Other Centuries - Other Stories

About the Book

The dates and facts taught in history classes are important, but stories give you a feel for what it was like to live in a particular era.

PART I starts with a story about William Dawes who also rode the famous midnight ride to warn the countryside that the British were coming.  He and Paul Revere were members of the Secret Sons of Liberty.  The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere poem by William Wadsworth Longfellow, another poem written and published in 1896, and Paul Revere´s signed statement of this famous night in history are also included.

PART II is a copy of the author´s great grandmother´s autobiography originally published in 1898.

She tells of the awakening period of recognizing women, accepting them in colleges, fighting for their right to vote and what it was like moving west to homestead in Iowa.

PART III written by the author, is about William Ashley and Patrick Gass and others involved in fur trading and exploration of the west in the early 1800´s.

PART IV is a copy of the book "Reminiscences of a Circuit Rider" written by George T. Ashley about his life as a Methodist circuit rider in the South shortly after the Civil War.  The author met Dr. Ashley as told in her book A CENTURY OF STORIES.  He was her husband´s grandfather. 

THE BOOK CONCLUDES with a short article the author wrote some years ago about our country and how our freedoms came to be.

About the Author

Ernestine (Baker) Townsend, a gifted researcher and writer, was born at Eldorado, her great grandparents mansion pictured on the front cover. A CENTURY OF STORIES was written to preserve her interesting family history and to tell stories about people who lived from the late 19th century through the twentieth century and into the new millennium. Her book OTHER CENTURIES - OTHER STORIES is about people who lived before the Revolution and through the 19th century. These delightful stories contain a bit of philosophy, a few historic facts and lots of humor. Enjoy!