We're off for a few days to see some sites related to family history, literary history, American history. We drove through Indianapolis yesterday, stopping to see the two homes where my uncle, aunt, and cousin once lived (all three wonderful people, sadly, are gone). He taught at Christian Theological Seminary (formerly part of Butler University) and spoke at our wedding on 20 December 1969. (When our anniversary arrives, I will post his remarks.) Thundershowers chased us across I-70 and up I-74, where we stopped at Crawfordsville, IN, for the night. Today (Tuesday) we are heading to Lewistown, IL, where poet Edgar Lee Masters grew up (and where he is buried). We'll see the town, his home, the cemetery he made famous in his Spoon River Anthology--and Spoon River itself (an actual river), which, I've seen on Weather Channel, is swollen with all of this rain. There's also a museum in his former home in the nearby town of Petersburg, IL--which we will also visit.
Then, it's off to northern Iowa, where I will visit a few sites connected to my old Hiram High School English teacher, Mr. Augustus H. Brunelle, who lived in tiny Miller, IA, when he was only about 6. We'll zoom then down to Sioux City, where he grew up and went to college (Morningside). I've been there before but need to see some things I missed the first time.
Afterwards, we'll head down the western edge of Iowa, hit I-80, and gradually move east, following the trail of abolitionist John Brown in 1859, not long before Harpers Ferry. There are numerous Brown-related stops along the way.
More later!
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