Slow Steps

How to manage this blog with the reality of life, and, like I mentioned earlier, its inevitable contingencies, is a bit of a problem.   Grace, the newest member of the cast, had some trouble breathing in this new air and has needed extra attention to insure her ease of being. Yes. Like the ancestors of old in their transitional period, Grace is in transition from the safe haven to the new world. That has taken priority over the old folks and the story's progression. My tale of old is the story of life and its struggles and Grace is an example of the contiguous nature of all things. Her birth has connected me with the next member of the cast in more ways than one. While my daughter has just given birth to her second and probably, last child, my great X 5 grandmother, Jane Strother Lewis,  produced THIRTEEN children! I think that was the norm back then. But talk about another dose of needing Grace!

Jane Strother Lewis was the daughter of William Strother and Margaret Watts Strother and wife of Margaret Lynne's son, Thomas Lewis. The Strothers emigrated from England to Virginia in the early days of the settlement.  Only the writing of another ancestor, George Rockingham Gilmer,  gives me any information about Jane. Remember, I am only using my personal archives to chronicle this passage. George wrote a  book entitled, "Gilmer's Georgians", for short, that included character sketches of many of the early inhabitants along the French Broad River in Georgia.   His honest, colorful portrayals caused an uproar among many who  requested a burning of all the available copies. To appease them, he edited the book with a much kinder glance into the early settlers' lives. He included the Strothers in his biographies.

Jane and Thomas Lewis were an easy alliance and obviously a productive couple. He was said to be studious and his tastes literary.  I wish I had more adjectives for Jane, but GRG didn't include details about her. I would guess "tired" to be one. Thomas and Jane eventually migrated down the Broad River to Goosepond, Georgia, then Wilkes County, to raise their family.  They pioneered the settlement along with the Meriwethers, Gilmers, Mathews, Taliaferros, Grattans, all families of famed repute in the early days of America and the stars of George R. Gilmer's book. One of Thomas' and Jane's children was Elizabeth Lewis (Gilmer), my great X 4 grandmother. She may take the lead in the next post.

More when there's a moment without a three year old calling '1-2-3 ready or not".  Imagine that call times thirteen. I might have sought a really good hiding spot.