My Writer Ancestors

I was texting with my aunt Rita, the same one who was my beta-reader, and she was going through her grandmother's keepsakes. On my mother's side there was my great-grandma Pearl (English ancestry) who was married to Hans (Danish ancestry). Going back further down the line we see the Morse family, who were Pearl's English relatives. Elijah Morse, born in 1820 was a poet. Picture above you can see his book of original poems. Pictured on the left were his relatives. Russell Morse married Gertrude, and she was also a writer. She wrote a book called The Dogs May Bark but the Caravan Moves On, published in 1999. It was the true life account of their time serving as missionaries in Asia from 1921-1965. Later on their son Eugene wrote a sequel called Exodus to a Hidden Valley: Thriving in the Midst of the Jungle.

During World War II the Morses and a younger brother helped flyers who crashed while carrying supplies over the 'Hump'. After the war they returned to the United States to study and to marry, and then followed their parents as missionaries.

The Morses were forced out of China by the Communists (their father was imprisoned for fifteen months) and settled in northern Burma in 1950. The families’ work continued with the Lisu and Rawang
people in that area.

In 1965, the families had to move to an area to the west of Putao. This book recounts events that were experienced during the six years in that area. They were forced to leave the country in 1972. The author's family and some of his children and other members of the larger family are continuing on in the work in Southeast Asia.

Exodus to a Hidden Valley: Thriving in the Midst of a Jungle is the second volume in a three-book set that tells the compelling story of ministry and mission in Southeast Asia. Volume One is The Dogs May Bark but the Caravan Moves On by Gertrude Morse. Volume Three is Once I was Young: A Missionary Wife’s Perspective by Helen M. Morse. This trilogy is being released in recognition of the 100-year anniversary
of the beginning of it all in 1921.

On the Danish line of Hans' relatives, there was a songwriter.

I love that my aunt shared this with me. Becoming a writer takes courage. I want to carry on the author line for this generation of my family! Once my book is published, it can be carried on and kept forever---long after I'm gone I wonder which of my relatives might find my book, or have the desire to be a writer, too!