[Dodie,]
Your attitude fueled by compulsion is natural and you can be assured that I love the real you. This is my message to you and my prayer:
"Beloved I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in good health even as your soul prospers." (3 John 1:2)
The Grinch
30 August, 1998
"The Grinch" wrote:
I have looked high and low for my grandfather, Alonzo L. Steele, who was
born about 1872. One day I chanced upon your website when I was looking for a
Logan County piece and I stumbled from Heartland into a piece called "Ralph A. and
Levicy Ferrell Steele" and low and behold my search was at an end! I read where
Hawkins "Hawk" Steele had several children and one of his boys, Evan grew up and had
a son called Alonzo. I was hooked and the story of how Hawkins Steele traveled to
Minnesota on a wagon train. Then later, his son Evan Steele took his children to Meeker
County, Minnesota. All of this whetted my interest. Evan's son Alonzo was born in
West Virginia but he grew up in Minnesota and ultimately married my grandmother
Blanche Ethel Goodwin and there it was - the story. Alonzo was the son of Evan and Katherine Steele and his grandfather who came with the family to Minnesota. Alonzo's great grandparents were Ralph A. and Levicy( Ferrell) Steele. George and Rosannah (Fannin) Steele were his gg grandparents and George and Elizabeth (Ratcliffe) Steele were
his ggg grandparents and Richard and Susannah Ratcliff were his gggg
grandparents. That makes Dodie and I kissing cousins, because she too is a Steele.
Trouble is, her Steele was a female that married a Smith. Dodie, you and Donna Brown
(the person who referred me to you) are both running great shows!
Additional comments from "the grinch" at a later date:
Dodie Browning pointed me in the right direction and I found my grandfather and I was
able to go back six more generations. About a month ago I was talking with a friend and
he asked me if I was related to a Russel Steele who lives in Calif. It seems that we are of
similar builds, have the same hairline and speak with the same inflections. I asked Russel
who his grandfather was and he let me know. I contacted Dodie and we ran his
grandfather's name and found that both Russel and I have the same great grandfathers and
both os us came from the same area in Minnesota. It is especially interesting that we met
and have lived almost "next door" for the past decade and we both started life over 3000
miles from our present address. Our great-grandfather was the "famous" Hawkins Steele
who travelled by wagon train to settle in Meeker County in Minnesota.
Dodie; your personally researched Steele "search engines" are the best!
The Grinch
I did note that you were looking at the Golden Bells - -- I have my "senior moments" yet I dimly remember a song we used to sing when I was in the Salvation Army Home for Boys and Girls. It went something like -"hear dem bells, cancha hear dem bells, they are ringing out da story of the Lord" and I remember at the end of the stanza a sentence that brought in "the Golden Bells" I will think on this.
[Dodie]................... Your letters took me from the cold and hard chores that I perform daily while I write about things I probably have no chance of changing.
You gave me the desire to press on, even if I don't like what I am doing. You made it possible to find just who I am, and how I am; what I am. (That sentence sounds screwy, but it is the way I feel.) Sometimes, I touch the bookmark and return to the Families of Steel(e) and I am welcomed by the piano music and now with the snow blowing on the cabin, I feel better - way better that the hard and cold letter I just received from a mailing list.
I feel so comfortable when I visit the world of Grinch. I truly feel at home. The Grinch
