This closure project is a collection of short stories for children about children. They are family history stories, beginning with a story from my own childhood and covering four generations of direct ancestors. The fifteen stories are about children from the ages of two to twenty, and take place between the years 1856 and 1961.
I have used many sources for my information. Whenever possible I have conducted taped interviews of the key characters. Phone conversations and cor¼respondence with relatives have been very helpful. Autobiographies and journals have been consulted whenever possible. I have also used life sketches and histories written by other family members. I have consulted a variety of published works for additional background material related to the time or location of the stories. An explanation of my source material is included before each story. As a feeling of the character, setting, and plot developed in my mind, I tried to add only superficial details to round out the stories, remaining true to the known facts.
There were a few people for which I had no information aside from names and dates. Rather than fictionalize extensively, I have only recorded a brief explanation of their birth, marriage and death.
It is my hope that in writing these stories I have helped to preserve some of my family history for my own children and their cousins. It is my hope that these stories can help turn the hearts of my children to the hearts of their forefathers in a personal and sympathetic way.
And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. Doctrine and Covenants 2:2