How are ya'all doing? A new phrase I learned today. We sometimes take for granted the immensity of our great state of Alaska, this morning I woke up on the Nebraska and Kansas border. Drove half the width and length of Kansas, into Missouri and completed the trip at our destination in Lakeview, Arkansas. Although we drove 510 miles today, saw three states we still drove less distance than from Anchor Point to Fairbanks! Arkansas is beautiful, rolling hills with heavy tree coverage of a wide variety of trees and shrubs. By coincidence,we checked into a motel just three blocks from Lanny and Sharon's home. We called upon them without notice, we all went out to dinner and had a great visit. We did discover one thing today, have owned my truck for three years, it was not until today when the temperatures hit 75 degrees that we discovered we do not have an air conditioner in our rig! It was hot out today, but it was nice to sit on the porch tonight in just our shirt sleeves, listen to the crickets and visit. Today, coming into Arkansas, I realized that it is almost 40 years to the date the last time I was here, your mother and I stopped here to visit my grandfather on our transfer from Florida to Adak. Things have changed in this area so much since October 1967.

Regressing slightly by one day, it was a great day, full of surprises as well as satisfaction. The pictures above are the grave sites of my grand parents, Henry Philo and Ella Belle (Baker), both of them passing prior to my birth and the migration of my family to Colorado. This was my first trip into the area where my parents were raised and is was well worth the entire trip. I had only heard stories of these towns as a child. It was only until I was adult that I learned stories are not always true, in this case they were.

Our first stop was in Silver Creek, a town I had heard so much about. Wanting to increase my knowledge of the family history, we stopped at the city library. A very nice lady offered to assist our search after we explained to her what we were looking for. She doubted that they would have much in their history files as Benedict, Nebraska was so far away, almost 23 miles! The first book she showed us had a biography, not of my grandfather but of my Great Grandfather and Great, Great Grandfather! Each shared had the first name of Henry. I will go into further detail in the future, but the interesting fact is that my Great Grandfather, joined the 12th Illinois Volunteer Infantry in April 1861 and went through the Civil War, being wounded several times and held captive for forty days. He was in the engagement of the capture Fort Henry and Fort Donelson as well as the Battle of Shiloh. Following the war, he returned to Illinois and his farm. In 1880 he moved to Nebraska and homesteaded in Benedict. As a child, I heard a story from my parents that we owned a town in Nebraska by the name of Benedict. The good news is that the story was true, we do own the town of Benedict, the bad news is that I think the 230 residents of the community would tend to disagree. Great Great Grandfather Henry purchased a quarter section of railroad land which included one half of the town of Benedict. He later increased his holdings to 335 acres. He married Mary A. Worsley on December 5, 1868 and they had twelve children of which my grandfather, Henry Philo was one of them who took over the farm after his fathers death.

From Silver Creek, we went to Benedict. A small town with a population of 230 residents. There is one cafe, a gas station, post office, community center, and he smallest bank that I have ever seen. The lady at the library gave me the name of K. Harrington that lived in Benedict and her phone number. Not being able to locate a pay phone, I decided to try the post office to see if they knew her. A very nice postmistress by the name of Linda did know her but she had moved to Denver. Explaining to Linda that I was trying to get some information about my father and grandfather, she asked me what my last name was. She not only recognized the name, but she had heard stories about Henry Philo and my dad from her father who is 84 years old and still living in Benedict. I asked what his name was and it was Morris, a name that I have seen many times in my fathers personal diary. My father had worked for her dad's father, not only on his farm but breaking horses for them . She also directed us to the grave sites of my grand parents and I told her about a mystery that I was trying to solve! She assured me that her dad would probably know and gave me his address and telephone number. I returned to the truck and was taking a picture of the post office when she came out and started across the street in my direction. She had just talked to her dad on the phone and he told her the entire story that solved the mystery that has plagued me for the past tens years of so. My grandfather was born Henry Philo Harrington, but on all of his paperwork including his death certificate his name is listed as Henry Philo "Ten" Harrington. The evident name of "Ten" had to be a nickname, perhaps he was he 10th Henry in the lineage, however that concept has been ruled out. I questioned my oldest sister and brothers that knew their grandfather, they did not know where or why the name "Ten" originated. This mystery has been resolved, however, I do not know if I want to share it! We also visited the school in an attempt to see if they had any records dating back to those years, annuals, etc. Met a very nice secretary and very helpful, but unfortunately, the high school was consolidated with the high school in Silver Creek last year and all that type of stuff is still in limbo in boxes somewhere. That is o.k., one day I will return to the area and explore a little more to see what else awaits to be discovered. Solving the mystery was rewarding enough for this trip.

Long Blog, Long Day, Ya'all have a god day and I will see you down in the holler a piece.