Böcker av Leo Jay Smith

The second volume in this series introduces the author''s maternal ancestors, who were among the first to settle on the East Coast of North America. More than half of the Mortimores lived in the New England colonies, with some arriving on the Mayflower. Many participated in the American Revolution. Relying mostly on historical documents, the author pieces together a story that spans more than a century in the life of the Mortimore family as they migrated from the East Coast through the Northwest Territory and eventually settled in Iowa. You''ll meet larger-than-life characters like Jack Mortimore, who left his family for three years with no explanation and returned to complain about how they''d run things while he was gone. You''ll thrill to the courage of heroes such as Rachel Combs, the midwife who let nothing get in the way of helping the women who needed her-not even a bear in her path. And you will be delighted by everyday eccentrics like Jim Mortimore, who was very proud of his job as skunk controller for the town of Saratoga, Wyoming. Soldiers, pioneers, farmers, artisans, visionaries-the story of the Mortimore family is the story of this country''s courage and curiosity, making this book a treasure for anyone interested in America''s westward expansion.

On Sunday afternoon, 31 May 1970, a destructive earthquake ravaged the countryside, with its focal point in the Department of Ancash of the Republic of Peru. It began with a gentle tremor and began to snowball, expending its 45-second life in monstrous destruction, becoming the worst earthquake in the history of Peru and all of South America. This book is the story of missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that were participants in the event. The descriptions were taken from interviews with those missionaries.

Although the Smith family name is common, the story of this Smith family is anything but common. This history begins with the ancestors that arrived in the British Colonies of North America in the early 1600's. The majority of the book is made up of the biographies of five generations of the family that are primarily based on first and second hand sources. Some memories are quoted in the text to give a personal perspective. The direct line ancestors of family were expelled from Nauvoo, Illinois in 1846 with other members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They faced great hardship crossing the planes and then had to establish homes in the wilderness. The suffering and dedication of those people is inspirational. This family played a significant role in the settlement of the community of Daniel in Heber Valley, Utah. The accounts go up to the 1980's.