Greetings Cousins!

Hello everyone! Well a good idea shared is a great idea when someone with more knowledge expands it! I know there are many pictures in assorted family albums of various family events. Most all of these are in the possession of the Aunts & Uncles. I'm also aware of some family letters from during and before the Civil War, one particular set of letters were between two brothers fighting on opposite sides of said war. Grandma Elsie had those so I don't know where they've gone too now.

I can tell you that....the Gifford side is Irish, extremely proficient at producing children, were farmers, preachers, teachers, and just regular folks. The Adams side is where things get a bit more interesting. A Scottish ancester developed a process to bleach muslin, a process that is still used today. That would have been a very big deal then since muslin was not originally white and thus allowed other things to be done to the fabric that expanded its useage. We have teachers, preachers, farmers, musicians, poets, writers, soldiers, a physicist, and others. Now our Scottish clan colors are Olde Sett Stewart. This is from deLyle branch on grandads side who were aligned with the Stewarts (yes the royal ones). This means that at some point the leader of our family pledged his land, his arms (his physical strength), his weapons and his family to the clan Stewart. The color of the plaid is a very dark green shot thru with a very dark blue. Because its an old plaid it has to be ordered special and not every mill makes it, in case anyone wants some. Also thru great grandma Jessie we are part of the Wallace clan. That plaid is a very bright red with yellow and dark blue. Clan gatherings happen all over the US and Canada every year. To get that information you can go online and search by specific clan. Also Scottish Life magazine and Highlander magazine both carry information in the ads at the back, several pages in fact.

Now a bit of oral history per grandad. Peanut grandpa's father was a young soldier when President Lincoln was assassinted and he was chosen to guard the presidents body during the public veiwing and the funeral. There is a distant attachment to the McCoy's of the famous Hatfield and McCoy fued. Tammy has some info on that. Peanut grandpa was a wild mustanger in his youth, he traveled all over and caught and broke to saddle wild mustangs. He also shared a nights lodging with Frank James after Jesse James was killed. They stayed in Bradshaw Ne at a hotel and shared a room, a not unusual thing in those days. He was the second oldest person in Bradshaw when he died and had been written up in a front page news story with picture in the York newspaper as one of three but the oldest guy died shortly afterwards thus making him second. He died on my birthday after a series of strokes.

So thats starts us off. Hey cousins, speak up, I want to see your voices here!