"HIghway 61" Revisited Anniversary

"Once upon a time you dressed so fine/ You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn’t you?" Bob Dylan's landmark sixth album, "Highway 61 Revisited," was released sixty years ago, August 30, 1965. U.S. 61 is the highway from his hometown of Duluth down to "blues" cities like St. Louis, Memphis, and New Orleans. Wikipedia: "Critics have focused on the innovative way Dylan combined driving, blues-based music with the subtlety of poetry to create songs that captured the political and cultural climate of contemporary America." The opening of the final song, "Desolation Row", refers to a lynching that happened in Duluth in 1920. https://www.chimesfreedom.com/2016/06/14/theyre-selling-postcards-of-the-hanging-the-real-lynching-in-dylans-desolation-row/

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A Remembered Antique Mall

An old postcard for The Elms Motel in Greenville, IL, just off US 40 on the Dudleyville Rd. The place is gone now. But the motel building was an antique mall in the '80s and '90s. The inside walls between the rooms had been removed. Beth and my parents and I liked to shop there. We have a little 1904 World's Fair metal cup that we purchased there.

Landscape: Gauguin

 Paul Gauguin, "Tree lined road, Rouen" (1885)  

 

(1885)

Landscape: Monet

Claude Monet, "Street in Sainte-Adresse" (1867). The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts.  

Landscapes: Maurice Cullen

Maurice Cullen, "Summer St Eustache" 1906. From: https://www.klinkhoff.ca/fr/viewing-room/57/works/artworks-5436-maurice-cullen-summer-st-eustache-1906/

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Landscapes: J. M. W. Turner

J. M. W. Turner, Rain, Steam, and Speed – The Great Western Railway (1844). 

Here's a good article about it: https://www.datocms-assets.com/128928/1753723589-parashah-and-politics-47-shoftim-updated-1.pdf

Wizard of Oz anniversary

Although "The Wizard of Oz" appeared in a few theaters during August 1939, the movie was released nationwide on August 25, 1939. (In an obviously unrelated event, the war in Europe began just a week later.) Costing $2.7 million, the movie was MGM's most expensive production at the time. The New Yorker critic didn't like it, calling the film a "stinkeroo" So much for critics.  It has become the most-watched movie in history, especially since it began to be aired on TV, beginning in 1956.

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Colonial Ancestors James and Mary Washburn

 Beth and I recently made a trip to Bridgewater, MA, just west of Plymouth. We visited the First Cemetery in Bridgewater and, with some looking, found the graves of my 6th-great-grandparents, Mary (Bowden) Washburn (1669-1747) and James Washburn (1672-1749). 

I had along photos of the stones from Find-a-Grave, so I'd know their shape.  I'm so glad that I did, because the stones are at present rather unreadable. They're much more clear at that site, in photos from 2007. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22519024/james-washburn https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22518989/mary-washburn

Mary and James were married in 1693. James' father John Washburn emigrated to Plymouth from Bengeworth, England in about 1635. James' mother was Elizabeth Mitchell Washburn, a granddaughter of Mayflower passenger Francis Cooke. So there are two cool immigration stories. I have much more on the early Washburns at my other blog, paulstroble.wordpress.com 

The 350th anniversary of James' birth was three years ago!  May 15, 2022. So I'm glad I found his grave somewhat close in time to that occasion. 

Mary and James' great-grandson David Washburn settled in Fayette County, IL in the 1830s, and with his wife Esther Griffith established the family there, yay. (I was born and raised in Vandalia and Fayette County.) My mom's maternal grandmother was a granddaughter of David and Esther. 

This next picture is kind of spooky. The inscription reads, "REBECCA wife of John Washburn died about 1717. Her age is unknown. She was the first person buried in this yard." Find-a-Grave gives her birth date as 1645. Her husband John (1649-1719)--a brother of my ancestor James--is buried beside her. He was the one who donated the land for this graveyard. The interesting stone to the left, however, is another brother, Sgt. Samuel Washburn (1652-1720). Brothers John and Samuel fought in the King Philip's War.

Here are an unsorted variety of other stones--Washburns and others---in the cemetery. 

Colburn Relatives Buried in Hollis, NH

A couple weeks ago, Beth and I visited the congregational Church Cemetery in Hollis, NH.  Here are pictures of several Colburn stones--and other stones that were interesting.  

My 4th great-grandfather on Dad's side, Paul Colburn, died 200 years ago this year: February 27, 1825. He is buried in the Sulphur Springs Cemetery in Loami, IL in Sangamon County. His marker is a small plate at the foot of the stone of his son and daughter in law, William and Achsa Colburn.  

Among my pictures here, are the graves of Paul's father, grandparents, great-uncle, and other relatives.  

My 7th-great-uncle Lt. Robert Colburn, a veteran of the Revolutionary War. 

My 5th-great-grandfather, William Colburn. His son Paul (1761-1825) emigrated with his family to Sangamon County, IL in 1820 and is buried in Loami, IL, 

Children of Robert and Elizabeth Colburn. 

Here are my 6th-great-grandparents. "ERECTED in Memory of Mr. William Colburn who departed this Life April Ye 3d 1769 In the 80th year of his age." "LIKEWISE In memory of Mrs. Margrey Colburn Wife of Mr. William Colburn who departed this Life Febr Ye 16th 1774 In the 85th year of her age." 

 

The driver of a cyber truck parked and went into the church, LOL. Imagine if that truck appeared here 250 years ago, when a lot of the folks in the churchyard were still alive. "Witchcraft!" they might have thought. 

My dad's mother is the girl in the middle. The parents are Wesley McDonald (Mac) Carson and Alice (Colburn) Carson. The pictures on this post are Alice's forebears.  Dad loved his grandmother, who died in 1951.