Moth at the Window: Poetry of Grover W. Clayton and Recollections of Indiana

By Mary F. Lachman

For more than sixty years a handwritten poetry journal languished in an attic. Rescued before the estate sale by a granddaughter, Mary Lachman, who opened the text and journeyed into an enthralling past. The poems painted a breathtaking portrait of the American heartland---the wonder of nature and saga of human relationships in the 1920s to 1940s, as well as musings on God and heaven. Intrigued, Lachman combined the collection of poems with her own recollections of Indiana.
Joining intimate stories with original poems, The Moth at the Window re-creates the charm and simplicity of an amazing era, and brings to life the story of a small town dentist and his family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499022490

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by Mary F. Lachman.

Illustrations by Michael Scaramuzzino

Library of Congress Control Number:    2014909048

ISBN:     Hardcover     978-1-4990-2251-3

    Softcover     978-1-4990-2252-0

    eBook     978-1-4990-2249-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 06/23/2014

Xlibris LLC

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www.Xlibris.com

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CONTENTS

Connecting The Clayton Ancestry With Indiana History 1840-1900

Ode to Life

14594.png     The Sunshine Of Mother’s Smile (1924)

14597.png    Human Touch (1932)

14601.png    We Only Keep The Love We Give Away (1932)

14605.png    Acquiescence (1926)

14609.png    A Lament (1933)

14613.png    Afterglow

14618.png    Untitled (1930)

14622.png    The Morning Light

14626.png    The Dreamer (1933)

14630.png    A Broken Heart (1930)

Fruit of the Land

14635.png    Kissing The Rose (1934)

14639.png    Little Brown Thrush

14643.png    Dreaming Of The Dawn

14647.png    Summer Night

14651.png    The Mountain Trial (1929)

14656.png    At Summer’s End (1933)

14660.png    Autumn Stillness

14664.png    Autumn

14668.png    Autumn Time (1934)

14672.png    Even-Tide

14676.png    Twilight

Chase the Piglet and Other Stories of the Road

14685.png    Apologia

14689.png    Onions

14693.png    The Spinning Wheel

14697.png    Thomas A. Edison, Apostle Of Light

14701.png    The Cricket

14705.png    Contrast

Swim Out

14709.png    Bathers Of Life

14713.png    At Sea

14717.png    Untitled

14722.png    The Gates Of Yesterday

14726.png    It Is Hard To Go Away

14732.png    What Shall It Be?

14737.png    Reflections On A Birthday

14741.png    The Star Of Right

14745.png    Let Us Give Thanks

Love, Friends, and Family: City Mice and Country Mice

14749.png    My First Sweetheart

14753.png    Treasures

14758.png    Room Within The Heart

14762.png    The Broken Keys

14766.png    I Dreamt Tonight

14770.png    A Keeper Of A House Of Dreams

14774.png    Untitled (1935)

14779.png    Mother

14783.png    Longing

14788.png    Halloween

14792.png    Loneliness

14796.png    Your Friend

14800.png    Afterglow

14804.png    Sunshine And Roses

14808.png    Good-Bye

Trials of Humanity

14812.png    Human Cloth

14816.png    What Price Would You Pay?

14820.png    It Isn’t Noble To Complain

14824.png    Living In The Past

14828.png    Retrospection

14833.png    Why Worry?

14837.png    What Matter If We Do Not Have Our Way?

14842.png    Eyes

14846.png    Moth At The Window

14850.png    Life’s Candle

14855.png    Self-Sacrifice

14859.png    Reflections On A New Year’s Eve

14863.png    The Crown Of Life

14867.png    Nobody Knows

14871.png    The Withered Flower

14875.png    The Man Who Falls

14879.png    A Challenge

14883.png    Compensation

14887.png    Frosts

Heaven Waits

14891.png    Eternal Hope

14896.png    My Midnight Hour Of Prayer

14900.png    A Harvest Dream

14904.png    Christmas Reflections

14908.png    A Wish

14912.png    If Jesus Calls Today

14916.png    The Stranger On The Road

14920.png    The Star Of Bethlehem

14924.png    Introspection

14929.png    Mortal Bound

14933.png    Here And After Here

14938.png    Contrast

14943.png    The Parting Of The Ways

14959.png    Campfires

One More For The Road

Clayton Genealogy

References

12302.png

INTRODUCTION

My mother was emotionally close to her cousins and was determined to have her children know them as well. To that end, each August, as children, my brother and I accompanied her on the 8-hour drive to visit her family in southern Indiana. When we arrived in Carlisle we would be greeted by a feast of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and unsweetened ice tea my step-grandmother Frances had prepared. Mother must have felt like the prodigal child.

I made this trip with mother each year until I graduated from high school. Then there was a long period during my college and graduate school when mother traveled alone. Our last trip together was in April 2000.

This book is part memoir, part history, and part poetry. In its pages I will share some stories, a little genealogy, and a few of my maternal grandfather’s poems. The people and experiences presented in this book reflect my observations and opinions.

FOREWORD

The people and experiences presented in this book reflect the observations and opinions of the author.

This book is dedicated to my families-

To my parents, Jean Clayton Ferguson Lachman (1919-2006) and Wiliam Frederick Lachman (1903-1994) whose lives continue to amaze me.

To my relatives in Indiana, who told and retold the family stories and by doing so sparked in me a passion for family history.

To my husband’s warm and loving family, who welcomed me with total acceptance the day I walked into their lives more than thirty years ago.

And finally to my immediate family, who give my life meaning.

CONNECTING THE CLAYTON