Thoughts and stories, by Pal

My mother Ruth Allen (Miles)'s direct Allen ancestor was in New England in   New Haven in 1640, when he was 28 years old. There were several with the  surname of Allen there already, so he took  the surname of Alling. They were Allings until about 1800, when they reverted back to the original name of  Allen. This is the history of Roger Alling, our Allen immigrant ancestor, down to Philo Allen who joined the Church in 1835 .        The origin of the Allens is lost in the unrecorded ages.  The name is very ancient, and supposed to be of Saxon origin, and to have been originally written Alwyne -- signifying "beloved of all."  It is a very common name in England, appearing often in history.  The origin of the name Alling, more ancient than Allen, is probably from the Athelings --, a dark brunette race of the Angles, who came with the Saxons from Germany to Britain in the 500's.  They drove out the Scots and took pos...

Although June 8, 1978, was the day the revelation on the Priesthood was given, thirty six years ago tomorrow the announcement was made public to the Church and the world, that the Priesthood would be granted to all worthy males without regard to race or color.  On June 9th, (tomorrow) when it was announced, it was the wedding day of our oldest son, who was married in the Salt Lake Temple.  We lived in Sandy, and on our way in our car down to the wedding luncheon, the announcement came over the radio.  In the luncheon, that was all the talk!  That is how we remember that great announcement.  I put the entire Latter Day Light Daily Devotion in today, as you read about that announcement at the very bottom.  It is interesting to learn about Church History and what occurred on this day during the years since the Church was organized.  THIS IS THE TRUE CHURCH! Latter Day Light DAILY DEVOTION _________________________ The Righteous Person ...

My maiden name was Miles -- I am Paralee Miles (Eckman) and my father was Orson Pratt Miles, my grandfather William Gustavus Miles, and my great grandfather Samuel Miles.  Each of their histories are in this blog, and can be found listed under their names.  Today I will give a brief history of the Miles (Myles) line back as far as we have information.                                               THE MILES FAMILY ORIGINS       The name is said to date back to the Roman Occupation of the British Isles in the 500's, and was originally Miles-itis, meaning a soldier – (hence militia, military, etc.)     It also is generally accepted that the origin of the family was in Wales, and from which all the families in other parts of the British Isles descended.     The first Miles (Myles) we know of is William Miles or Myles o...

I really enjoy history of early New England, and most of Pal's ancestors, and many of Wayne's also lived in New England from the 1630's on.  I will be writing about some of those early ancestors in the days to come.  The stories of their lives are rather sparse and sketchy, but they helped settle this new land, and had all the problems associated with it.  I am so grateful for those ancestors who wanted religious freedom, and gave up what they had in England, and also some from Germany, France, Holland, and other countries, to come and face the unknown. Many of us have heard about the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria in early New England.  On Pal's lines, we had 2 distant great grandmothers who were executed in Connecticut.  Mary Barnes, and Lydia Gilbert, both of whom were treated most unfairly it seems.  The stories below are as much information as we could find.   MARY BARNES EXECUTED AS A WITCH -- Miles Line      Not every family ...

I've been out of town to some grandchildren's graduations.  I really liked this post from Brian Mickelson which came while I was gone.  If you want to, you can sign up to receive them whenever they come.  Have a great summer, all you dear people, and be safe!  New post on  Brian Mickelson.... So, Am I Feeling the Spirit or Not? by  BJM I recently had a (digital) conversation with a friend that got me thinking a little about, in my opinion, a typical dilemma for Latter-Day Saints. This dilemma can be summarized with a few questions: Am I feeling the Spirit? Do I feel the Spirit often enough? How often should I feel the Spirit? Why do other people seem to receive more spiritual direction than I do? Rather than answer each of these questions separately, I think I'd like to share a few principles that may be helpful. I hope they're helpful anyway. These are personal thoughts of course, so we'll see... 1. I've changed the way I t...

                 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 ...