My granddaughter Kate is 8 years old, the same age as her great-great grandmother Leora’s grandmother (Emilia), when she emigrated from Indiana to Iowa with her family 170 years ago.
The Moores were the first of my motherline to come to Iowa. On May 6, 1855, Ephraim and Lucy (Branson) Moore of Parke County, Indiana, loaded their belongings and seven children–ages 14, 12, 10, 8 (Emilia Ann), 5, 2, and an infant–into two wagons and rumbled west, all the way to Guthrie County, Iowa. The trip of nearly 500 miles, including getting ferried across the Mississippi River, took about a month.
Interesting tidbit: Iowa became a State the day after Emilia was born in 1846.
Kate received her own hard copy of Meadowlark Songs Easter weekend. It was fun to watch her carrying it around, knowing that it is dedicated to her, and that her name comes up again in the last part of the book.
Kate’s parents don’t want her pictured on social media, but here we are, our first mosey across a new bridge in a neighborhood park.
You might like to download a FREE ebook of Meadowlark Songs from May 8-May 11, 2025!
It’s not to late to order an autographed paperback copy for Mother’s Day. Beaverdale Books will even ship it. (515) 279-5400
Very beautiful!
Thank you, Hoang!
I know it’s only a typo, but Emilia’s birthday has to be 1846.
My, yes! Thanks, GP!
Love this!
Thank you, Tim!
Very sweet to have a book dedicated to you at age 8!
All five books have been dedicated to her, but she’s old enough to grasp it this time!
That is an awesome picture
Thanks, Rich!
My motherline has Moores, too!
There used to be a Moore Reunion here. Maybe there still is!
Ephraim and Lucy were courageous pioneers to travel 500 miles in two wagons with seven children! 🙂
At least her brother’s family was already here waiting for them!