JOHN JAMES RALEY was an incredible man. While working away from home for the Railroad Company, he decided that he was going to start writing a book about the history of the family, as well as other news events that he deemed important.
As a result, in the early 1900s he began what would become a 300 page long book in a tall ledger. This book is a gift beyond measure for the family, not only for the obvious family references, but also beacuse he decided to write his feelings about events of the time, included poems he wrote to his wife and children, and included copies of newpaper articles.
I plan to write about some of these contents in the upcoming weeks in the spot, but for now it is such a stark reminder for all of us to begin making our own historical record.
