We have a very special kitchen table. It was purchased by my great-grandparents in 1906. It's a round, oak table typical of the period. My dad refinished it in the '70s.Who has sat at our kitchen table? Well, a lot of people, really. Here's one fellow! His name was Alfred Foster. He's my great-great grandfather. He fought in the civil war, he worked on riverboats on the Mississippi, then became a pioneer and ended up settling in Kansas in the 1870s and farming.
Every once in awhile as we're doing school at the kitchen table, my mind wanders to the past. Who all has sat at this table, how much laughter did the table witness, how many tears were shed at the table. It is rich in history, our family history! I sometimes wonder if the ghosts of my ancestors watch us at their kitchen table while we are schooling.
I have studied family history for several years. My DS has been walking cemeteries with me since he was old enough to walk. It makes me very happy that he has taken an interest in genealogy. We are almost to the point in our American history lessons where I can tie our family history into what we are studying. I am very excited to put that spin on our history studies.
Here is a fun link I'd like to share. It is a travel log from 1806 of a family traveling to Ohio by wagon. Margaret Huff was my fourth great-grandmother. (She married Daniel Huff after her first husband died.) Her daughter, Rachel, is listed in the travel log. My son and I have visited Rachel's grave in Indiana. http://www.rootsweb.com/~Quakers/huff.htm
If you're studying westward expansion, check this site out and read it with your kids. It's a real-life account of moving across country back then.
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