Replica of the Godspeed in New York 2006

***Note about Henricus Historical Park: Alice and Bob were there to see the replica of the ship, HMS Godspeed, anchored in the James River. HMS Godspeed was one of the three ships (along with HMS Susan Constant-or Sarah Constant- and HMS Discoverie-orDiscovery) on the voyage to the New World for the English Virginia Company of London. The journey resulted in the founding of Jamestown in the new Colony of Virginia.

The Scrapbook

Welcome to our family blog, "Family Trails." 

What?? WE have a family blog??? Well, yes, in a way... it's a start at a family blog.. a place where we can connect and share family history and stories. 

I am new at all of this, and to be quite honest, not sure how I feel about all this lack of privacy that comes with the internet. So as a first note, let me say that for now, I am just using first names of the living family members.  As  we all get accustomed to "blogging", then I may be more specific. But for now...

 Hi, it's Mariellan!

Several years ago, Lucretia sent out an email asking for a family "volunteer" to accept responsibility for a box of scrapbooks she had. As some of you may remember, the box contained some scrapbooks of Charles Sisson Weaver, my great-grandfather and some items of interest from Uncle Rat. (What? We have an Uncle Rat? Yes, more on this later!) Lucretia thought that these should be placed in the Weaver Family Library at The First Baptist Church in Talladega, AL.  So I thought I would be that volunteer! Little did I know the journey that this box of memories would take me on! 

Poor little box! It sat in the hall closet floor for a few years. I would open the closet to find a tote bag or get the vacuum, and there would be the box. Maybe that is why I never wanted to vacuum because I was always reminded that I had one big family project ahead of me! 

So let's fast-forward to the year 2007. Our daughter, Rebecca, had gotten married that July, so when in October, Alice and Bob invited me to come see them in Blowing Rock, NC, I accepted, having all this "free time!" My sister, Rebecca, and our parents, Nancy and Tommy, were also going. 

Rebecca and I rode together, and we packed the scrapbooks in our car. What better time to try to make sense of all this family memorabilia than with four of our family's awesome historians and story-tellers, Mama, Daddy, Bob, and Alice as our captives in a mountain cabin! After sneezing our way into Knoxville-4 hours later, we realized just what we had in store for us during our mountain escape. 

After a few nights of good food and cozy fires, most of the pictures were identified and lots of stories were told to Rebecca and me, surprisingly, for the first time. Rebecca and I stacked and labeled most of this and then immediately tied it into big plastic bags-no, not to throw away! Remember, we ARE Weavers (and DeWines! We don't throw away!) We tied things up so we could ride home without the sneezing and coughing from the dust-filled scrapbooks. 

Fast-forward again...this past Spring 2014, sister Rebecca and I began disassembling the books and sorting all the items. It was obvious while in Blowing Rock that these family treasures could not go into the Weaver library in the condition they were in. Nor should we let them get away from us, just yet. So we sat outside and had a great time tackling this treasure.

No, this had to stay with family! We had unlocked a family treasure chest! We were pirates of a different kind! What would we do with all of these jewels? What did we find? 

Postcards, greeting cards, hand-written letters, newspaper articles, church pledge cards and Sunday bulletins, wedding announcements, obituaries, photographs, telegrams......oh, I could go on. But then, we would have no reason for our family blog. 

  

Every week, I will post something new-or most likely, old! on the blog. It may be something we have all heard a hundred times, or it may be something new, or from a different perspective. Mainly though, I want all of you to have an opportunity to dig into this with me. Daughter, Rebecca, is my mentor, directing me in all things digital, as she is great at this! I'll be learning to scan and post, and soon you all will be reading and enjoying Pace/Haynes/Weaver news. Sister, Rebecca, is my helper in all things to do with family history. And all of you can help by spreading the word to your family about how to follow this blog.  Please feel free to correct me if I have something wrong.  

So, The Family Trail is calling us ...let's get started.

Love, Mariellan