My Book

In 2014, I finished a project that took over seven years to complete.  I self-published a book about the people and area where I live.  Specifically, I researched the identity and life of the woman who built and lived in my house.  Her name was Ruth (Morlan) McMillan and she was a source of inspiration for me.  She and her husband built the house in 1926, shortly after their marriage.  Her husband died in 1975, but she continued to live there by herself.  She lived in the house nearly the rest of her life, except for a short time in the home of her daughter and then in a nursing facility.  There is about the place a memory of her - this woman who cared for the land and her farm.  I wanted to know who she was and about the area she called home.  The folks in the area my age, when asked about the history of the place, could tell me very little.  It was only until I approached the elderly members of the community that the stories began to flow.  Nearby the house was a town called Signal.  All that remains are a few houses and a small green sign along the road identifying the place as "Signal."  I wanted to know about this place as well.  My journey of discovery took me to the living rooms of the older residents, as well as the county's courthouse offices, land offices and libraries.

Besides the stories and facts about the area and its residents, I started to research Ruth's family origins.  Being a genealogist, it was only natural that I would become curious about her family roots.  This curiosity resulted in the creation of a family tree file containing over 8000 persons and linked the families of this area with those of my own.

In the end, I had a great deal of information about the area and the people who settled it in the early 1800's.  I felt it would be a shame to keep it locked within my file cabinets.  This was information worth sharing, so that it would not be lost to future generations.   And so, I wrote the book and am in the process of getting the information to the families contained in its pages.  Within this blog, I plan to share some of that information as well as my experience in researching and writing the book.  Hopefully this will serve as an aid to anyone thinking to write their own book.