Thoughts and stories, by Pal

                 ANTHONY JANSEN VAN SALLEE, 1607-1676                              by Hazel Van Dyke Roberts, PH.D.   I'm using the historical writing of Hazel Roberts, as she did a lot of research on it.  Anthony was the son of the Pirate King, Jan Jansen, told about in the last entry, # 154.  This is about an interesting part of early New England History.  New Amsterdam became the city New York when the English conquered the Dutch in 1664.       Anthony Jansen Van Salee was a unique, interesting, and  important figure in the early history of New Amsterdam,  He has been found to be the most unusual and interesting figure in the New Amsterdam records . Contentious and obviously a nuisance to them, he was treated by the authorities with the respect due to a person of importance.  It is speculated that Anthony’s father had provided him a considerable fortune, and by 1639 he was one of the largest landholders on the island, as well as a prosperous farmer.       O'Callaghan in

Every family has a few skeletons in their closets!  If you haven't found them yet, you probably will someday .  The story below, although around 450 years old, is about one ancestor who was a pirate, and his son, who wasn't too reputable of a person either.  They are on my Pennsylvania Dutch Ancestry line.  I hope you enjoy reading about them -- Hopefully by now they have repented!                               JAN JANSZOON VAN HAARLEM                                 The Pirate King of the Barbary Coast                                    c. 1575-c. 1641       About 1575 a child christened Jan, was born in the city of Haarlem, North Holland, the Netherlands. Jan grew up an average Dutch boy, and when he reached maturity, he married a local girl whose name is unknown. Lysbeth Van Salee was born to this union in 1596. There were likely other children.      Jan Janszoon Van Haarlem was Jan's full Dutch name : Jan, his given or Christian name, Jansen his patronymic or

I first posted this on blog # 37, December 14, 2013.  I am reposting it today, because of his experiences in World War I, for Memorial Day May 26, 2014. My Father Pratt Miles, passed away 38 years ago today, (Dec. 14, 1975) veteran of World War I.      This post is a bit longer than most.  It tells of my father, Orson Pratt Miles's time in the army, and the heart touching story just before he died.  In 1987, Mavis’ son Russell was living with Ruth Miles, his grandmother, attending Dixie College.  He was in the “middle bedroom” and in cleaning out the closet he found an old box.  It contained, among other things, a small journal which Pratt, his grandfather, apparently kept in his uniform pocket during World War I.  Pratt would have been 27 years old at the time the war entries were made. (Russell typed what his Grandfather Pratt had written.)      Some of the entries in the journal were of signals, etc., used in war training.  The following tells some of his experi

Hannah Marinda Colborn Miles was my father's grandmother, my great grandmother.  It hardly seems possible that I am as close a descendant to her as my own dear great grandchildren whom I love and enjoy.  She died 23 years before I was born, but we both had 9 children, and in just over one month I will be the age she was when she passed away, 79 years and 9 months.   I appreciate so much my father's sister, Sarah Miles Wallace, writing her memories of some of our Miles ancestors.  Aunt Sarah was the genealogist on my Miles side, and compiled and did much Temple work, and writing of histories.  This isn't a long story, but if you'd like to also go to the blogs about her father Thomas Colborn, and her husband Samuel Miles, you'll get more of an idea of her life.  Men often were the ones to write their history, but the pioneer women were right alongside them experiencing the same things.  My Aunt Sarah's writings of her grandmother are below: A FEW INCIDENTS IN

I love wise sayings, and I love reading the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament.  To truly understand life, people, and above all the Gospel, includes an understanding of truth -- human nature, and God's dealings with us.  I'm sure it involves much more also.   Tonight, we have another dear grandchild, this time our grandson Jacob (Jake) Lieske, graduating from Snow Canyon High School.  Then he will continue to work on his preparation for his mission, and entering the Provo MTC on August 13, 2014, to learn Indonesian, and go to Indonesia on an LDS mission.  I remember both Wayne and I telling young people about age 18, that in the next 10 years they would be making decisions that would affect the rest of their lives, and also eternity. -- Mission or not?, marriage, choice of a profession, etc. etc.  These are truly crucial ages to make wise choices.  Some unwise choices will steer them away from happiness and peace, and often, unless quickly corrected, they ma

NOT AN EASY ROAD TO TRAVEL ---- Do we devote ourselves to "beggarly things of the world?"  These are some very profound thoughts.  It can be so easy to waste our time, talents, or interests in things which are absolutely of no worth to us.  These days there are so many things we could take up our time with, and it truly is important to judge wisely.  For "time flies on wings of lightning -- we cannot call it back!.  My thought for the day. Latter Day Light DAILY DEVOTION _________________________ Remember Nauvoo, Illinois May 17, 2014 SCRIPTURES OF THE DAY: 2 Nephi  9:39 "O, my beloved brethren, remember the awfulness in transgressing against that Holy God, and also the awfulness of yielding to the enticings of that cunning one. Remember, to be carnally-minded is death, and to be spiritually-minded is life eternal." QUOTE OF THE DAY:   Lorenzo Snow "It will pay no man to turn his back upo

I ran across a couple of interesting articles on LDS Living this morning.  The first is helping those with financial needs when we suspect we will only be supporting unwise spending habits and unhealthy addictions.   I like his ideas. The second article is about:   Why does public opinion judge petty offenses like littering more harshly than pornography consumption?   Dave Says: How to Help the Right Way How can we help those with financial need when we suspect we will only be supporting unwise spending habits and unhealthy addictions? Dave Ramsey has this great advice to give. Dear Dave, My wife and I have a friend we met through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. She has a 1-year-old child, and she recently asked us for some money. We don't really approve of how she's choosing to spend her money--she's spending a lot of it on alcohol and cigarettes--but she does need financial help. What should we do? Mike Dear Mike, I have a very simple r