By Peggy DeStefano In researching our family history, my sister Mary discovered that on our Knowles side we are descended from one bereft woman who was hung as a witch in 1651. This happened before the Salem Witch Trials. She was the second woman executed as a witch in the colonies. Though she was called a witch by her puritan […]

By Sandy Dale My favorite month is here.  I may have said that last month, but October is definitely my favorite time to be in Florence.  It’s time for raking up and decorating with the orangey, golden leaves.  Time to think about the upcoming holidays.  Time to plan the gifts and food…goodness, I’m getting tired with all this planning.        I think I’ll […]

In recent weeks, President Obama designated more than 87,600 acres of forestland in Maine’s North Woods as a national monument, capping a years-long quest by a controversial conservationist on the eve of the National Park Service’s centennial.   With a unilateral stroke of his pen, Obama created the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in an area that was once […]

By Mary Sikora If you were asked what you know about John Quincy Adams, what would you say? Many would recall his parentage and his rise to the presidency. Even though he had already served as a diplomat in several European countries, few would link him to the Treaty of Ghent that ended the War of 1812.   At the […]

By Roy Nuhn Columbus spent two decades in search of financing for his scheme to sail westward to reach the rich Far East. However, this pales in comparison to the centuries it took for him to become recognized as a hero throughout the United States. (In some people’s eyes, Columbus is seen today as less than a hero.)   Nevertheless, […]