GENERATIONS GO A FLYING...

By Bessie Spell Shirk.

I am indebted to Amy Miller and Ann Miller-Neilsen of Indianapolis, Indiana for contributing this sketch written by their great grandmother. This story may not be used, reproduced, or published without the consent of AMY.

I believe that deep down in the heart of everyone, or at least most of us, there comes the time when we ask ourselves the question; "Whence did I come from and whither am I going?"

Sometimes it is there when we are very young, then as we grow older in the busy stress of life we forget for awhile, but the question is always there ready to spring up at the most unusual times.

Recently I had a very close brush with the Death Angel, and as I lay there too weak to offer much resistance this lay heavy on my mind, Man has never been able to answer the latter part of the question to the satisfaction of all, but Jesus made it simple for us, when he told us to accept faith all of his promises. The very feeling of security that one has when he says, "I'll put my trust in him," is sufficient.

But there is the first part of the question "Why am I here?" Why did my forefathers seek out this very part of the country. Why do I feel so much a part of the very soil of Henry County and why do I love it so much? Then my mind goes back over three score and ten years, and I remember the tales my grandmothers told me of the struggles of pioneer days, of their hardships, their triumphs and disappointments, the striving to overcome the wilderness, until I feel that I must pass these stories down to my children and grandchildren that they too may in time come to love the soil of Henry County as I do.

By Bessie Spell Shirk(1951) born Alberta Lee "Bessie" Spell on July 29, 1876 in Mt. Summit, Henry County, Indiana. She was daughter of Mahala Susan Dunbar and Allen Crandall Spell. She married Charles Rosco Shirk on January 4, 1899 in New Castle, Henry County, Indiana. Bessie died on March 24, 1952 in New Castle,Henry County, Indiana.