Book of Detroit: Mix Tape, March 2, 1999

Consistency is stronger than one might think. A slew of these same songs came up, again, just this past October, in and around Nashville. Nick Cave! As for Twin Peaks, it returned after a twenty-five year hiatus. What comes around never leaves completely. "Dance of the Dream Man."

Book of Detroit: First Epistle [cassette tape mix]. The Detroit Olympic Committee. From Russia, With Love. -- edf. March 2, 1999. 

Still like all of these tracks as of January 2018. Personal classics. 

Donald Delbert France: Business Cards, 1980s-1990s

Qualex, Inc.
Corporate Headquarters
3000 Croasdaile Drive
Durham, NC  27705

Donald D. France
Senior Vice President
Sales & Marketing, Retail Trade

The Fuller Brush Company 

DONALD D FRANCE
NATIONAL ACCOUNT SALES

PHOTO MARKET MAKERS
Donald D. France, President

Durham, North Carolina  27705
group 23

PHOTO MARKET MAKERS
(In Japanese). 

Donald Delbert France Business Cards: 1970s-1980s

DONALD D. FRANCE

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

[COLORCRAFT CORPORATION: A FUQUA COMPANY]

3000 CROASDAILE DRIVE

DURHAM, N.C. 27705

TELEPHONE 919/383-8535

Territorial Vice President

DON FRANCE

Colorcraft Corporation . . .

PHOTO MARKETING ASSOCIATION
PMA

International Headquarters

603 Lansing Avenue

Jackson, Michigan  49202

(517) 783-2807

Donald Delbert France: Business Cards, 1950s-1960s

D. France
ASS'T DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING SERVICES

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT

National Metal Trades Association

Jenkintown, Penna.  19046

DONALD D. FRANCE
TECHNICAL REPRESENTATIVE

HEICO, INC.

QUALITY THROUGH RESEARCH

STROUDSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA

Lost Positions and Exiles of War: Harvey Mitchell and Edward William Johnston

Two parallel updates about the impact of the American Civil War on Harvey Mitchell/Michel and Edward William Johnston. In brief, both lost their jobs during the war, and both became exiles along with their immediate families. Mitchell/Michel was reportedly replaced in his US Government job in Washington, D.C., while Johnston refused to swear an oath of allegiance as a condition of keeping his position as Librarian of the Mercantile Library in St. Louis. 

Anecdotal evidence had suggested that Harvey Mitchell/Michel died in 1863, but thanks to the research of Kellee Green Blake, there is solid evidence that he was still alive as late as February 26, 1864, the date his wife Jane Wood Johnston Michel (spelled "Mitchell" at the time of their wedding on September 25, 1832; she was born in 1811 and died in 1891) -- the younger sister of Edward William Johnston (1799-1867) and Joseph Eggleston Johnston  (1807-1891) -- discussed Harvey's plight, hers, and their yougest daughter's (almost definitely Susan Henry Mitchell, 1846-1915, who afterwards married William Taliaferro, 1840-1912).

There are also additional details related by Kellee Green Blake, Director, National Archives-Mid Atlantic Region (ret.) of Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, in her email message to me dated November 8, 2012. (I was delighted to hear from her, and am very thankful that she made contact). For instance, Jane wrote her 1864 letter from Eastville, Northampton County, Virginia (see red spot on above map for aproximate location); the original is in the Benjamin F. Butler Papers, Library of Congress. Additionally, it's stated in Jane's letter that Harvey was supplanted in his job as draughtsman, circa early in 1863. 

I discovered additional details about Edward William Johnston thanks to leads via Adam Arenson's The Great Heart of the Republic: St. Louis and the Cultural Civil War (Harvard University Press, 2011), pages 137-138 and 282-283, and "Anna and the Librarian," Opinionator, Disunion, New York Times online (January 11, 2012): http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/anna-and-the-librarian/ 

Even more will soon be revealed, hopefully, but I have already discovered the following. It turns out that Edward not only was married to a second wife after the death of his first (Marie Antionette Estelle Costar Villagrand, who died in 1848), but that they were married as of 1860; she was originally from Maryland, and they both died within days of each other in 1867. Margaret A. Johnston's vital dates: circa 1821 to circa December 11, 1867. I have not yet been able to determine if she had been previously married, when or where the wedding with Johnston took place, or what her family name was. But I am certainly intrigued by the new findings. The trick was hunting down a second 1860 census record despite a slightly mispelled name -- Edward was enumerated twice, once at work and once at home. Details forthcoming.

The bottom line: Harvey and Jane and Edward and Margaret were exiled due to the American Civil War. Harvey probably died as a result of this disaster, while Edward and Margaret probably had their lives shortened due to war-related stresses. Jane managed to live quite a while longer.

Contact Information: Erik Donald France  efrance23@gmail.com

Above map closeup derived from Charles B. Barr, Telegraph Stations in the United States, the Canadas & Nova Scotia, Library of Congress Geography and Map Division, Washington, D.C. 20540-4650.

The Open Road Trip, 1982

Devils Tower, Wyoming, 1982

My sister Linda and I took a great "On the Road" trip in 1982, and one of the places we camped (literally or figuratively) was on the grounds of the Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming. We took several slide shots at different times of day -- this one in the gloaming. There were more prairie dogs than people in the vicinity. 

"In the Heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country"

This objet de mémoire dates from 1989. Anytime I go anywhere near Shartlesville, Pennsylvania, I will stop here to eat. Wonderful atmosphere and food at Haag's Hotel, which dates back nearly a century. Arrive hungry! First ate here with my family when I was a kid, when we also visited the nearby Roadside America, "World's Greatest Inside Miniature Village," founded in 1939 and at its Shartlesville location since 1941.

SHARTLESVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA . . . Old Rote 22 and I-78 - 45 Miles East of Harrisburg, 35 Miles West of Allentown, 20 Miles North of Reading.

PENNA. DUTCH FAMILY STYLE DINNER include 20 plus dishes from which you can eat all you can . . .

Here's a handy link to Haag's Hotel: http://www.haagshotel.com/home.html

And a link to Roadside America: http://www.roadsideamericainc.com/