As promised, more about the Flahertys. After some research my mother found the family crest complete with the family's Celtic warning to all trespassers, O Lord deliver us from the wrath of the ferocious O'Flahertys." Seated in the front row are dimunitive Ellen and the bearded Edward, my great grandparents.

Ellen and Edwin immigrated from Ireland around 1860. Edwin's family was named O'Flaherty, but somehow the O'Flaherty became Flaherty at Ellis Island. Unknown to one another, Ellen's family and Edward's family headed west for Cleveland. Ellen and Edward met and married in Cleveland. Once married, Ellen and Edward headed to Eaton Rapids, Michigan to build a family and a farm. The lasting memory of the Cleveland days was that Ellen and Edward stood by the side of the rails as Lincoln's funeral train passed through Cleveland enroute to Illinois.

Ellen and Edward raised 8 children on the working pre-modern farm. They workd the farm from the 1870s to 1910 when the family moved to Lansing and the burgeoning industrial age.

More soon.