Eliza Had Eighteen Children

Have I mentioned yet that one of my interests is genealogy?  Well if I have not you just have to ask anyone who knows me outside blogland and they will probably roll their eyes and tell you to run away while you can before I start in on my family. 


With a lot of help I have been able to trace back to the 1700's.  I have pictures of all my grandparents on my paternal side.  The people on the left are my great, great, great, great grandparents.  They came here from England in 1854.  They lost a seven year old son on the way here to a "throat ailment"  which I think may have been Diphtheria. He was buried a sea.  Can you imagine?  I don't know how they did it.  They came to work in the coal mines, hoping to find their Utopia but died poor.   They had a daughter with them named Eliza who married a man named William.  Eliza was an itty-bitty woman full vim and vinegar.  

She married this man.  His name is William.  See the two dogs in the picture?  They were his seeing-eye dogs. William was not born blind.  He also worked in the coal mines. He was blinded by a premature explosion.  Undaunted he and his wife Eliza opened a grocery store. Eliza hired natives to take her to get supplies. It was around trip of 225 km.  She went by canoe!  William stayed behind and made deliveries around town.  How the heck did he do that you ask?  He was blind!  This smart man trained his dog, Carlo to lead the horses and wagon around town. When they arrived at a scheduled stop Carlo barked and the customers came out to get their groceries!  Clever dog! 

This is his wife, Eliza.  You can tell she is about 4 1/2 feet tall.  After William lost his sight she not only went by canoe to get supplies but she and William went on to have EIGHTEEN children.  Dear god in heaven!  William never "saw" any of his children.  Apparently blindness does not affect other things.   I don't know how either of them did it.  


Anyway, this week I received a CD with over 200 pictures of ancestors from a distant cousin. We have not yet found out how we are related except we were both related to the above people.  For a genealogist it is like striking gold!  I keep looking at the pictures.  They are amazing.   I am so excited to add the pictures to my family tree!