As has been the case for the history of this entire blog, it is based on my recollections of my past and no blame can be assessed to any other in this regard.  I truly do love my family with all its good and bad and ugly members--bad being maybe too harsh a label.  I also love the family I married into, the Gilmore/Harry bunch.
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     We left the Castle about noon on Sunday the 5th of July (named for Julius Cesar if you didn't know....or if you did know) and headed back to Rome.  We found the "Interstate" easily enough and headed south.  After a couple of hours, we decided to stop to get a snack and a map of Rome to help find the bed and board villa where we were going to be staying.  Again, easy enough.
     Mary called Simone (the lady that owns the villa) and got some instructions that said take the GRA (loop around Rome) to the west and ...<< MORE >>

      We left Houston on July 1 and Arrived in Rome (Roma) on July 2nd.  Got our car and headed for Chianti.  It was an eventless drive with some very lovely scenery.  Many more hills and small mountains than are presently around Houston.  We did fine except I couldn't remember what the castle name was where we were suupposed to me our daughter and future son-in-law and the other guests.  I found on the map a Castillina de Chianti and we head there.  Found it just fine with only a couple of missed turns and back tracking.  My wife called ...<< MORE >>

     I have been thinking about our recent Pierson Family Reunion (May 16, 2009) and got to wondering how I was so positive about the family in 1850 information, but couldn't get the information correct on current family members.  I took a bunch of family data sheets to the reunion, but didn't ask people to complete them or even have a sign-in sheet for those who attended.  As I have more and more senior moments, I dasn't try to remember everyone that came.  It has been a little difficult to extract current info from relatives also.  I send out e-mails ...<< MORE >>

I have arranged to have the parish hall at my church to use with our Pierson Family Reunion #1 (and only to the best of my knowledge).  Everyone that has contacted me has asked what they can do to help out.  We cannot have alcohol on the premises... historically not good for the Pierson clan anyway.  We can eat, drink and be merry on our own good spirits.  I got to know my cousins pretty well when I lived up in Kansas.  Since the family has kinda sorta spread to all points of the compass, it has become more difficult.  ...<< MORE >>

    I discussed before my grandfather's gardens around the house that totalled about an acre.  He also rented 40 acres from Mrs. Weir (of the family that Founded Weir City, Kansas).  There was a 10 -15 acre hay field (with assorted sink holes) and several smaller 1-2 acre fields.  We would use my grandpa's tractor, ...<< MORE >>

      I, recently was asked to help a cousin on a small project (Susan Poznich).  I went over to her house to help out and we ended up talking about the family and how we seldom get together except for funerals.  This is true, I'm sorry to say.  We also discussed the fact that Interstate 45 seems to only go north.  Relatives in Kansas/Oklahoma don't like driving south to Houston to see us.  We always have to go up there to see them.  It's no more out of the way for them as it is for us.
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        I posted a couple of days ago and almost immediately thereafter I got an e-mail from my niece Heather, my older brother Butch's daughter.  She lives in Maine and appears to be doing quite well for herself.....we stay a little in contact, which is fairly good for Piersons as that goes.  I got to thinking about what kind of vehicles, besides cars, we opt for transportation.  The fact is that we have had several other vehicles that we used to get around.  Our grandparents got around with horse and buggy or wagon to start with.  In the 20th century ...<< MORE >>

     I have recently been corresponding with some cousins about their immediate family, of which I have only very sketchy information on.  I looked up my cousin David Pierson in the Yahoo White Pages and found he and his mother in the southeast United States.  I gave him a call, left a message for him to call me if he was my cousin.  About an hour later he returned my call.  We visited a while and he said he would try to get some information to me in the next week or so.  He has since done that.  Thanks David.  ...<< MORE >>

     Again, my son Jonathan has triggered memories from my past with his latest blog "Getting Robbed."  Although I wasn't robbed, I did have an interesting evening and proved how stupid I really am.  It was Halloween night in 1966.  The town was Cherokee, Kansas and I had only been in the area for about 4 or 5 months.  My parents had separated again in the summer between my junior and senior years of high school. 
   
      There were about 20 of us sitting on the stone wall that surrounded the one of the bus barns of the school ...<< MORE >>

  I was reading my son, John's blog the other day ( www.kavern.net ) on the problem starting one car with out a verbal curse.  I got to thinking about the cars I could remember in my life and thought I would relate some of it to you.
    
     I don't know what the type of car was that we had when I was three or maybe 4.  I can remember that the back door opened from the front and not the back though.  The reason that sticks out in my mind is that we were driving down a country ...<< MORE >>

Here it is 2009 already...just seems like a couple of weeks ago that 2008 was approaching.  I don't think I've ever been a party animal on New Year's Eve.  In the last decade, I think I've gone to bed at 8:00PM or so every year.  I do remember that Kyle called some time in the last 10 years at midnight (Houston time) and woke me up.....actually his mother answered the phone and had to wake me up to let Kyle wish me a Happy New Year!  I'm sure I sounded like I was gargling with marbles and was probably totally ...<< MORE >>

       It is the season for Christmas and again the immediate family, except for one, will be gathering to share the giving and receiving.  I was thinking back through the years to my earliest memories of Christmas and the Christmas season in general.  In 1959, we were living on East Main Street in Cherryvale, Kansas, in a large 2 story house...a necessity with Mom, Dad and 6 boys.  When you came in the front door of the house, immediately in front of you were the stairs going to the 2nd floor, boys bedrooms.  To the left was the ...<< MORE >>

In general, I was always very healthy.  I did seem to be suceptible to catching a Strep germ now and then.  I had one confirmed bout with Rheumatic Fever and 2 non-confirmed bouts.  They occurred in the summer between grades1/2, 2/3 and 3/4.  We would nearly always got up to stay with our mom's parents, Ma and Papa.  The summer between the 3rd and 4th grades, I only got to stay two weeks, when everyone was there, then I had to ...<< MORE >>

   You have a little knowledge of my Great Grand Mother, Nancy Ann Dugger Pierson Frazee.  She was married 2 times, both times while pregnant.  My grandmother, Hallie Myrtle Large Pierson said that was the only way she could get a man.  She also said she was a shrill nagging woman.  No one understood why Paul Frazee stayed married to her for so long.  Her first husband, Daniel Parker Pierson lit out  

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        Once upon a time about 1955 we were staying with Ma and Papa (Beulah and Shorty Stark) and got to climbing up into all the trees we could on their place (about 40 acres, but we stuck mostly with the yard and pens around the barn.  When I said "we" I should have included everyone around there about 1955.  My cousins, Allen Rightmeyer, Judy McCullough, my brothers Butch and Roger and Ken (a baby -2 at the time).  We were always outside playing one thing or another.
       
      One time we ...<< MORE >>

My grandparents always grew most of their own food and preserved it to have enough to get through the fall, winter, and spring until the next crop could give them fresh crops to eat. I always thought my grandmother, Ma, (Beulah Burch Stark) did all the cooking and canning since I always saw her cooking the meals. My grandfather, Papa, (Clarence Stark) was always out planting, weeding fertilizing, picking and tending the crops. He always had a HUGE garden. << MORE >>

On this 27th day of November in the year of our Lord 2008, I have so much to be thankful for. First, there is my wife of 39 years, Mary Gilmore. She has been the rock I have clung to in all the storms I have been through in my adult hood. She is my strength and the air that I breathe. << MORE >>

         My dad didn't reveal a huge amount about his childhood or early adulthood to me, just a little peek every now and then.  I'll try to get several revelations down in this posting.

In 1952 I had a sister born, Mary Elizabeth Pierson, Feb 22, 1952.  She died of an enlarged heart 3 days later.  I was just 3 years old, but still remember her funeral....at least a few parts.  I know we went into a room where there was a little basket with a mesh cloth over it.  I stood on my tiptoes and peeked in.  ...<< MORE >>

I don't have too many memories of my Dad's father Wesley Harden Pierson. He was born of Nancy Ann Dugger and Daniel Parker Pierson. My Dad's mother Hallie Myrtle Large Pierson told me that both of her first born children were Sooners....and she didn't mean born in Oklahoma. "That was the only way she could get a man!" according to Granny. Wes was born, and possibly even before he was born, his father left and went to live with his sister and brother in law Miles Sears and Mathenia Pierson Sears. Mathenia I think died in childbirth with their son, Henry Sears.<< MORE >>

I remember one time when Roger and I were helping Papa clear some excess growth of the Hedge rows. Osage Orange trees planted during the dust bowl days to keep the top soil from blowing away. Most of them have been removed today so we can be in the same situation if we enter an extended drought again. The Osage Orange tree or Hedge Apple tree it is more commonly known as is one of the hardest and has a natural preservative in it. Some of the fence posts on the place were put in in 1932 and are still in excellent condition. They are so hard you cannot drive a fence staple into them, except if you can find a crack to wedge it into. You cannot cut them either, they are like concrete. Amazing stuff.......Anyway<< MORE >>

Ever since I was very little, I heard stories about my great grandfather Charles Edward "Charlie" Stark and his brother Harvey "Harve" Stark. They didn't seem to want to follow in the foot steps of their father Aaron N. Stark. Aaron owned a brick plant in Hartwell, Missouri. He and another son, Washington Stark ran the brick plant. No doubt Harve and Charlie had to spend some time in their youth there, learning the trade, but the hard work didn't seem to attract them. In the late 1880's or early 1890's they ..... how would you say......got in with the wrong crowd..There is a possibility that Harve organized the wrong crowd. He was several years the elder of Charlie.<< MORE >>

      It's been a while since I posted anything....kinda of a writer's block, I guess.   The passing of both my Mother-in-law and my Father-in-law has given me pause.  I have mourned their passing, but am totally convinced that they are in a better place than we here on earth.  I feel happy for them.  They had a good and long life.


John Gilmore                                   Helen Harry Gilmore
1912 -2008                                         1913-2008

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       I don't remember what year it was- maybe 57 or 58....I was kinda young.....8 or 9.  I remember that Bob Pierson had a car that would run pretty fast and was shiny.  I talked to my Dad later about the car and Bob and he related the following:  ( not necessarily in order or verbatim with my presentation).

Bob Pierson...abt  1956.

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There once was a man that was proud of his kids and enjoyed showing them off to other people when the opportunity came along.  This man had 5 kids, 4 boys and a girl.  One of the boys was in the 4th grade and showed some promise in the performance area.  He had a real love for acting (sometimes up) in public, when the chance presented itself.  He would sometimes help the chance to present itself if its timing didn't match his.

There was one time I can recall that he was selected to perform with the Houston Grand Opera in ...<< MORE >>

Another summer at Ma and Papa's house. Seems as if my whole youth rotated around my mom's parents house.....that's not so, it was just where the most interesting events seemed to have taken place. A particular evening, Roger and I would take a shovel down to the barn and look for some dried up cow pies. We would turn the cow pie over and dig up the dirt underneath. We would always find big earthworms. We had a coffee can (1 lb. size if anyone is interested) with both ends cut out and the plastic lids from two cans applied. (one on each end). You wouldn't think that all the explanatory remarks would be needed, but remember I am talking to Pierson's for the most part. The coffee can was 1/2 full of our special formula, half dirt and half coffee grounds (used of course). This was a tip from our grandfather. Before that, I had never thought about worms liking coffee<< MORE >>

     I guess I'm getting old...I don't feel like it on the inside.  I still get excited over the challenges that come to me on a regular basis.  Next year, I will be married twice as long as I was single. I'll be 60....I'll let you work on the math.  I love my wife very much.  I love my kids very much.  I don't show my love or affection as much or as often as I should.  I think my family knows I love them one and all.
    Has the last 38 1/2 years been total bliss?  Not quite.  Mary ...<< MORE >>

Here is some more info to consider about changing all the Reps and Sens out  and putting new ones in:



Here is the vote on some of  the 109 th congress.

We heard Maxine Waters last week ( or maybe 2 wks ago) threaten to "take you over" while she was grilling the oil company executives.  Who's her hero, Hugo Chavez?  How long to you think it would take the Liberal Congress (I'm not leaving out the Senate or Republicans) to run it into the financial toilet like they have Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare and Public Education.  Now they want to take over the Medical practice and the oil production in the US.  Let's compare the oil companies' profits with the state and federal fuel taxes since 1977.

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     After 38 1/2  years of marriage to her daughter and knowing her for about the same amount of time, I have a need to talk about her for a while. Everyone that knew her, will tell that she was about the most kind and giving and forgiving person they have ever known.  This is the same for me.  

     There were times that she came to my defense and not her daughter's when we lived next door to them.  She, on more than one occassion told her daughter to go back home and deal with Chuck yourself, she ...<< MORE >>

I know I'm a bit late for the fourth of July here on September 13, but I didn't remember it on the Fourth Of July.  It must have been about 1960.  I was 11 and Roger was 9.  We were staying with Ma and Papa (as usual).  Dad had taken us to the Fireworks stand the night of the third of july to get our supply for the fourth.  As usual, each of us got 300 lady fingers and 4 or 5 punks.  Back in the olden times you could get cigar boxes from any drug store almost any time, ...<< MORE >>

When I wrote the article about the impact of illegal aliens, I did it in a liberal type fashion with my feelings instead of facts.  Since then I have been doing research and have some facts that .....strangely enough, back up my feelings.   
$914,062,800 in 1997. This is the bad debt that county hospitals had to eat (I mean you and I tax payers had to eat) for 1997.  
$18,838,727 was spent on health care to prisoners in 1998 in Texas.  Again we tax payers picked up the ticket.  $28.6 billion was spent on education in 2001-2002 in Texas for ...<< MORE >>

It was about 8:00 am when Roger and I went to Ma and asked if we could have blackberry cobbler for lunch.  She said "Sure" and handed each of us a small shiny 2 quart bucket.  "Don't bring any red or green berries back with you."  Off we went.  We didn't have far to go for berries, nearly every fence line in Weir, KS has blackberry bushes.  We started picking only the blackest (and sometimes the softest) berries we could find.  Some were as big as grapes...the ones we tried to specialize in finding.  The biggest problem with blackberries is ...<< MORE >>

My Grandfather (Papa) and my Grandmother (Ma) Stark lived 2 miles south of Jackson's corner and just across the road south of Jack Craddock's place. It was sold to Dennis Sullivan about 1957 and they move into town. Dennis later sold the place to the ACME Brick Plant because it had lots of clay under it. Johnny and Betty Poznich later bought the Craddock place and lived there a while. While at the "Old place" as I call it, several events come to mind. Papa always had goats, chickens, guinea hens, maybe some ducks ...<< MORE >>

My soon to be daughter in law, Kari Schoeffler, has a tremendous ability to pen lyrics to songs (or write poetry if you skip the music.) I give her a challange of writing song lyrics to the motif "Lock and Load". Within 3 hours of her receiving my e-mail, I have lyrics back. You can listen to the song at www.chuckpiersonmusic.com under the Secular Music tab. Hope you enjoy. A couple of days ago I gave her another motif...."cheese" and asked her to come up with something as my #2 son, Kyle ...<< MORE >>

It seems that Congress (Both the Senate and the House) in Washington, DC have totally lost all sense of what the United States WAS and should STILL BE.  A land of freedom and a place that other's in the world would like to be a part of.  They are in closed door session with George W. talking of the "Comprehensive Immigration Reform".  Whereas we have an estimated 20 million illegal aliens here now, they are discussing giving them amnesty and allowing them to bring in spouses, children, and parents.  If there are only two persons brought in by each illegal, ...<< MORE >>

I don't want anyone to think I had a terrible and severely abused childhood. There was one incident that I can only barely remember. It had to happened about the age of 3 or 4. I was using the potty (#2 I recall, I was sitting and not standing). There was a small in the wall gas heater next to the toilet burning. There was also a waste basket. There was also a roll of toilet paper. I think that when you mix a roll of toilet paper, a gas heater and 4 ...<< MORE >>

I'm a little more than a little bit tired of the PC of nearly everything..Hyphenated American, what is that all about? I grew up in southeast Kansas. There were Italians, Hungarians, Armenians, Czechs, Poles, Germans, Irish, Scot and other ethnic groups including blacks. They all had neighbor hoods and even small towns with 75% of the population all of one background. They all were Americans first and their ethnic group 2nd. Each small town had ethnic celebrations with the dress, food and customs every year. It was a treat to go to the different ...<< MORE >>

My dad finished college in Kansas and was working at the Jayhawk Works plant outside Cresline, Kansas. (1954)He got an opportunity to help build the Orange Works Plant for Spencer Chemical and then go to work there as an operator. When we first arrived in Orange, we stayed at the Orange House, a hotel on the water in Orange. The Orange Yacht Club was also there. The only thing I knew was that we could go swimming 3 times a day. I don't remember how long we stayed there before we found a house and moved in, ...<< MORE >>

There is a huge Artificially induced panic over the global warming and man's contribution to it, especially the American man. Supposedly, man is the primary cause of 1 degree rise in the average daily temperature over the last 100 years. What Mr. Gore and others fail to bring up is the fact that the temperature on the surface of Mars is also going up. I don't believe the Mars Rover is an SUV. There are rumors that the huge yellow orb that appears daily in our sky may have something to do with both warming events. ...<< MORE >>

Back to Weir.  On Gravel Street (Now Washington) 2 houses up from Jack Simon lived my uncle Dan and his mob, Bob, Betty, Doug or Danny, and Tommy.  I can only remember Danny.  I probably was 4 years old.  Danny was playing a record on the record player and reading a book.  The only thing I could see was Roy Rogers and Trigger on the front of the book.  There was talking and once and a while music played with 3 gun shots following it.  Danny would turn the page and listen and look at the book intently.  I joined ...<< MORE >>

As I said before, I only have one real memory of my Dad's Father (Wes), putting me up on the coal shed roof. He died the same year as my first little sister (Mary Elizabeth Feb 22, 1952- Feb 25, 1952). She was born with an enlarged heart that actually suffocated her. I remember going to the funeral parlor and standing on my tiptoes to look in her casket. It couldn't have been much larger than a shoe box. There seemed to be a couple of little toys in it with her and was covered with a shroud. To me she looked like a little doll in a doll box. This part I don't remember, but my dad told me much later in life. After the graveside rights, we all went back and got in the car to leave.<< MORE >>

Back to the day I was born..... My grandparents live about a mile and a half out of town up on a hill. The road that went up to the house wound by a one room school about half way up the hill. There wasn't anything special about the house, a standard old 3 room house, living room, bedroom and kitchen. There was a front porch. I don't know if it had a back porch or not. While my mother and Dr. (Stanley E. Davis D.O.) and grandmother and great grandmother (Granny Frazee...another story in its own right) were busy trying to deliver me, my grandfather held my brother on his lap in the living room in a rocking chair (probably close to the pot bellied stove. My grandfather smoked a pipe. He would take a puff and then let my brother Butch take a puff (more or less Butch only slobbered on it) then he would puff it again.<< MORE >>

Once upon a time in 1949 in an ice storm in late January, God set this creature on the earth. God had lots of other things going on, but took the time out of his busy schedule to drop me into a little house on a hill outside of Columbus, Kansas. This was about 10 years after Dorothy and Toto had their big splash of publicity. Not much was made of my appearance. The folks didn't even get around to notifying the state of my official name. My birth certificate still reads "Baby Pierson." This still causes me some concern at times.<< MORE >>