AnnHelenshouse1890

Happy Tales to me! I am a writer! Does that tell you anything? Probably not! I write non-fiction stories. My soon-to-be-published book is called “Pioneer Midwife: The Helen Stanbro Olmsted Story.” Helen was my great-grandmother. She was a meticulous record keeper of all the infants she helped deliver. She was also a budding genealogist. Even though she passed away six years before I was born, I feel she has been with me for years.

Some people will say it was pure luck, but I think there was something much stronger than that. My mother’s brother passed away in 1983. While my family took care of other parts of his house, I took the task of going through his bills and paperwork. Off to the side of the table sat this old, brown record book. I opened it and gasped as I saw the genealogy of my great-grandfather, William Wallace Olmsted. I, of all her great-grandchildren, had found Helen’s record book.

As a historian, I have always wanted to write Helen’s story. There is so much to be learned about the years from 1848 to 1935. Helen and her husband were part of the westward expansion. They did not know they were pioneers; they just knew they wanted land to call their own. They first settled in Missouri, then Iowa, and finally Oregon, before moving back to Nebraska in 1885. Helen was a practicing midwife in every state they lived in.

Because of the importance of publishing her record book, I have included it at the end of my new book. I believe people might find the information on the births interesting. The genealogical portion of the record book is also included.