Reaching for the Final Anwers
Mood:  lyrical
Topic: From Tennessee to Oz, 2

22:26:432011-01-28

It is the end of January 2011 and here I am finally putting together the final conclusions on this book, and the Gumm family. I cannot help wonder if there will ever be a final conclusion or whether all the questions will be answered, but I have come a long way in seven years.

The important thing was letting the road take me where it would. That was not always easy when at times I wanted to be done and free, but now I see a new story arising and that is exciting.

To write a book like this, you have to love people. I was not on the quest of a "star," but of real people; pioneers and soldiers, lovely people and those who were not so lovely. Many suffered and died too young. You never want to accuse people of being bad. I looked as far as I could for good in Will Gum, yet at every turn something would come up and I'd realize I could not credit him for good motives in the things he did or trust what he sad. That was sad and scary.

So, I am searching for a few more answers. They are out there somewhere perhaps. One thing I realized in writing this book is how many things occur that we consider insignificant...yet these events or actions express our lives and explain them. Nothing is really insignificant in life, so treasure it all you can, and pay attention to the details!

In Murfreesboro, TN September 2004
To be back in Murfreesboro, was exciting. The town was originally built around the squire which sits on a slight hill above the rest of the land. Until a few years ago, ALL of this surrounding land was farmland. Now stores and malls are everywhere. The first time I saw the area, I was terribly disappointed because the land itself is so beautiful. This time around I was to learn that by turning off a road that only a local would notice, I could go back in time 200 years!

To begin the journey back in time I met with a friend I had been introduced to about three years before. This gentlemen, Mr. CB A., is in his 80s and knows must of the people in town and much of the history. We spoke about what I needed and what my plans were for the next months.

Then I went to the Linebaugh Library and began digging further into the history of the area and looking for the family names I needed.

The third thing I did was to go to the property records office. In this office are huge hand-written leather volumes which go back to the formation of the county. These property records, if carefully studied, contain much information, including family relationships and locations. The study of these volumes and creating a chart on the different persons I wished to study took weeks.

Continuing Adventures on the Way to TN 9/23-25/2004
The next day, we headed through Ohio to Kentucky. One of the more horrifying parts of the drive with a 4-5 lane highway. To the left was a huge tree where lived 100s of squirrels and these squirrels were trying to cross this highway in droves. I prayed and hit not one of them, but hoped I never drove there again!

I stopped at Abraham Lincoln's birthplace for a rest. It was neat to walk down and see the spring he drank from as a child.

By late afternoon we had passed through Nashville and travelled 30 miles down SE to Murfreesboro, where Judy Garland's father was born in 1886. This would be my third trip there. The cats and I settled in the waiting Knights Inn Room, complete with refrigerator, microwave and a semi-private window at the back of the motel. We were to stay there for the next three weeks.

Off To Tennessee - The Trip - Sept 23, 2004
The car was packed to the max, including with three cats, as we set off through the Pocono Mountains, down through Harrisburg where we stayed the first night.

The motel was so decrepid that my cats could put their paws under the door and try to grab the bugs running by. They wanted out. After almost no sleep, due to the wind and big trucks going right by the window, we headed for Pittsburgh, and then lodged the next night just outside of Columbus, Ohio.