Send us a text In the shadow of a nation torn by Civil War, a young boy in Christiansburg, Virginia, sweeps the floor of a quiet drug store—unaware that his path will one day lead to the naming of one of America’s most iconic sodas. This episode traces the early life of Wade Brockenbrough Morrison: The forming of his surroundings, childhood, boyhood, the backdrop of a civil war, into the heartbreak of his father’s death in 1866, and his first steps into manhood under the mentorship of a kindhear...
May 01, 2025•39 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Send us a text The article snippet below is all I could find on the life of an Italian legend in the San Gabriel Canyon, by the name of Bartholdi. No full name is given, and i could not locate him on any census. His arrival is as mysterious as his death was tragic. “On the mesa above the hogan of Luisenna, an Italian shoemaker, Bartholdi, built a rude shelter of rocks and mud in 1872. Bartholdi had set up a boot and shoe repair shop at The Forks the year before, and had a good business but he, t...
Apr 01, 2025•34 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Send us a text 🚨Are YOU related to ME? Find me on Family Search: Jesse Perse Harmon 🔗 Then click “VIEW RELATIONSHIP” to see if we are cousins. Joseph and Hyrum Smith are assassinated by those who were assigned to protect them. No one is held accountable. Turmoil continues to increase. Hundreds of home are burned by mobs. The evacuation planned is expedited by rumors of a federal army marching to Nauvoo. Hundreds will die along the way as most are unprepared for the winter elements. Ann Harmon ...
Mar 01, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Send us a text 🚨Are YOU related to ME? Find me on Family Search: Jesse Perse Harmon 🔗 Then click “VIEW RELATIONSHIP” to see if we are cousins. The year 1844 was a pivotal and tragic time for Nauvoo, marked by rising tensions, internal betrayal & external political divisions. Early in the year, dissent grew within the Church, leading William Law and others to establish the Nauvoo Expositor , accusing Joseph Smith of corruption. When the Nauvoo City Council declared the press a public nuisan...
Feb 01, 2025•52 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Send us a text 🚨Are YOU related to ME? Find me on Family Search: Jesse Perse Harmon 🔗 Then click “VIEW RELATIONSHIP” to see if we are cousins. After the 1842 assassination attempt on Lilburn W Boggs, life in Nauvoo would never be the same. My work as police sergeant became increasingly complicated. Conspirators seemed to come out of the woodwork from the community itself. Protecting President Joseph Smith Jr. became a nonstop task day & night. We rode hundreds of miles in a posse of Nauvoo...
Jan 01, 2025•53 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Send us a text 🚨Are YOU related to ME? Find me on Family Search: Jesse Perse Harmon 🔗 Then click “VIEW RELATIONSHIP” to see if we are cousins. The Mormonite congregations in Missouri had been forcefully evacuated through murder, rage baiting, and violence. President Joseph Smith and Hyrum had made an assisted escape while on a transfer from Liberty Jail, Moving onto the newly named community of Nauvoo in the autumn of 1840 was an apprehensive excitement that just maybe there would be some stab...
Dec 01, 2024•38 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Send us a text 🚨Are YOU related to ME? Find me on Family Search: Jesse Perse Harmon 🔗 Then click “VIEW RELATIONSHIP” to see if we are cousins. In 1837 Kirtland, Ohio, Jesse Harmon witnesses a community in turmoil after the collapse of the Kirtland Safety Society. His brother Alpheus explains that their struggles are not just financial but a deeper clash of ideas, as Joseph Smith seeks to integrate spiritual principles into everyday life. Amidst the unrest, Jesse learns the importance of faith,...
Nov 01, 2024•45 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Send us a text 🚨Are YOU related to ME? Find me on Family Search: Jesse Perse Harmon 🔗 Then click “VIEW RELATIONSHIP” to see if we are cousins. After escaping the certain death inflicted on so many others in a British attack during the War of 1812, Jesse completed his active service in the military and traipsed a bit as a young bachelor. In Pennsylvania he found the woman of his dreams, married her, raised a family, found Jesus amidst the great revival, and relocated into the Ohio. PEOPLE &...
Oct 01, 2024•33 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Send us a text 🚨Are YOU related to ME? Find me on Family Search: Jesse Perse Harmon 🔗 Then click “VIEW RELATIONSHIP” to see if we are cousins. In part one of this fabulous story, we begin at the turn of the 19th century as an international pissin match turns into the conflict known to history as The War of 1812. Jesse Perse Harmon (17 years old) and his older brother both enlisted. This is a portion of Jesse’s story and some of his most notable experiences from that war. From the Siege of Fort...
Sep 01, 2024•38 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Send us a text 🚨Are YOU related to ME? Find me on Family Search: Howard Leon Whetten 🔗 Then click “VIEW RELATIONSHIP” to see if we are cousins. In this final installment of a life story from Howard Leon Whetten…After their B-24 Bomber crashes into the ocean near the Solomon Islands, some unsuspecting angels make an inexplicable rescue when it is needed most. The “coincidences” begin to stack up 🥞 in ways that are undeniable for Leon. PEOPLE: Howard Leon Whetten God Heavenly Father 2nd Lieuten...
Aug 01, 2024•28 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Send us a text 🚨Are YOU related to ME? Find me on Family🌳Search: Howard Leon Whetten 🔗 Then click “VIEW RELATIONSHIP” to see if we are cousins. In part 2 of this story, the “ordinary life” of Howard Leon Whetten evolves into some extraordinary experiences as he faces certain death in the midnight plunge of his B-24 Bomber into the dark watery grave of the oceans surrounding the Solomon Islands. This very first bombing run turns the simple life into a battle for life. From his home in New Mexi...
Jul 01, 2024•24 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Send us a text 🚨Are YOU related to ME? Find me on Family🌳Search: Howard Leon Whetten 🔗 Then click “VIEW RELATIONSHIP” to see if we are cousins. From ordinary lives often comes extraordinary experiences. Such is the simple life of Howard Leon Whetten. From his birth in Southern Arizona, to life in old Mexico, and then school and enlisting in New Mexico, Howard’s life does as many did during the days preceding WWII, as it goes from seemingly normal tasks, to nearly superhuman moments. CHARACTER...
Jun 01, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Send us a text SPECIAL THANKS to Collett Carter for the family history story lead. The Boykin Mill Pond in South Carolina has been the hub of regional industry for processing grains and timber. In 1865 it was the scene of one of the last battles of the Civil War. And in 1860 it was the hallowed grounds of one of South Carolina’s saddest tragedies. Flatboat history: https://peoplesriverhistory.us/blog/history-of-flatboating-and-a-charming-educational-film/ Individuals in order of mention: Robert ...
May 01, 2024•36 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Send us a text In an “off script experience” tales both wild and wacky are told from the research of the Boardman history. The wild unbelievable story is told of the widow who lost more husbands than one can count. And the engineer Boardman who on his death bed was given a supernatural power of extra sensory perception. CHARACTERS Cynthia Boardman Willam Rawlings Cincinnati Enquirer Henry Ladd Mr. Henderson Mr. Johnson Mr. Dixon Mr. Maybury Mr. Tipton George Dyer Edward Augustus Boardman Enginee...
Apr 01, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Send us a text 🚨Are YOU related to ME? Find me on Family🌳Search: Edward Augustus Boardman🔗 Then click “VIEW RELATIONSHIP” to see if we are cousins. Life in the late 1800’s was frequently just inexplicably tragic, as Edward Augustus Boardman and Catherine Fitzsimmons discovered in their lives together. Though they had financial success, attempting to raise children was nearly the end of them emotionally. The plans we have aren’t always what God has in mind for us. As hard as we try, sometimes ...
Mar 01, 2024•39 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Send us a text Brothers are an indispensable part of country life for me. Mine has been ready at a moments notice for just about any wacky idea, adrenaline moment, project, rescue, or emergency. Its important to note that family history isnt just something that happened 50 or 100 years ago. Family history is a daily event. If you’re apt to retelling a story 3 or more times, and its recounted at family reunions, make sure its written up and preserved. As Gerrit Gong recently stated, “We each have...
Feb 01, 2024•22 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Send us a text 🚨Are YOU related to ME? Find me on Family🌳Search: Priddy Meeks🔗 Then click “VIEW RELATIONSHIP” to see if we are cousins. Life in the valley of the Great Salt Lake was rough. From weed soup, cold winters, and the new life. 1857 was a year of turmoil and invasion in the territory of Utah. Thompsonian botanical Doctor Priddy Meeks recounts from his journal, how he treated one of the “invaders” for frostbite that had consumed both feet several inches above the ankles. He only lost ...
Jan 01, 2024•31 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Send us a text The Grand Canyon is a place of connecting with nature, finding one’s center, and in this rare account, airing one’s grievances. In 1968, newlywed and rookie Park Ranger Mel Heaton was tasked with an impossible undertaking…to disarm 5 hostile men…by himself. CHARACTERS (in order of appearance) García López de Cárdenas Alonso de Cárdenas Francisco Vázquez de Coronado Pedro de Tovar Pedro de Sotomayor Pablo de Melgrossa Juan Galeras Hopi Guides Irvine Cob Henry Long Clarence Dutton J...
Dec 01, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Send us a text The strategy of planning, the thrill of the heist, pulling your hat down over your ears during the galloping getaway, and the adrenaline of lining your pockets with nare a few moments worth of actual work. For those of you who might have been a little titillated by the previous story, this is what Mr. Harvey would refer to as “the rest of that story”, and it ain’t perty. In the final years of Bub’s “Flash-Bang” life he quickly realized the high cost of low living. CHARACTERS: Henr...
Nov 01, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Send us a text Life without structure leads to trouble. How many times will we be told to “choose our friends wisely”? Bub Meeks lived hard and fast, and paid the price for it. Life in the late 1800’s was tempting for folks who didnt have the patience for working and saving. So they took balloon withdrawals anytime they were low on cash. CHARACTERS: Grover Cleveland Albert Edward VII Henry Ford George Burns F. Scott Fitzgerald Walter Arnold Robert LeRoy Parker William Ellsworth Lay Henry Rhodes ...
Oct 01, 2023•24 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Send us a text From the life and times of Heber Jesse Meeks. While living a prominent and involved life at the turn of the 19th century Heber dealt with the nature of old horses, driving new fangled automobiles, and teaching children how to subtly but firmly deal with troublesome neighbors. Whether its devotion to spouse, love of family, or commitment to country, God, and small town traditions, Heber Jesse Meeks lived it to the fullest. CHARACTERS: Rose Hamblin Mason Meeks Dalton (Dot) Meeks Heb...
Sep 01, 2023•19 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Send us a text The Journey from Nebraska to the Territory of Deseret was an adventurously long one. And in the early days of settling the Wild West, there was never a destination. The only place you could permanently call home was your final resting place. From Conestogas to Cavalry, from rivers to mountains, from Chiefs to Governors, from freezing winters to striking summers, from Sasquatch attacks to buried Mummies, from hidden treasure to Egyptian hieroglyphs, and from settling the Sanpete ar...
Aug 01, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Send us a text In the early years of the 12th century in north western Scotland, the rise of a great king is taking place among the most uncommon of men, in the most peculiar of circumstances. Somhairle Mór Steps into an unexpected role, at a low point in his life, rising to fame, and power. The story of the origin of the clan Donald (MacDonald) was through the grandson of Somhairle Mór. Characters (in order of appearance): Norsemen Lochlannach Vikings Franks Somhairle Mac GillaBridte Somerled G...
Jul 01, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Send us a text Mountain Lions, Black Bears & Brothers. What a crazy combination. These are stories from the colorful lives of Alfred & Heber Meeks. Special thanks to Willford Meeks Halladay for recording these events as told to him by his Uncle Alfred. Contributions that clarified the events were also made by Mel Heaton, who recounted one of his great Meeks uncles telling him the story. PEOPLE & CHARACTERS Ranchers Farmers Alfred Randall Meeks Dr. Priddy Meeks Mary Jane McCleve Meeks...
Jun 01, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Send us a text Whether its the year 1883, Near Yellowstone, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, or North Carolina, You are gonna enjoy sounds of the Steam Locomotives on the Railroad, Learn about Infant Mortality rates in 1883, and mourn at the Maternal Mortality loss that was so frequent in that day CHARACTERS Alonzo Cook William Cook Henry Cook Joseph Wolcott Cook Wook Phinehas Wolcott Cook Catherine McCleve Elizabeth “Libby” Neibaur Old Man Harris Old Doll (horse) William Neibaur Isaac Neibaur Brother M...
May 01, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Send us a text When we look over someone else’s life, we are amazed, we are awed, we are emotionally bedazzled at the ordeals they survived and even thrived through. Their life was normal…for them. As your crazy adventures in life will be for you. Part of your ability to be emotionally bedazzled by the life of another is the capacity to FEEL them as they might have experienced their circumstances. They want their lives to be learned from and appreciated for whatever value you can extract of it. ...
Aug 25, 2021•7 min0
