*** Historic Apple Varieties Found on Steptoe Butte

*** Lesson In Newspaper Research

*** Finding Your Ancestors on Facebook

*** Abby William Hill, 1861-1943, Painter of the West

An article in The Spokesman-Review last week told how “apple detective” Dave Benscoter has found two more apple varieties long thought to be extinct. And he found them on the slopes of Whitman County’s Steptoe Butte. Experts have confirmed the finds of Arkansas Beauty and Dickinson varieties. Benscoter and his devoted group of apple hunters were quoted as saying that “as many as 13 more lost apple varieties may be growing in Whitman County.”  It is estimated that of 17,000 named apple varieties in North America only 3000 still exist today so Benscoter’s finds are wonderfully interesting. Here’s a link to the Whitman County Historical Society’s Lost Apple Project: www.whitmancountyhistoricalsociety.org/projects/heritageappleproject

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In the long ago and not so far away day of early American newspapers, money was always an issue. Newspaper publishers and editors of the day knew they HAD to have subscribers in order to stay in business (and ads, of course). Not every little town had its own newspaper but wily newspaper editors carried all the news from a large geographical circle surrounding their headquarters. For instance The Weekly Vidette published in Montesano, Washington, (on Friday, 30 Nov 1894) carried newsy tidbits from Elma (11 miles away), Ocosta (25 miles), Porter (17 miles) and Cosmopolis (11 miles). These tidbits are chock-full of names….and to get your name in the paper surely likely meant that you would buy a copy of that paper. (This from Porter: “Albert Iliff returned Tuesday from an extended visit at Aberdeen. What is the lady’s name, Al?”)

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“Did you realize that Facebook can be a great place to connect with your ancestors…. or at least to find the answers you need to connect your ancestors to your family tree? With FamilySearch’s Facebook groups, you can interact with other people tracing their families who lived in the same areas as your family and perhaps even break through your brick wall or help others break through theirs.” Do a Google search for FamilySearch Facebook Groups and you’ll be directed to the correct page…. I copied this as a brief example…. this shows there is a Facebook group for those researching in Canada and Greenland. It’s FREE to join this, so what be you waiting for? (Thanks to Leslie Albrecht Huber, 16 Aug 2016, FamilySearch Blog.)

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Abby Williams Hill was born at the start of the Civil War and lived until 1943. Her work spans 50 years and was mostly of Western Landscapes. Recognize this place?

I was reading about this remarkable artist in the Winter 1981 issue of Columbia and my first thought was WOW and my second thought was “I want that for my desktop image!” If you are interested, the Washington State Historical Society published a book of her work in 1989 with 120 pages and 57 images of her paintings.