The earliest inhabitants of Ireland date back some 8,000 years to the Mesolithic (Stone Age). In the Neolithic (New Stone Age) a new more advanced inhabitant emerged in Ireland. These people cultivated the soil, raised animals and established trading. But, have always had to fight for survival.

The Pike was a street a mile long, solidly lined with amusements, some varied, more elaborate and more costly than any previous expositions had ever contained. When nighttime came, everyone on the grounds took a stroll down the Pike to see the life in motion, with color and lights, to hear the bands, and listen to the ingenious gentlemen whose wits were sharpened in the competition for patronage, and whose vocal powers, assisted by megaphones, competed successfully with the brass bands. It was an inspiring spectacle of fifty to a hundred thousand people endlessly moving, the wise and the simple, the great and the humble, all pleased, happy, and carefree.

Camp Butler Confederate prison, near Springfield, Illinois was founded on August 2, 1861, as a training ground for Union troops. It was composed of three separate encampments plus a fifteen acre site upon which the Confederate soldiers were confined. Of 5,178 confederate prisoners held at Camp Butler in 1862 and 1863, 201 escaped and 866 died. On February 22nd, 1862, the first of the Camp Butler prisoners, captured at the battle of Fort Donnelson, Tennessee, were transported to Springfield by steamboat and train On April 8th, 1862, the 1st Alabama regiment was made prisoners of war at island no. 10, on the Mississippi river and the greater part of the regiment was taken from there to Camp Butler, located four miles from Springfield, Ill., where we arrived Saturday, April 12th. This prison was not enclosed on our arrival, but in May, of 1862, a twelve foot high plank fence was built to serve as a protection against the escape of prisoners. Escape was so frequent and the authorities were confused that their reports usually indicated the dates of the escapes as "unknown." J.M Thornton from Talladega tells the story to Our Mountain Home Newspaper of the escape of two Confederate prisoners and their experiences while on the run.

A fictional story about the first woman who becomes President.

Among the Red Knobs of the Tennessee valley the people are mostly of poor class of small farmers in 1888. Along the railroad a "Red Hobknobber" is known by the purple hue of his boots usually well stained by the hermetic dust of the patrimonial acres. Lying at the foot of the Chilhowee Mountains, the rocky fastness behind them were along the congenial sphere of the moonshiner's hidden toil and trouble.

Action packed adventures on the high seas. He enjoyed spending his summers surfing and fishing. He saved enough money to buy an old dingy which set in motion some memorable experiences.

County Down, named after its county town, Downpatrick, is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the northeast of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the southeast shore of Lough Neagh, It is one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland, lying within the province of Ulster. More than 9000 years ago, the first settlers arrived on the shores of Strangford Lough in County Down. St Patrick is said to have waded ashore at the mouth of the Slaney River, near Strangford Lough's entrance. It was from the area around Strangford Lough that Patrick's followers spread Christianity throughout Ireland. Many of the protestant planters brought to Ireland, may not have been there of their own choice. To get a grant of land you first of all had to be well connected to the rulers of the time. During the Ulster Plantation in 1600, you had to undertake to plant the land with a given number of people and build a fortified house or castle. These people became known as Undertakers. They were for the most part people, who already had estates in England, so they would have said to some of their tenants there, "I am going to Ireland would you like to come with me and I will rent you some land on which to build a house, you can then start a new life there as a tenant of mine?" If they said, "No," they would probably have been told to move on. The first known Stockdales in Northern Ireland and the earliest known with this surname were three brothers from Yorkshire, north of England in late 1600s; one brother moved to County Tyrone, next brother settled in Ballyculter area and third brother settled in Downpatrick area.

It is not surprising that both McIntosh and Weatherford, despite their predominantly Caucasian genes, both their fathers from Scotland, but chose to live as Indians rather than whites. William McIntosh called, White Warrior was commissioned a brigadier general in the United States Army for his contributions to Andrew Jackson's forces at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and for other services to the country, but he died embroiled in controversy, executed by his fellow Creeks, who charged that he led in ceding lands to the federal govern-ment in violation of the agreed-upon policy of the other chiefs of the Creek Nation. William Weatherford, called Red Eagle, opposed Jackson's troops but was so noble in his surrender that he won Old Hickory's respect and pardon.

News spread rapidly of this "garden of Eden" located at the edge of the Appalachian Mountains by early explorers, and soon the settlers came, bringing with them a 'dream of a utopian life' for their families.

Crowds gathered at the scene as the word spread about the neighborhood. A 14 inch pipe held a 3 1/2 year old girl prisoner from 90 to 100 feet beneath the ground level in a San Marino vacant lot last night. She is Kathy Fiscus

a magical land over the Brooklyn Bridge where they find all kinds of magical ragons and dragons. They looked at the landscape of the clouds lit by the gold of the moon. Were their eyes deceiving them? On the far hori-zon and many miles away a bonfire blazed. Just above the swirling mist stood a bridge of silk. Now all they need to do is fit the golden key into the huge gate lock.

Marvin was adopted when he was three. In 1985, his curiosity got the best of him and he set out in search for his biological parents.

The Confederates quickly were told by shouts from Union soldiers that the war was over. Vicksburg had surrendered. Vicksburg, under siege since May 22nd, fell on July 4th. 1863. But General Gardner wanted to see proof. When Banks showed him the dispatches from Vicksburg, he agreed to surrender. Banks agreed to parole the Confederate enlisted men, if they signed an oath, but officers were captured and taken prisoners. The greatly outnumbered confederates had held their ground into July. But, when word of the Vicksburg defeat reached General Gardner, he realized that the situation was hopeless and nothing could be gained by continuing the defense of Port Hudson. The battle was over and the Mississippi River was in the hands of the Union, and the Confederacy was cut in half. The sheen of a bright moon revealed the sad carnage of the day, and the horrors of war became vividly distinct. A journal kept by Dr. Maj. J. L. Stockdale from July, 1863 - April, 1864, makes reference to some of these events, a day to day record of happenings, emotions, and conditions, but were limited as to what they could or could not divulge. Their journals gave a somewhat basic insight into what prison life was like, as well as the personal conflicts and hardships encountered among their families and friends during the Civil War.